To give my son a bedroom with no windows?

[midori1999]

I can't really see any reason why I would be, but it just doesn't seem right to me.

We have a 5th 'bedroom' over our garage. It's an insulated, large room, just like our other bedrooms except no window and no radiator, but a heater on the wall. It's not cold in there, but a bit cool if the door is closed all the time and the heater off. (few degrees cooler than the rest of the house, the same as the rest of the house if the door is open)

When we moved in DS1 (16) asked if he could have it as his bedroom. I said no. However, I have to admit that it would make sense to properly use that room, so I'm thinking of relenting.

So, WIBU to let my DS1 use this room as a bedroom?

All habitable rooms must have a window.

I doubt it is even legal.

Squeaky it isn't according to current regs plus it is so so dangerous and unhealthy!

You'd put in a fire door.

Window also needs to open 600mm or 450 mm in rooms not so high up. I would think over a garage with no other means of fire escape it would need to be 600

As well as a window. Building regs are always being updated. There may be specific requirements for a bedroom over a garage.

Regs don't actually apply to you when you are living in the house though - just when you are building or selling it. My husband used to live in the attic of his mums house - it did have a window and floor, but no staircase, just a stepladder thing. She wasn't allowed to sell the house whilst describing it as a bedroom, but when you are in your house you can sleep in whichever room you like. Nothing to stop you sleeping in the loo, or on the stairs if you feel like it.

I'm not saying it is a WISE idea, just that building regs don't actually prevent an owner from using a room for a non-described purpose.

No. But making sure it meets building regs means it can be sold as a bedroom which increases value and ensures that it's actually safe.

Sounds a bit Flowers in the Attic to me.

There are always windows at our local tip, which would make installing one a lot cheaper. As well as the fire safety issue, it would absolutely reek, and would be warm and airless in summer.

My brother lived in a friends windowless (unconverted) loft for a couple of months and found the complete lack of natural light a problem. He never knew what time of day it was, he found it disorientating and gloomy.

Not meaning to hijack thread, but if you have a downstairs room in a bungalow with a window that you use as a bedroom, but you want to section off half of the room to make an office by putting in a partition wall (and adding another door to the 'office' from the hallway), do you then need a window for the newly created office if you are already living in the house (as opposed to building it, or trying to sell it).

Have considered just leaving the office open to the hallway (putting in a door frame but no door), so it's like a giant alcove off the hallway, but don't really like the idea of being able to see all the office stuff from the hall.

Thanks. I didn't think of the fire risk tbh. (embarrassing as just done a fire safety course... ) Obviously that makes it a definite no no. There is ventilation in the room, extractor fans/air vents, but obviously that's irrelevant now.

We can't put a window in as it's forces accommodation. The whole house is a bit odd as there's no window to our en suite either, nor in the upstairs landing.

Never mind.

Thanks. That's what it is at the moment, there's a TV, play station etc in there. We had hoped that additional space would mean that DSs 1 and 2 might agree to share, as they'd have the extra space too, but they don't want to.

Smelly teenage boy in a windowless room. Hmmm.
Well, it's your call !!

Sounds like a daft idea to me, illegal or not.