Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to put in an egress window in case of fire. Would you put your kids in that room? Two exits are good but not helpful if she's in the bedroom sleeping and fire is outside the bedroom. Its probably a few thousand to put one in.

Funny question. Now that our kids are older our teen is begging to go in the basement bedroom (no egress, but a door a fee feet away from the room, I'd say wayyyy easier to escape that any of the upstairs bedrooms). We don't have an alarm, so I'm worried that he would be able to sneak out completely undetected.

You need to rework that space. If there is a fire and someone is sleeping in the bedroom with the door closed and fire is in the main space, they may not be able to get to that door so you either fix the interior wall to give door access or put in an egress. If your teen wants to sneak out, they will either way. I wouldn't put a teen in the basement for a variety of reasons as long as you have enough space for each child to have their own room upstairs. Its easy enough to get camera's and an alarm system and tracker on their phone. Its the fire issue, not sneaking out. If the window is large enough to escape, it might be ok but not with a tiny window.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've only had 3 APs, but all 3 of them asked to move to the "illegal" basement bedroom after moving in. We always tell them it's an option. In our situation, there is an exterior door a few feet away from the bedroom. Still illegal, but it is what they wanted for privacy. None of them ever asked to rematch and we had 2 extensions. So 3 APs over 5 years no issues.

Do you have APs from Asia or the slums of Brazil?
Your set up sounds terrible. The legal room must be really bad.

„The slums from Brazil „? Really what does that even mean? Not very nice!

Anonymous wrote:We've only had 3 APs, but all 3 of them asked to move to the "illegal" basement bedroom after moving in. We always tell them it's an option. In our situation, there is an exterior door a few feet away from the bedroom. Still illegal, but it is what they wanted for privacy. None of them ever asked to rematch and we had 2 extensions. So 3 APs over 5 years no issues.

Do you have APs from Asia or the slums of Brazil?
Your set up sounds terrible. The legal room must be really bad.

Anonymous wrote:You need to put in an egress window in case of fire. Would you put your kids in that room? Two exits are good but not helpful if she's in the bedroom sleeping and fire is outside the bedroom. Its probably a few thousand to put one in.

Funny question. Now that our kids are older our teen is begging to go in the basement bedroom (no egress, but a door a fee feet away from the room, I'd say wayyyy easier to escape that any of the upstairs bedrooms). We don't have an alarm, so I'm worried that he would be able to sneak out completely undetected.

We've only had 3 APs, but all 3 of them asked to move to the "illegal" basement bedroom after moving in. We always tell them it's an option. In our situation, there is an exterior door a few feet away from the bedroom. Still illegal, but it is what they wanted for privacy. None of them ever asked to rematch and we had 2 extensions. So 3 APs over 5 years no issues.

Anonymous wrote:Our last 3 APs asked to see their room after we matched or towards the later stages in the process.
One candidate freaked out their room was in the basement. It is a legal bedroom with 2 windows, full size with a ladder and everything on one of them to climb up; private bath; large walk in closet.

I would try to get it by the agency and home visit; but maybe try a smaller agency. Not CCAP or APIA - they wont accept it and know you will be a rematch PIA if they did as your rematch odds will be like 90% to them.

CCAP won’t refuse you for it. We had a suite with no window egress and they didn’t say a word.

And regarding the “messed up” people who like basements from an earlier poster, nothing is preventing an au pair from using the rest of the house. All of my au pairs loved the privacy of a basement suite.

You need to put in an egress window in case of fire. Would you put your kids in that room? Two exits are good but not helpful if she's in the bedroom sleeping and fire is outside the bedroom. Its probably a few thousand to put one in.

Our last 3 APs asked to see their room after we matched or towards the later stages in the process.
One candidate freaked out their room was in the basement. It is a legal bedroom with 2 windows, full size with a ladder and everything on one of them to climb up; private bath; large walk in closet.

I would try to get it by the agency and home visit; but maybe try a smaller agency. Not CCAP or APIA - they wont accept it and know you will be a rematch PIA if they did as your rematch odds will be like 90% to them.

The agency would not. However if you gave the AP an option, they might choose the room further away from the rest of the family. It may come back to bite you though because it’s technically not legal and APs lie for their advantage in rematch.

Depends on the state. But as previously mentioned no human would want to live without natural sunlight unless they are really messed up.

Six features that define a bedroom
The laws vary by state, but here are six ways you can tell if your room is a bedroom rather than just a “room”:

Minimum square footage: This is the top issue, says Shaun Anders of Douglas Elliman. Although this can vary from state to state, 70 to 80 square feet is generally the acceptable minimum. “Sellers in urban markets such as New York City and Chicago would love 5-by-7[-foot] rooms to qualify as a bedroom, but no go,” says Anders.
Minimum horizontal footage: The minimum square footage doesn’t tell the whole tale. A bedroom must also measure at least 7 feet in any horizontal direction. That is why you can’t call a hallway a bedroom!
Two means of egress: There have to be two ways out of a bedroom. Traditionally, these would be a door and a window. Ekroth adds that in most markets, a skylight would also qualify as that means of egress.
Minimum ceiling height: At least half of the bedroom ceiling has to be at least 7 feet tall.
Minimum window size: The window opening must be a minimum size, usually 5.7 square feet.
A heating and cooling element: We're talking a heater (a space heater won't qualify) as well as a way to cool it down, whether that's by opening a window or good old AC.
Does a bedroom need a closet?
Contrary to popular belief, a bedroom does not have to have a closet to be considered official. (Your significant other might disagree, but legally, at least in most states, it does not.) Closets are expected in newer homes, but older ones might require a more creative approach to stowing your clothes.

If there are two doors it’s egress.

^^ You would basically be sticking the Au Pair in a dungeon.

Why you don't you take that space (more privacy) and give her the upstairs bedroom?

With no window at all highly unlikely.
They may let a window well type window slide (even though legally it is not a bedroom if a firefighter cannot get in with a tank on back).

Even if you got an ap once they made a friend or two they would rematch most likely when they realized how bad their set up was.

You need egress to the outside for fire code reasons.

We are going to start the au pair process soon, but wanted to check on something first. Our basement has a bedroom that is not a legal bedroom; it has two doors exiting to different parts of the basement, but neither goes directly outside (and there is no window) — they lead to hallways/rooms with outside access. Will the agencies approve that for au pair use? Or do we need to remodel the basement to accommodate an au pair? Any insight here is appreciated.