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Dvira - Interior Design Toronto You would need to work with a local real estate agent to find out the value. You can also look at the comparables here:
http://www.trulia.com/property/3105560419-Condo-New-York-NY-10128

Interiors International, Inc. You can expect an average return of 80% or more on adding a new bath. In your case with one being an on-suite bath I think you will be on the higher end.

wmpj It looks like if you create the two bathrooms, they would both be rather small. I like the idea of having a larger bathroom. If your home had only 1.5 bathrooms, then I would say add another bathroom.

acaba As a recent homebuyer, I think having the mater bath to be on the larger side is a big plus. And this is coming from someone who does not want a tub in the master.
We also bought a 4 bed, 2.5 bath house. We are adding a shower to the half bath by stealing space from the bedroom closets that are on the other side of the half bath wall.
So, I think extra bath does add value, but at expense of a smaller master bath may not be such a good idea.

abigail822 I wouldn't remove a tub from a hall bath. A master bath with no tub is ok.

If you are renovating before you move in, make your decision based on your family's needs now--rather than guessing about some future buyer's needs.

rogerc Thank you Dvira.

We actually bought the home over a year ago (the renovation has taken much longer than we had hoped), so I hadn't thought about calling our realtor... I may do that.

rogerc Thank you Interiors International.

Your estimate seems fairly close to some data I found subsequent to posting my question. Remodeling Magazine's cost vs. value research can be found here... http://www.remodeling.hw.net/2009/costvsvalue/national.aspx .

Of course, I now realize there's more to be considered than just resale value. Property taxes will increase, but on the other hand; competitive 'sellability' is probably greatly enhanced. All things considered, it's looking like a good idea.

Deborah Butler, Brickwood Builders New cost vs value report is scheduled to be online on 1/17/2013.

rogerc Thank you wmpj.

Yes, the two baths would be small, but they would basically act as private baths for the adjacent two bedrooms (one on-suite, the other just across the hall). I think future potential buyers with children might see this as a plus. In our case, the baths would be used by visiting guests... (eliminating the minor inconvenience of having to wait for an available single bath).

rogerc Thank you acaba.

We are thinking alike. The bedroom shown in my sketch is actually not our master bedroom. It's a guest bedroom. The new master bathroom is on the larger size at 11' x 17' (without including the adjacent walk-in closet).

rogerc Thank you Abigail822.

Our thought about losing the tub from the hall bath was that no one in our household ever uses a tub... and since the master bath does have a stand-alone tub, there is one in the house should it ever actually be needed. So I guess we were somewhat already following your good advice about designing for our own needs. (We added the tub to the master bath purely for the look).

Then again (my incessant over-thinking kicking in)... future potential home buyers with young children might want a tub on that side of the house (master bath is on the opposite side). So now I'm thinking, if we're going to do this, we might as well try keeping the tub when considering going to the two-bath plan.

The tub shown in this sketch might be nice. It being 60" long, we'd have to move the wall at the back of the hall linen cabinets closer toward the hall, giving up about 9" of cabinet depth from the back of the linen closet to make it all fit. They are floor-to-ceiling cabinets, so I hate to give up so much storage, but maybe we could make up at least some of that with additional cabinetry over the toilets. (Changing all cabintery throughout the house is already in the plan).

Does this plan look too cramped?

abigail822 Yes.It looks like a cruise ship. How about making the second bathroom (not the hall one) a Powder room?

rogerc Thank you Abigail822.

I do see how your suggestion would help with room size, but there's already a powder room elsewhere in the house and one of the reasons we're considering going to this two-bath design is so that the fourth bedroom will have its own bath... we have an elderly mother we may want to have live with us someday. An on-suite full bath would be nice for her.

rogerc It looks to me like this revised plan might offer just a bit more of an open feeling. Although it's only 7'8" long (not counting the extra foot at the recess for the doorway), does this seem adequate for a main house bath room?

Dytecture Is it possible to show more of the floor plan? This isn't related to the bathroom but the closet for the fourth bedroom looks out of place and seems like an after thought.

rogerc Thank you Dytecture. Good catch! In the current state, that doorway is now a built-in linen cabinet in the bathroom. I plan to take it out to allow access to the bath through the bedroom. Your comment made me realize I put the passage door on the wrong wall.

