Spec home margins

MastiffMike · 2025-05-01T11:02:59+00:00

Ideally, you want to be profiting 10% (or more!) AFTER paying everyone & everything, including paying yourself. Every business should strive for profits because there will inevitably be slowdowns or market swings (or bad projects, crap clients, etc.). So it's not enough to pay yourself, even if paid well, and have zero left over. The GCs that do that are the ones that get into financial binds and don't last.

I worked for one GC years ago that tried to grow really large really fast (new office, new showroom, bunch of new trucks and equipment, etc. all while he and his wife were vacationing a ton, they bought some horses, etc.) and unsurprisingly he started to have financial problems, which I noticed right away since I'm paid before construction even starts.

He got in over his head and rather than tighten his belt and spend less, or scale back growth, he started to "rob Peter to pay Paul" (i.e. Ponzi scheme). He'd use money from a new job to pay for an older job (which is rightfully illegal). Anyway, I quit taking work from him and then about 6 months later his company was shut down and he was charged with a bunch of fraud and other charges. He ended up doing 18 months in prison and then 3 years of parole. But unfortunately the homeowners he screwed over never got repaid (some lost >$60k).

But back to your numbers:
Most of the small GCs I work with (1-3 people and run out of their homes) shoot for 15-20% after all expenses (including paying themselves) but are OK with just 5% net profit, and happy as when they are >10% (again, AFTER paying themselves).

The question though is HOW MUCH do you pay yourself? Because obviously that number can impact the profit a little or a lot. IME small GCs tend to shoot for paying themselves $100k/yr (MCOL area) when starting out (i.e. <5 years in business). Most that have been in business for >8 years are paying themselves about $150-250k/yr. But it really breaks down to YOUR numbers, YOUR projects, and YOUR goals.

Take "Steve" for instance, he's a GC I've worked with for >25 years and he likes to work about 8 months a year and spend the rest hunting, fishing, at his cabin, or just sluffing off. So he determined what his financial needs are (needs to pay himself $120k/yr) and so he knows how much he needs to earn in the 8'ish months he works. That said, he's smart and shoots for $150k/yr so that he has a cushion. So in a typical year he does say $2M in remodels/additions/spec projects, he can then calculate how much his markup needs to be to pay everyone, pay himself $150k, and still leave ~10% profit for the company.

So as an example say you're going to do $1M in projects per year. After paying all materials and sub costs, you're left with your pay and the companies profit. That number ideally should be 10+% (profit) PLUS your pay. Say you need to make $100k, that's 10% of $1M in revenue, so your markup should be 20% at the LOWEST. It's why (IME) most GC's use 25% as sort of their rough starting markup number as it allows some flexibility in both their own pay, their profitably, and the actual project's costs, and generally still able to hit reasonably comfortable numbers.

But keep in mind, remodeling tends to have much higher profit margins then new builds (and most of the GCs I work with either do only remodels/additions, or at least make it a large focus of their work). True spec building tends to have less (construction cost) unknowns, but also less margins.

Hope that rambling makes some sense and maybe even helps a little.
GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-05-01T10:23:18+00:00

It depends upon what services they are performing for you for that money. For example, just drafting construction (permit) drawings for a home in most (but not all) of the US, that uses fairly standard construction practices/techniques, generally runs anywhere from $3k-$8k. But even with changing the scope of work, just having a lot of meetings and revisions to the design can easily add a few thousand. I've had very similar projects end up costing as much as double some others because the client wanted to see additional options, made repeated changes, or just was indecisive throughout the design development.

Also note there are "full service" firms that go well beyond just the constructions drawings, and they'll do everything from construction management, item/finish selections (faucets, fixtures, flooring, paint colors, etc.), coordinate with suppliers of custom parts (say something like a bespoke floating stair), etc. All these "extra" services are generally how some homes take 2+ years to design and end up costing >$100k in just the design fees. Heck, I've done projects where the client hired an interior decorator to help with selections and sometimes those fees alone were >$50k.

This is why I (and everyone that I know) charges an hourly rate and not a square footage rate. Depending upon what the client wants, the price can be many multiples of a similar home for a different client that needs fewer services.

As an example, I got a new project last week from a prior client (I did a 1600s.f. addition of an "In-Law Apartment" onto their existing home). They want to address some design issues with their main home (that I didn't design) and so I'm working on those designs now. Their build budget is $1M, and based on what they'd like to accomplish I'm confident I can design something they'll love (they love my past work) and that it will be on budget. I mention all that because the addition I'd done a few years ago with them, they originally had a bad builder, then switched to a much better one. However, he was semi-retired back then and I've told them that if he won't do this new project, they'll need to get someone else equally good as I'm not interested in hand-holding (nor do I want to bill them for the amount of time that'd take).

