I have a large retangular living room I want to make a bedroom in this space.?

Question

How do I make a bedroom in an existing room? All I need is two more walls to close off the room + a door. What do I ask for at the renovation store. Having no experience in construction is a better if I do it myself or pay to get it done. Id prefer to do it myself its cheaper. I dont want a solid 4inch wall just a simple room maybe with pannels that act as walls.

Answer 1

Joel makes some valid points. Your notion of a renovation store is also valid. I wish there were more of them throughout the country. (not meaning HD or Lowes)

Without knowing at all your plan other than what you describe, or issues that exist currently; such as current flooring; adjacent walls to tie into; ceiling height; heating and AC access in CLOSING a portion of an existing room; etc. etc......You should consider those issues.

If aesthetics; sound insulation; permanence; privacy; etc. ; aren't issues, then why construct anything?

You state "panels" as the substance of the wall. If that's the case; do you intend paneling both sides? Do you intend attaching all of this to adjacent walls? Taking the walls up to the ceiling? Have any concerns about privacy? You could create Theater set walls with 1 x 4's and luan if all you want is to divide a space.

I'd be glad to offer more if you wish, but some more detailed infor might help.

With all due respect, "The customer is always "right" even when they aren't" BUT this being suggested as a possible DIY, might be re-thought. Especially in the sense of a permanent situation.

Steven Wolf

Answer 2

Things to consider before you start hammering would be flooring. If it is carpeted then you will need to remove a strip of carpeting 3 and a half inches wide for your bottom 2x4 on your stud walls. You will need to tack the carpet down with tack strips also. I would stick with 2x4 walls if you could. They are stonger and at a later time you may want electrical outlets, etc. put in. So electrical outlets and a possible light may have to be installed? How about cable for a t.v.. also is there a heat register in this new room. There are lots of things to consider before actually getting started. Also keep in mind sounds both entering the bedroom and ummm sounds coming from the bedroom you may want to put up walls that help deaden the sound. Putting stud walls up is fairly easy but like i said electric, heat and privacy you should consider. Oh ya don't forget that big dresser that goes in there. Door placement should also come into play. And how about closet space. talk ya out of it? Good luck. Take your time and ask the right people you can do it!

Answer 3

It may not be cheaper to do it yourself if you must rent or buy all the tools. But it isn't hard to do.

It sounds like you might prefer to buy some decorative panels. I just saw a Deserving Design show on HGTV this evening with Vern Yip. He decorated a home that was only 400 sq. ft with one main rectangular room. What he did was take a double or queen poster bed and curtain it. He used decorative lanterns with candles for the lights within the bed's area. In the rest of that room he fit a sectional sofa and a dining table and chairs and flat screen tv. This way he achieved a bedroom within a living room using no panels or walls, but it still looked great for the space. And the bed was afforded privacy.

My dad built a bedroom for my daughter out of a "dining/or office area" by filling in an archway, knocking down one wall and pushing it out, and then cutting out a new doorway to the hallway, so this room would look like it had always been a bedroom. This made my two bedroom home into a three bedroom home-the only way I could afford three bedrooms.

You already had some great feedback on actually building the wall, so I won't provide that.
You might want to check to make sure you add electrical outlets for convenience and to meet any codes in your area. It took my dad a while, and most of the time he spent calculating how he could best accomplish it (we built a loft on this new wall and added a linen closet and a front hall closet and a bedroom closet as well while we were at it,) but it can be done. Adding electrical outlets isn't hard, you just buy the wire and work from an existing outlet before you put the drywall up.

The actual materials for 2 x 4's and drywall aren't very expensive, so if I was you, I would give it a go yourself, and if you aren't satisfied with the result, then you can always tear it out or hire someone to do it. But at least you wouldn't always wonder if you could have done it yourself.

One great thing I did was talk to my sister-in-law and mom. My mom thought of the loft and my sister-in-law figured out how to make the room look like a "real" bedroom integral to the house with the hallway door, instead of an obvious makeshift bedroom.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Building a non-load-bearing wall is easy, but finishing drywall so that it doesn't look bad can be a little bit of a challenge.

Do you have carpet to worry about or is it tile/hardwood? Are you on a slab or do you have a crawlspace?

This is probably everything you need to know:

http://www.blackanddecker.com/ProjectCenter/ProjectDetail.aspx?DOC_ID=p_2_76_20148_20169_20207.html

One piece of advice I would add is that if you have the floor space it is easier to build a wall on the ground and then stand it up and attach it by running screws through both the top and the bottom plate.

Having said that, if your time is worth anything and you really haven't done any building/drywall/painting before, you would probably be happier calling in a professional. :-)