Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with addition

Adding a bathroom from scratch?

kmz — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:49:52 -0800

Adding a bathroom to an old house from scratch? My fiancee and I recently bought a 1925 Craftsman bungalow that had been completely renovated. New plumbing, electrical, roof, etc. We love it, but it only has one bathroom. We originally thought this would be OK, and it is in general, but we're starting to think about adding an additional one.

Reading online, I've only seen people mention converting existing rooms and spaces to new bathrooms. We don't really have any space we can afford to convert at the moment, but there is gap formed by the exterior walls of the master bedroom, existing bathroom, and second bedroom, and we were thinking of using that to create a new bathroom. Would this be feasible at all? The foundation is pier and beam. Both the foundation and roof would have to be extended, plus all the other work generally associated with adding a bathroom.

I'm sure we'd also need to get special permits since we're in a historical overlay, but I'm not as worried about that right now. It's going to be a future term project anyway but I wanted to get an idea of how manageable it would be.

What's with all the un-permitted additions on houses in San Francisco?

jillsy_sloper — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:42:31 -0800

I'm shopping for a single-family home in San Francisco, and nearly every house I've looked at has "unwarranted" addition in the basement or rear -- either a bonus room or an entire "in-law" unit with bathroom and kitchen. My question is fourfold: 1. Why does nobody get permits for their additions? Is it particularly difficult or expensive in San Francisco to get a permit?

2. This is so prevalent, and talked about openly in real estate listings -- why doesn't the city crack down and issue fines?

3. Has anyone heard of someone in SF having to remove an un-permitted addition?

4. If I were to make an offer on one of these houses, what would I need to know? What should I do differently from bidding and signing a contract on a normal house?

One real estate site I saw online said that you should only pay what the house would be worth without the unwarranted area, because you could be forced by the city to rip out the addition at any time. But that doesn't seem to be realistic here -- in San Francisco, sellers definitely don't seem to be giving a discount based on the lack of permit for their "bonus" rooms.

Is this a good time to do a home remodel?

Xazeru — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 18:30:54 -0800

How has the recent economic situation affected the cost of a house remodel? Is it cheaper because of the soft housing market, or more expensive because more people are fixing up the places they own instead of moving?

Is putting a sink in the bedroom too bizarre?

amanda — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:46:53 -0800

Real Estate Filter! I'm thinking of doing a little addition to my house which would add bigger closets, create a bigger master bedroom and add another bathroom. I'm considering one feature which I can't decide whether it would be too weird or not... ...a sink in the master bedroom.

When I lived over in England, all the bedrooms in our house had a sink and vanity in them and I thought it was great. Perfect for families and really handy. I miss that sink! My idea is to create a kickass walk-in double shower and toilet room off the master and put a sink right outside that door, in the master bedroom. I'm trying to keep the addition in line with the house and not take over too much of the yard -- it's a small lot.

I have two questions for anyone who has bought or sold houses in the U.S. -- as a buyer, would this just look totally weird to you? Would it be akin to seeing a toilet in the living room in terms of seeming "not right"? Also, I've got a question out to our last realtor as to how that would look in a listing -- would it have to be listed as a 1.5 bath house? Anyone know?

How to support SO through Oxycontin rehab?

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 18:23:34 -0800

Oxycontin out-patient rehab. How to best support my S.O? My boyfriend, who has struggled with Oxycontin abuse on-and-off for years, has (on his own) contacted a local outpatient rehab clinic and I will be accompanying him on his first, and probably on subsequent, visits. I'm proud of him for taking this step, after a couple of unsuccessful attempts at "DIY" quitting (cold turkey, tapering down, self-medicating with Suboxone, Lexapro, or other prescription meds to manage the withdrawal symptoms). I hear a commitment in his voice when he talks about getting clean that I haven't heard before, and that gives me (cautious!) encouragement.

Some background: we're both in our late 20's, have been together for about 3 years, and have known each other well for about 5. The BF has no medical need to be taking Oxycontin - it's never been prescribed to him, so this isn't about whether or not it's an appropriate drug to manage chronic pain. We're in Western Massachusetts if that is relevant.

My question: what can I expect from this rehab clinic? What questions should I be asking, as an advocate for the BF? What can I expect him to go through over the next days, weeks, months? I've looked over some other threads but they seem to be specific to heroin, meth, or in-patient rehab. If any of you have gone through outpatient rehab or have supported a significant other through this process, please let me know. I'd be happy to follow up with any additional info, throwaway email address: rehabanon@gmail.com.

PS: DTMFA not a helpful response. I want to avoid relationshipfilter but, I want to make sure people understand that I am aware of the serious problems that my boyfriend will have to face on his own and that he may never recover from this, and that the relationship may be irrevocably altered. At this point I'm hoping to get responses that are specific to the experience of outpatient drug rehab programs (good, bad, what to look for or look out for), hopefully specific to Oxycontin rehab, and how to best support someone in one.

word help form fields please

BrodieShadeTree — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:32:56 -0800

Stupid Microsoft Word Help! Help me gather up and total a few fields in WORD. How to I make form entries add up? I don't use Word much and I have been asked to make an employee evaluation form based on a .doc file given to me. I need to do three simple things.
1. Make the # entered into a form field show up in a tabulated table at the end of the form as the same #.
2. Make that # add up with the others in total. ie. 3.5+3.5+2.0=total

I feel stupid asking this, but no amount of google or .help seems to yeild this simple (hopefully!) answer.

Would you give a gift for a year of sobriety?

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 14:34:17 -0800

My sister is going to celebrate 1 year of (drug) sobriety next month. I have my father's 1 year (alcohol) sobriety coin from many years ago. Should I give it to her on her anniversary date? I don't know the etiquette/protocol for these sorts of things.

I have my father's 1 year sobriety coin, which I found in some of his possessions after he died 2+ years ago. Coincidentally, it was that event that really caused my sister to spin out of control and become a full-fledged addict. She's been clean for 1 year now, attending NA and treatment.

Anyways, I thought that it might make a nice gift, but then again, if my father's death precipitated/coincided with her fall, maybe it would be a bad idea.

Anon, for my sister's sake.