A way out
Before the bed, the exit. Whoever sleeps down there must be able to get out through an operable opening that belongs to that room alone. Measurements for the window and the well are on egress window installation.
Basement Bedroom in West Valley City
Typical cost in West Valley City
- One bedroom with a closet, about 120-150 sq ft, egress already in place$6,000 – $13,000+
- One bedroom with a new egress window and well$9,500 – $20,000+
West Valley City Basement Finishing builds basement bedrooms in West Valley City: a framed and finished room with a legal way out, working alarms and the ceiling height the code sets, not just a space with a bed in it. This page covers the room, and the window and well have their own page on egress window installation.
We work in West Valley City, Magna and Kearns. About 72 percent of West Valley City homes are owner-occupied and about 74 percent are single-family, and a bedroom for a teenager, a guest or a relative moving in is the kind of room this page is about. The written estimate is free.
What makes a basement room a bedroom
Ceiling height
Seven feet is the minimum ceiling for living space below grade, with room for a beam, girder or duct to hang as low as 6 feet 4 inches. A basement that falls short cannot become a habitable bedroom, which is why the tape measure comes out before the floor plan does.
Alarms
Where a permit is needed for an alteration, the alarms are placed as they would be in a new house. For smoke that means one inside each sleeping room, one outside the sleeping area near the bedrooms and one on every extra story, basements included, all wired to sound together. Carbon monoxide alarms go on every level of the dwelling unit and outside each sleeping area close to the bedrooms.
Room size
A city can publish its own bedroom minimum. Murray, for instance, asks on its basement checklist for 70 square feet and no dimension under 7 by 10 feet, plus a window and a detector. We have no West Valley City figure to quote, so the size gets checked with the Building Inspection Division before framing.
Closet, door and layout
Layout is where a bedroom is decided: which way the door opens, how the bed sits against the window and whether there is a clear path from the bed to the opening. Valley cities ask for floor plans that label each room’s use and show window sizes, so the layout is drawn before framing starts.
Closet sizes and door widths are not covered here. Ask the Building Inspection Division what your plan has to show, and we will draw to it.
Heat and power
A bedroom needs heating and cooling reaching it, and one valley city’s published checklist asks for supply and return air for the basement. West Valley City’s permit list includes altering ductwork and adding or altering electrical circuits, so both are part of the permit.
Outlets and lights go on the electrical plan, and receptacles in the unfinished part of the basement are ground-fault protected under Utah’s amendment.
A room for the household
In West Valley City, about 74 percent of homes are single-family and about 72 percent are owner-occupied, with a median build year of 1985. A basement bedroom is one way a household in a house like that can add a room without moving. It is a project to plan around who will sleep there and how long, since a teenager’s room and a guest room ask different things of the layout.
The room’s requirements are the same either way: a way out, alarms and 7 feet of ceiling.
Questions and answers
Is it illegal to sleep in a basement without an egress window?
In short, no bed without a way out. The residential code gives each basement sleeping room an escape opening, new bedrooms included, but the city rules on any particular room, so ask the Building Inspection Division first.
How big does a basement bedroom have to be?
We do not have a West Valley City figure to give you. Murray’s checklist asks for 70 square feet and 7 by 10 feet, and the Building Inspection Division can tell you what applies here. A bedroom also needs the ceiling height, window and alarms described above.
How much does a basement bedroom cost?
The range on this page is an estimate. The size of the room, the egress window and well, the ducts and circuits to add, the ceiling and the level of finishes all change the price, and we quote after seeing the basement.
Next door to a bedroom there may be a bathroom, and that is on the basement bathroom page. The window is on egress window installation, and the West Valley City Basement Finishing home page has the full list of services.
Request a free basement finishing quote
Tell us where the bedroom would go, how high the ceiling is under the ducts and whether the basement has a window or well there already. We'll get back to you soon with an estimate or any questions we have. Estimates are free and there's no obligation.
Call (385) 481-7973