Convert bathroom into pantry?

[TC]

One.

[Oren]

Make a pantry and a happy wife. Allow yourself the ability; later, to convert back to a half bath. Disclose this in any future sale, or negotiate an allowance for a buyer to convert the space. They might even like the pantry.

-- Oren

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. Thomas A. Edison

[Steve Barker]

In a pantry?

[Eigenvector]

Yeah what he said. Why would you need ANY recepticles in a pantry?

[gfretwell]

Certainly he could blank off any non-conformimg receptacles while he is capping the pliumbing. ... or just ignore the code. Don't shoot the messenger

[Not]

I cannot recall a real estate add that listed a pantry as a feature, even for homes that I know have pantries. Its not uncommon around here to convert a pantry into a half-bath, as many of these older homes are multi-story with no bath on the main floor. I think life styles have changed and people no longer buy the large quantities of food that they used to, so we no longer need pantries. Even modern kitchens lack what I feel is sufficient storage space, and I think that is because people want preparation or eating space, and it is so common in many places to go out to dinner, or at least order in. My son and his wife live in California and in all the visits we have made there, she has cooked a meal only once; we almost always go out.

So I would give a lot of thought as to just what you would need a pantry for, before spending the money on tearing out a half-bath, and almost certainly reducing your equity in your home.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

It depends very much on the age of the homes. Here (Rochester NY), there are tons of very nice homes built between 1900 and 1950, many of which contain very nice pantries. They are frequently mentioned in real estate ads, along with pictures. Sometimes a pantry is nothing but a walk-in closet. Others are more like a room, and can be very useful when planned correctly.

[TC]

I spoke with a real estate agent that I know. He said for me (in central FL), this would not hurt the value of my home and also said "in many cases, it's a very good selling point". Our kitchen is small with virtually no storage space. We do not buy alot of food, but with pots/pans, crockpots, pancake griddle and so on, we have very little room.

I have to admit, pantries seem to be limited in central FL, but at every house that did have one, it was listed as a selling feature.

[Eigenvector]

No, not intended to start a scrap here.

If I was converting a bathroom to a closet or pantry, I'd pull the wiring. I figure that capping it off would work, but it would be capped off for decades where-as the wiring could be used someone else - so might as well pull it and re-deploy somewhere else.

[Phisherman]

Well, overall this would de-value the house. The number of baths, number of bedrooms, and square footage are basic in determining value. If you plan on staying there it really doesn't matter. Strange, when you add a bathroom it may increase your property tax, but when you take away a bathroom your property tax will stay the same. To find out approximately how much your house will devalue, contact a real-estate representative.

[Teresa Hall]

replying to yourname, Teresa Hall wrote: This is a good idea!