Square footage per person in a residential home?

[Dftodd]

I don't think a 2000sf one level home is too big for 2 bedrooms / baths and 3 people. I kinda glanced around here at home and I would put the minimum at 2400sf for what you describe.

We are all different in what amount of space we like...

I guess it's really based on perspective.

We had a 2000 sqft home that was 3 beds, two baths.

Master bedroom was huge, second guest bedroom was perfect for a queen sized bed.

Last bedroom was perfect for a small kids bedroom or office. We actually used it as an office with a day bed in there.

We sold that place and had a 1340 sqft rental house that was 3 bed, 2 bath.

Master bedroom was 12x15 and was perfect for our needs. Nice walking in closet attached to the master bathroom.

2 bedrooms on the other side of the home. One was used as a guest bedroom. And the other was an office with a day bed.

We're fix8ng to build a 2 bed 2 bath home that's around 1300 sqft.

Bedrooms are about the same size as the rental. But more living space for the kitchen, dining, and living areas.

The average sized home popping up in the new sub divisions range between 1200 and 1800sqft w/ 3 to 4 bedrooms.

 

[Sigarms]

Ken

There's more boilers in NC than I would have thought when I first moved to NC, particularly on the commercial side. Oil furnaces are however dying. That said, when I moved to NC, heat pumps were pretty nonexistent up north 20 years ago.

When we lived with my grandmother, remember the coal boiler in the basement and how the coal truck would deliver the coal with dropping a chute through the basement window directly into the "coal room". Have to remember, lived in a anthracite coal town, and both my grandmothers husbands worked in the coal mines (both died early in age given todays standards). The only grandmother I knew on my moms side was one tough woman.

 

[Sigarms]

I guess it's really based on perspective.

We had a 2000 sqft home that was 3 beds, two baths.

Master bedroom was huge, second guest bedroom was perfect for a queen sized bed.

Last bedroom was perfect for a small kids bedroom or office. We actually used it as an office with a day bed in there.

We sold that place and had a 1340 sqft rental house that was 3 bed, 2 bath.

Master bedroom was 12x15 and was perfect for our needs. Nice walking in closet attached to the master bathroom.

2 bedrooms on the other side of the home. One was used as a guest bedroom. And the other was an office with a day bed.

We're fix8ng to build a 2 bed 2 bath home that's around 1300 sqft.

Bedrooms are about the same size as the rental. But more living space for the kitchen, dining, and living areas.

The average sized home popping up in the new sub divisions range between 1200 and 1800sqft w/ 3 to 4 bedrooms.

After looking at that 1,900 sq ft house Sunday and walking it in person, I do think we can get by easily with 1,500 sq ft home for my wife and I and MIL, along with a guest.

As others have said and what we noticed Sunday, is that layout of the space is key.

The house we looked at also had 7 acres, but the land wasn't laid out very good in our opinion for use with a very small lawn. Did have a detached garage along with a 2 car garage which we did like though.

 

[BackRoad]

I know you're pretty savvy Mr. Sig.

Everything needs to be evaluated based on the perspective of being in a wheelchair. That will then typically be sufficient to also support use of a cane or walker as time progresses.

That includes egress into the house.

One key area typically limiting is clearances and wheelchair maneuver space in the bathrooms for the toilet and bathtubs.

Gets a little sketchy having to climb over a tub side in order to shower when you're 105.

 

[EddieWalker]

My house is 1,400 square feet. I've been working on making it 2,600 square feet. We have three bathrooms, and that seems to be about right for the two of us. Odd how nice an extra bathroom is!!!

In my opinion, there is never enough storage in a house.

Open Concept is great, but it's usually poorly framed. I can't even count how many homes that I've been in with cracks in the sheetrock or crown molding that is caused by undersized lumber in the roof.

I think being able to see the TV from the kitchen is very important. My wife and I enjoy watching TV together, even when she is in the kitchen.

You can't have too much counter space in the kitchen.

Attached garage for carrying stuff into the house and not having to deal with what's happening outdoors. I think 10 foot wide doors are just right. 9 foot is tight, even with a small car. 16 foot is just about useless for two cars, and a lot of open space for one car. My garage is 42 feet wide with three separate 10 foot doors. This gives us a lot of room for the doors to open on each side of our vehicles, and also have shelves on the walls for storage. I think I got that perfect, it's really worked out well for us, even though it's not done yet, and I have stuff spread out all over the place to work on the rest of the house, it's still really nice!!!!

