We have 2 kids (ages 11 and 8) and we are moving cross country next month. One of the houses we are looking at has the master bedroom on the first floor and the kids bedrooms in the basement. I've always been on the same floor as my kids so this feels a little weird. If they were younger it would be a definite no but at their ages, I think it's doable. We thought about having a monitor outside their rooms on at night so if they need us we could hear them. Anyone in the same situation or have any thoughts on this?
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I wouldn't be worried about it based on their ages (they would easily be able to find you in the night) but I don't like bedrooms in the basement that aren't for guests for resale and flow.
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@JMOM: We finally moved into to the 3rd floor master in my house a few months ago. My kids (4 and 6) sleep on the 2nd floor. It took a bit for me to get used to it but it’s been fine overall. I think I would feel weirder about the bedrooms being in the basement than sleeping on separate floors.
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Where we live (Texas) it’s standard for the master bedroom to be on the ground floor and all the other bedrooms upstairs. We can still definitely hear someone upstairs, but you can certainly install a monitor outside their rooms to be sure.
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We are on the main and the kids are upstairs. We definitely will use monitors for a while (ages 6, 3.75, 1.75) because we can’t hear them otherwise and they all call for us if there’s an issue, instead of leaving their rooms.
Does the basement have big windows or a door (thinking fire escape).
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My biggest concerns - is it a walkout basement? Meaning could they potentially go outside without you knowing; and are they legal bedrooms as in have windows that fully open in case of fire?
I wouldn't have an issue being on separate floors, but I think I'd rather it be where they were on a 2nd floor and us on 1st.
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@josina: It is a walkout basement. They are legal bedrooms - they have really big windows so they are nice and light filled, which you don't often get in basement bedrooms. There is no burglar alarms so that might be something to look into.
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@Mrs. Champagne: Yes, they do have big windows in all the rooms. None of the bedrooms have outside doors, as well as I can tell from the online pics but our realtor is going out today to do a walk through and FaceTime us. Buying in another state during a pandemic is not the easiest thing.
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@crazydoglady: It's not my favorite layout, for sure, but it is well built and we wouldn't have to do anything to it upon move in which we haven't really found in our search so far.
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Thinking ahead to when they're teenagers.... my parents let my little brother move to the bedroom of our walk out basement when he got high school aged. He would sneak out of the house all. of. the. time. I still can't believe my parents were so blind. But he was the 4th child so.....
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@JMOM: We have a walkout basement and our 16 year old moved downstairs this year, which is fine. We do have alarms on our doors so they screech whenever someone goes in/out - which is a must with toddlers that like to escape.
I'd look into something like that if you purchase that house just so you know when they are going in/out.
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@Mommy Finger: That's hilarious! I'll keep that in the back of my mind for teen years. Getting an alarm system is sounding better and better.
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@JMOM: We had one!!!! That's the best part! And you could set it to ding or screech like @josina: said. But my parents thought it was annoying and didn't set it.
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@MommyFinger My parents live in a house where their driveway is same level with their neighbor's walkout basement. The kids sneak out ALL the time bc my parents has a security camera that dings facing their driveway and they get it in the middle of the night when the kids use their driveway and then cross over to the walkout basement. Their dad is in the technology field and I wonder why he doesn't put anything in the basement door area
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I feel totally fine with this for children that age. Our home is wired for a home alarm system although we don't have one. But every time an exterior door opens or closes it dings and I can hear that. So I think I would want that function for peace of mind.
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@JMOM: We built a house with a first floor master and second story nursery when our son was 15 months. It was no problem at all. It’s an open concept house so we can absolutely hear him without a monitor, and we have never felt like he’s very far away. We’ve been here 3 years now!
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The house I grew up in had the master bedroom downstairs and all the other bedrooms upstairs. It make it harder to sneak out at night as a teen
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I would be 100% ok with this. Wouldn’t even pause. In our area it is a super common set up!
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@SugarplumsMom: Yeah, that's my preferred set up but I think we'll end up switched.
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@bees_knees: Thanks for your input. I'm a little nervous but I think I'm being a bit helicopter - y.
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@JMOM: fwiw in our old house we had 6 bedrooms (it sounds like it was a mansion but it wasn’t
), 3 on the main level and 3 in the basement. The master was on the main level along with bedrooms for our then infant and 2 year old. Our 4 year old slept downstairs. It was weird for like a week and that was it!
In our current home the master is on the main level with three bedrooms (for our 4 children) on the second floor. Also a non issue!
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I've been thinking about this. I would be completely okay with the master on the first floor and the other bedrooms upstairs on the second floor - in fact that would be my preferred layout. But the basement makes me feel a bit nervous, I dislike the idea of an exterior door near kid bedrooms while I am on a different floor. And I definitely had friends who would sneak out of their daylight basement while growing up.
That said, I would still consider it if it were otherwise a great fit. We had to make a lot of compromises when we were house hunting and I have come to terms with them almost two years in.
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I think there are a lot of good comments above on layout. I would personally be ok with the logistics of it, given the kids ages. Have they tested the radon levels and / or is there a working radon mitigation system? Long story but a friend had an issue with their system in Denver and the basement levels ended up being quite high. I’m far from an expert on that kind of thing but maybe worth asking the realtor about. Good luck with the move!
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@charlotte: yeah, radon test is a must. One of our previous houses had a radon test when we sold and it tested high so we had to put in a mitigation system. We hadn’t even heard of radon before that.
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@catgirl: I agree, it makes me a bit nervous, too. We’re taking the long view on this one because it will be perfect for retirement (which is coming up fast for us). It has had some modifications made for older people like wider entry to shower and some pull bars, but everything is extremely well done.
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We just moved I to a house with a first floor master and our two kids (3 and 6) are on the 2nd floor. We have a baby monitor for the 3 year old but I’m not too worried about the 6 year old. Also, I’d put a door alarm on the door in the basement. It just a contact sensor that plays music or chines when you open the door. You put the sensors on the door and then you plug it in where you want to hear it.
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@ShootingStar: I'll look for the contact sensors. We're going to put in a security system of some kind, although we haven't had time to look into it yet.
I'd look into something like that if you purchase that house just so you know when they are going in/out.
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