Any thoughts on the bathrooms? 'Before' sketch...

rogerc I can't get the 'After' sketch to appear on my screen in its entirety in the above post, so I'm reposting... here's the 'After' sketch (corrected for the passage door) ....

abigail822 If you are planning for an elderly parent to live with you, be sure there is enough room for her to use a walker and turn around and that there is sufficient room to have a commode with arms placed over the toilet. It is amazing how even one foot expansion is a huge change. Can you move that 4th bedroom closet to a chiffarobe? Or have the closet elsewhere?

Also the elderly usually use a walk in shower with enough room to add a portable or permanent shower seat. Don't forget the grab bars! Horizontal grab bars can double as towel rods. They make extremely attractive grab bars now.

J B Space seems too tight for two baths. I agree with someone else's comment, removing a tub from a hall bath is a bigger deal. That would be the kids' bathroom for any family buying your house, and a bathtub is a must with young kids.

One option for some increased privacy would be a jack and jill bathroom. I've attached a crude powerpoint sketch.

Frank Webb's Bath and Lighting Center If you have an elderly parent who may move in with you I would suggest remodeling the bathroom with aging in place accommodations, two tiny bathrooms will not be of any use if there is an elderly person who needs help on the shower or bath!

rogerc Thank you abigail822. I appreciate your advice.

Several folks indicated they thought the hall bath was too small, so I’ve bumped the wall between the two bathrooms 4” further toward the on-suite bath, making the hall bath 8’ long by 6’7” wide. It’s still not a large bath, but it seems functional… at least from looking at it as a drawing. (I’m not sure this is the better use of the space because of what it does to the on-suite bathroom and may shift it back).

Unfortunately, the closet can’t really be relocated due to window locations in the fourth bedroom.

To maximize the on-suite bathroom space, I’ve changed the shower to an open, curb-less design, with only a curtain on the semi-circle shower and no glass surround. I’m envisioning the mosaic tile bathroom floor to transition seamlessly into the pitch of the shower floor. Yes, it still seems a bit small and I may just give up on the idea of fitting two bathrooms into the space, but I’m wondering with this last change if it might be large enough. The on-suite bathroom is 6’6” x 6’ 7” with the shower area itself being 3’ 6”.

I’ve added the grab bars and added a seat in the shower as you suggested.

rogerc Thank you JB.

I agreed with your thought that a kids’ bath might be important for resale and had already added a small tub back into the hall bath. The tub is 60” long. I was hoping to fit two full baths in the space, but if folks here still think my revised plan doesn’t quite work, I may settle for a jack and jill configuration.

rogerc Thank you Frank Webb’s Bath and Lighting Center.

We had hoped to make a private on-suite bath in the fourth bedroom for our mother. If she should ever need a larger bath, she could use the hall bath. We’re thinking the hall bath in my latest sketch might be large enough for an elderly person needing assistance, if the smaller one didn’t work. We’re really trying to achieve two private baths for that side of the house... hopefully we’re still being practical.

abigail822 A tub in the hall could be important to your family, too, if you had house guests who needed or preferred a tub and you didn't want them tropping through your room. In my own experience, I am thinking of foreign exchange students, guests with children, puttng up singing exchange student, etc.

I mentioned before about making the ensuite a powder room. Even for an elderly person, the biggest need is a toilet and sink. As you suggested yourself, the elderly person would probably use the hall bath. A jack and Jill bath is another good solution.

Having a European "shower room" is good for a wheelchair bound person, but can be a slippery mess for someone who may be using a cane or a walker.

You could also make the bathrooms exactly how your family would use them and make the shower the size of a bathtub and swap the shower for a tub at such time as you put the house on the market. Ditto for the bathroom remodel. If you can delay a little and live in the house for a while, your vision may change.

The only thing you are losing by not completing the remodel before moving in, is the construction aggravation. If you do everything else, have a rapport with your builder, the rest can be done while you are gone In my experience, it is better to be around because of the stupid, careless things that can go on with workmen in your house. (plus ownership stuff like watching the heat, locking the doors, doing things in an order that is logical for you, being able to catch things and make those adjustments the builders hate or the builders would have missed.