I like a small master bedroom. I think it's silly to have a bunch of space in a room that is just used for sleeping in. But you can never have too big of a closet.

I put my washer and dryer in my master bedroom closet. Eventually I'm going to have a second master closet. Not so much a his and hers, but just more room to store stuff.

The master bathroom should have a room with a door for the toilet. No need to share everything you do with each other!!!! We actually use two different bathrooms. My wife has the master, I use the hall bathroom. It's right outside the master, so it's just as easy to use either one, but super nice not having her "stuff" in my way.

I have carpet, wood and tile floors. Eventually I will only have tile floors. The tile is "grippy" which is great for our dogs to not slip, but also good for us to not slip. Nothing cleans easier then tile floors!!!

HVAC has to be in an easy to access area. Same with the Water Heater. I wouldn't even consider a house that has these things in the attic.

I made the mistake of going all electric. When I lost power during an ice storm, it got VERY COLD in my house. I installed a wood stove and feel that everybody should have a second source of heat.

Same thing with a generator. I'm still using a portable gas generator, but that will change eventually to a whole house generator.

Kids bedrooms should be 12x10 or a little bigger. A lot of homes will make them 10x10, which is minimum Code for a lot of areas, but that's just too small.

A office is something that's become more and more important to us since my wife now works almost totally from home since Covid. I guess a really good internet connection should be considered when moving. Ours is barely good enough to Zoom, but we have to turn off other devices that are using the internet for it to work properly.

Door width can be an issue. Especially for a bathroom. Seems like it was very popular to make bathroom doors 24 inches for a period of time. I have clients that have gotten older and require Walkers to get around, and they cannot get into their bathroom with the Walker. I think ADA is 32 inches. In my opinion, every door should be 36 inches.

When we finish our addition, the front door is going to be 42 inches wide. 36 inches is normal for front doors, but always a pain to get things through. French Doors are better for this, but they suck for sealing, and over time, they always loosen up. I personally hate French Doors and would never own them.

Water spigots all around the house. Seems like most houses are lucky to have one in back and one in front. They are also very hard to find. Same with outdoor outlets. At least one on every outside wall!! We've also become big fans of outdoor lights. Some are on switches that we usually leave on all night. Others are Dusk to Dawn that allow us to look outside a window when the dogs start barking. We've started putting installing security cameras, and the long term goal is to have a full blown set of cameras all around the house that we can record everything on to see what happens when we are not here.

Be sure to have a main water line valve somewhere before the house. Just about every house I work on relies on the valve on the meter to turn off the water. Depending on how far back the house is from the road, that can be a VERY LONG run when you need to turn off the water in a hurry. I have a valve in the ground just outside my house, but when doing my addition, I put another valve in the wall, behind a door. You never see it, but it sure is nice to turn off the water without having to go outside and reach into the ground. A lot of homes with PEX have something like this.

If possible, have the electrical panel on an open wall in the garage. Too many older homes have it in the master closet, which can be a pain to get to. Even worse is having it outside!!!

Just about every leak in a roof is caused by a vent or something going through the roof. The fewer the better. Next area of concern are the valleys. Leaves build up in them and create dams that force water under the shingles and eventually causes a leak. Dormers are also a huge issue. They accomplish nothing, but always require maintenance. The most common issue is where the siding touches the shingles. I have made a lot of money fixing dormers!!!!

For us, the back porch is our favorite place to hang out. It's 16 feet deep and 24 feet wide. I made the porch a lot smaller when I built the house and it was worthless. I couldn't imagine having a smaller porch, and bigger would be better, but this works for the two of us.

I've spent years looking at my floor plan. I can go months without seeing an issue, then something pops up that I have to change. Recently, it was the swing of a door for the pantry. I just keep looking at it and making notes so I wont forget what I need to do when I get to that point. I think it's really amazing how slow my brain is, and how much I change things over the years.

 

[Oaktree]

In my opinion, there is never enough storage in a house.

