Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

If anyone has lived or is living in one, can you tell me the pros and cons of an undormered cape? Two bedrooms on top and two on the bottom- with the two "doggy" windows (I hope that's the term...lol)

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

We didn't end up buying a cape, but we looked at quite a few. Here were some things we noticed.

Pro - Houses were generally cheaper if undormered.
Pro - We would have a chance to do it ourselves, and do it ecactly how we wanted
Con - Dormering can get $$, we might not ever be able to do that kind of renovation
Con - Less light in the upstairs bedroom
Con - Less floor and wall space upstairs

I hope I'm not offending anyone, these are just my opinions.

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

Thanks for your opinion! I hope no one is offended- there are pros and cons with every type of house- it just depends on what you specifically like or are looking for.

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

We didn't buy a cape, but looked at a ton and the only pro for us was the potential. You can really blow out the top and create a new layout of your choice.

The glaring con is, of course, the expense. But to make a cape really work (for us) a full dormer seemed necessary. The capes we looked at had two small bedrooms upstairs with low ceilings and limited closet space. The bedrooms downstairs just felt like they were taking up what needed to be living space.

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

we looked at some capes and i just could not get used to the upper bedrooms. even when they were big, they felt small.

DH and i knew we would not be able to afford to dormer for several years so we knew that we could not buy a cape.

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

we have a undormered cape.

we don't even have doggie windows.. its completely slanted with the pitched ceilings in both bedrooms upstairs.

our main floor , one of our bedrooms is a living room.. all the walls knocked out.

one of the top bedrooms is very small.. but its cozy, (its only DH and I) so thats why we love it.
our bedroom is big enough! even with the pithed ceilngs.. i dont even notice it anymore!

definitely the cons are everything is on the small size.. bathroom, kitchen, dining room..
but again.. its the 2 of us.. so its perfect.

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

i have an undormered cape... I think it is perfect for our family. we do have windows on either end of our house so there is plenty of light so thats not an issue. Each room has thier own closet which is sufficient for our needs. DH and his dad actually buit out the closet in our bedroom upstairs to make it somewhat of a walk in. we have 2 -5 draw upright dressers, 1- 6 drawer long dresser, queen size bed and 2 nightstands in our room and it fits perfectly. It all depends on your tastes..what you will be comfortable with. We also converted what the previous owners had as the master(onthe first floor) into our living room and the other bedroom on the first floor we made an office for DH and I.. I made the livingroom my formal dining room... It's all going to come down to your prefernce

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

Dont think there are any real pros or cons, if the house works for you and its in your price range, go look at it

Wide Line capes tend to be a little bigger as well as center hall capes..

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

we just moved out of a 1/2 dormered cape meaning half of the upper level was done....
i personally hated the set up of that particular cape, (odd shaped rooms, small bedrooms, etc....) and structurally it was really impossible to change things due to the location of the stairs and load bearing walls....i like some style capes and hate others like the one i just left...that said DH and I bought an expanded cape that has a awesome layout and suits our needs much better....

just check out the structure of the house to make sure you can dormer it to fit your needs and then decide

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

We have an undormered Levitt ranch.

CONS: the rooms are smaller upstairs.

PROS: As an owner, I would price myself out of the local market right now to make such home improvement. There is no way I could recoup the $75-$100K to have the upstairs dormered if I needed to sell my house now. As a buyer, I would favor a dormered house depending on price vs a non dormered.

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

BTW.... doghouses/doghouse dormer....

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

I own an undormered cape. It's not only undormered, but the upstairs is completely unfinished. We are the 3rd owners and none of the previous owners needed more than 1 bedroom. There is a stairway, and you go upstairs and it's completely open.

On the first floor, the previous owners ripped out the 2nd bedroom to make an open floor plan. I like the open floor plan and don't mind the 1 bedroom for now. We always planned a full dormer for upstairs, my DH is a contractor so the full cost will not be an issue. (it was a foreclosure to begin with.) Now that we've got a baby on the way, the full dormer plans are in the works.

Message edited 7/2/2009 1:57:58 PM.

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

Thanks for all of your replies and ideas. We are still hesitant - it does need a lot of work and it is in a good school district, but I still don't want to price the house out of the market if I intend to dormer it. Plus, it's just the two of us now and for us it can work...but I'm hoping that later on, if we buy it, we don't regret it. Ahhh!!!...lol <---totally stressed with searching for a house.

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

one was turned into a colonial (fully dormering front and back- which could be a lot of money) that is selling for about 200,000 more...I don't know if they will get that price.

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

Thanks! I think they're great starter homes too...and I have also see them turned into mansions with the second floor (not that I will be able to do that in this lifetime...lol) A simple back dormer would probably be enough for us in the next 5-10 years...but then again, who knows what will happen.

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

Re: Pros and cons of an undormered cape?

We live in a cape and love it. My house is almost exactly the same as the one I grew up in. I feel the bedrooms are a good size. I think there is a lot you can do with a cape.

You can always dormer out the back or do a full dormer.

We have a bathroom on the second floor as well.

The cons are the slanted ceilings. As we are looking to furnish the other rooms the slopes and slants are a PIA but manageable.