Open Concept is great, but it's usually poorly framed. I can't even count how many homes that I've been in with cracks in the sheetrock or crown molding that is caused by undersized lumber in the roof.

I think being able to see the TV from the kitchen is very important. My wife and I enjoy watching TV together, even when she is in the kitchen.

I've always strongly disliked the whole "open concept" that's become a fad lately. My wife and I are both retired, and both enjoy our "space" so a number of smaller rooms is our preference. No need or desire to watch tv from the kitchen.

Agree on storage...the amount of "stuff" always expands to meet the space available.

If possible, have the electrical panel on an open wall in the garage. Too many older homes have it in the master closet, which can be a pain to get to. Even worse is having it outside!!!

My wife was watching one of those house flipper tv shows the other day and the dufii (plural of dufus) who were doing it moved the panel outside. WTF?? I can't imagine how anyone would think that was a good idea.
Ours, like most houses in New England has the panel in the basement.

Of course, when your house is almost 200 years old as ours is, you kinda get what you get...

 

[ultrarunner]

My house is 1,400 square feet. I've been working on making it 2,600 square feet. We have three bathrooms, and that seems to be about right for the two of us. Odd how nice an extra bathroom is!!!

In my opinion, there is never enough storage in a house.

Open Concept is great, but it's usually poorly framed. I can't even count how many homes that I've been in with cracks in the sheetrock or crown molding that is caused by undersized lumber in the roof.

I think being able to see the TV from the kitchen is very important. My wife and I enjoy watching TV together, even when she is in the kitchen.

You can't have too much counter space in the kitchen.

Attached garage for carrying stuff into the house and not having to deal with what's happening outdoors. I think 10 foot wide doors are just right. 9 foot is tight, even with a small car. 16 foot is just about useless for two cars, and a lot of open space for one car. My garage is 42 feet wide with three separate 10 foot doors. This gives us a lot of room for the doors to open on each side of our vehicles, and also have shelves on the walls for storage. I think I got that perfect, it's really worked out well for us, even though it's not done yet, and I have stuff spread out all over the place to work on the rest of the house, it's still really nice!!!!

I like a small master bedroom. I think it's silly to have a bunch of space in a room that is just used for sleeping in. But you can never have too big of a closet.

I put my washer and dryer in my master bedroom closet. Eventually I'm going to have a second master closet. Not so much a his and hers, but just more room to store stuff.

The master bathroom should have a room with a door for the toilet. No need to share everything you do with each other!!!! We actually use two different bathrooms. My wife has the master, I use the hall bathroom. It's right outside the master, so it's just as easy to use either one, but super nice not having her "stuff" in my way.

I have carpet, wood and tile floors. Eventually I will only have tile floors. The tile is "grippy" which is great for our dogs to not slip, but also good for us to not slip. Nothing cleans easier then tile floors!!!

HVAC has to be in an easy to access area. Same with the Water Heater. I wouldn't even consider a house that has these things in the attic.

I made the mistake of going all electric. When I lost power during an ice storm, it got VERY COLD in my house. I installed a wood stove and feel that everybody should have a second source of heat.

Same thing with a generator. I'm still using a portable gas generator, but that will change eventually to a whole house generator.

Kids bedrooms should be 12x10 or a little bigger. A lot of homes will make them 10x10, which is minimum Code for a lot of areas, but that's just too small.

A office is something that's become more and more important to us since my wife now works almost totally from home since Covid. I guess a really good internet connection should be considered when moving. Ours is barely good enough to Zoom, but we have to turn off other devices that are using the internet for it to work properly.

Door width can be an issue. Especially for a bathroom. Seems like it was very popular to make bathroom doors 24 inches for a period of time. I have clients that have gotten older and require Walkers to get around, and they cannot get into their bathroom with the Walker. I think ADA is 32 inches. In my opinion, every door should be 36 inches.

When we finish our addition, the front door is going to be 42 inches wide. 36 inches is normal for front doors, but always a pain to get things through. French Doors are better for this, but they suck for sealing, and over time, they always loosen up. I personally hate French Doors and would never own them.

Water spigots all around the house. Seems like most houses are lucky to have one in back and one in front. They are also very hard to find. Same with outdoor outlets. At least one on every outside wall!! We've also become big fans of outdoor lights. Some are on switches that we usually leave on all night. Others are Dusk to Dawn that allow us to look outside a window when the dogs start barking. We've started putting installing security cameras, and the long term goal is to have a full blown set of cameras all around the house that we can record everything on to see what happens when we are not here.

Be sure to have a main water line valve somewhere before the house. Just about every house I work on relies on the valve on the meter to turn off the water. Depending on how far back the house is from the road, that can be a VERY LONG run when you need to turn off the water in a hurry. I have a valve in the ground just outside my house, but when doing my addition, I put another valve in the wall, behind a door. You never see it, but it sure is nice to turn off the water without having to go outside and reach into the ground. A lot of homes with PEX have something like this.

If possible, have the electrical panel on an open wall in the garage. Too many older homes have it in the master closet, which can be a pain to get to. Even worse is having it outside!!!

Just about every leak in a roof is caused by a vent or something going through the roof. The fewer the better. Next area of concern are the valleys. Leaves build up in them and create dams that force water under the shingles and eventually causes a leak. Dormers are also a huge issue. They accomplish nothing, but always require maintenance. The most common issue is where the siding touches the shingles. I have made a lot of money fixing dormers!!!!

For us, the back porch is our favorite place to hang out. It's 16 feet deep and 24 feet wide. I made the porch a lot smaller when I built the house and it was worthless. I couldn't imagine having a smaller porch, and bigger would be better, but this works for the two of us.

I've spent years looking at my floor plan. I can go months without seeing an issue, then something pops up that I have to change. Recently, it was the swing of a door for the pantry. I just keep looking at it and making notes so I wont forget what I need to do when I get to that point. I think it's really amazing how slow my brain is, and how much I change things over the years.

Pocket doors were a thing here as sliding closet doors…

Both tend to require attention… especially in rentals.

The 1920’s homes here all have 42” front doors that I have come to appreciate because the 36 doors always get beat when moving in and out.

 

[Sigarms]

Agree on storage...the amount of "stuff" always expands to meet the space available.

You're 100% correct, which is the exact reason why we're looking for smaller, not larger.

And as you get older, other then medical supplies, the question becomes why you need more "stuff" to accumulate? newsflash, you're going to die and then other people have to deal with your crap, which is a pain in the butt

After my wife and mother had to deal with her fathers "stuff" and my wife and I had to deal with my fathers "stuff", small is better because you don't need a lot of crap sitting around that you've collected that really doesn't do anything for you in our opinion.

 

[ning]

I agree with Eddie on 10x12 kids rooms... in fact, I suspect every bedroom can be about that size, nobody in my family spends much time in their bedroom. We joke that a Norwegian forest cabin with sleeping nooks would be sufficient for us (most of the time it would be, too, except when serious privacy is needed ).

I think how much room a house needs has a lot to do with the people in it. We're the type who don't bug each other and for the most part can easily do our own thing in a room with others, thus the lack of need for large bedrooms. I personally would prefer to put space into a big kitchen and living room and a separate den, which is where the TV goes. An office is good these days too. I know people who need multiple rooms with TVs because they want TV running all the time and not necessarily the same thing as another person; if I lived with them... well I'd probably need a 1BR cabin somewhat separate from the main house!

My wife and I are going to downsize soon-ish, and I hope to find somewhere new and build. What comes to mind is our first house - three decent bedrooms (one which would be an office now, as it was then - our kids were being born or very small then and in the same room together), two baths, good sized kitchen with dining area, big living room.

Layout is key to making smaller spaces work, though it's less important with fewer people of course.

 

[ericm979]

The house we're building has a lot of those ideas in it. 36" wide doors, big kitchen/dining/living room, smaller bedrooms. Our current house has a large master bedroom and a small living room which is backwards from how we live. The two secondary bedrooms will be our offices as there's an ADU for guests. We're both retired but we each have a bunch of books and computer gear.

It'll be all electric but we'll also have solar and either batteries and the ability to top them up from a generator during extended outages, or a whole house generator if the batteries are too expensive. The power there isn't as unreliable as it is in my part of CA but they have been importing some bad ideas from California power companies and that caused a lot of outages this summer.