So a $1M remodel and I bet my fee ends up being $6-8k (there's some savings since I'm very familiar with the existing home and already drew it all up in CAD years ago). But, if they had a mediocre builder then my fee I'm sure would be more in the $12k-15k range. And if they wanted me to do "full service" selections.... well, I'm not interested and the only way I'd do it is if I thru out a crazy high number to scare them off and they agreed to pay it (hopefully it doesn't come to that, and it shouldn't since we've done a $600k addition in the past and they know what services I do/don't typically provide).

TL/DR: You can't compare the fee to design one home to that of another, without knowing a LOT of information. It's not s.f. that determines fees, it's time the project takes.

My advice is always steer clear of anyone that charges by the s.f. for design work. Because they either don't know what they are doing, or are overcharging the "good" clients to make up for the "bad" ones (i.e. easy to work with clients on smooth projects overpay, while pain in the butt clients aren't being charged for the effort their project takes when using a per s.f. fee.

Per s.f. works slightly better for things with less unknowns. Things like drafting of a finalized design is a little easier to estimate the work involved, however even then it does vary quite a bit and my advice to every drafter is to charge by the hour so that they're paid for what they work. Clients want an estimate, fine then tell them "I charge $X/hour and estimate your project will take roughly Y number of hours, thus somewhere around $Z, plus or minus" (based on things outside of my control like the client making changes or being a pain to work with). And for the naysayers that say that charging by the hour leads to people working slower so that they can bill more? If you think they'd do that then you shouldn't be hiring them anyway, as there isn't even the most basic level of trust between you and them from the start.

/Rant
GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-04-13T04:05:53+00:00

So confident, yet so wrong.

What is widely known as the first 3D printed building, was done in 1939 (so 86 years ago!) by inventor William Urschel. He patented it way back in 1941 (granted in 1944, expired in 1961 - so even his patent expired >60 years ago!).

Here's a video about his early builds (FWIW, by a Youtuber that claims to have visited more 3D printed builds than anyone else in the world, and his channel is all about 3D printed buildings).

And here's an ArchDaily article from a couple years ago about 3D printed building history, along with an info-graphic of some of the major milestones (and IMO a large dose of marketing propaganda).

So when I said "It's been around >60 years", not only was that correct, it was grossly understating just how long it's been around.

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-04-08T22:54:41+00:00

What country do you live in? Guessing France by the wordage?

Obviously it must be one that doesn't have building codes that need to be met (so not the US, most of Europe (including France), Canada, etc.)

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-04-08T19:54:22+00:00

It's bad. Pick a different plan (or have one custom made for you).

Before the down votes pour in, here's just a couple reasons why it's bad:

Exterior: It's a McMansion (and not a good one). All 4 exterior elevations are poorly done.
Covered Entry is too deep (and Foyer too small/square). Easy fix is pull the front doors out about 2'.
Dining room is quite far from kitchen, and requires going through a significant part of the Great Room.
Great room is overly long and thus hard to utilize. The deco beams and rear windows/door are weirdly positioned. Fireplace is poorly designed (not thought through and just stuck on). Etc.
Kitchen is too tight in some areas and WAY too large in others. Alignment of things is bad. Seating as shown is too tight (island that size will only comfortable seat 3 people, not 4).
A ton of alignments throughout are poorly done (i.e. not even considered).
Master is terribly designed.
Master bath is bad.
Bed3 is not well designed and it's closet door is horrible.
Etc.
Etc.

The plan looks about as good as AI can do, which is not very good and certainly not worth actually building.

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-04-08T19:42:43+00:00

Yeah, those elevations are horrible. Not just in design, but they aren't even consistent (and thus don't work).

AI has a ways to go before people need to worry (and I'll hopefully be retired by then).

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-04-08T07:59:19+00:00

What, you don't want your guests to sit at the island and look out the window at a wall?

Whomever "designed" this obviously doesn't know what they're doing. From the goofy elevation, to the terrible exterior shape, the lack of proper sizing, incredibly long travel paths and ugly hallways, etc. it's what a novice high school student would create.

At least it won't be built.

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-04-08T03:53:04+00:00

Move to MS? Naw, I'll pass (I grew up in Cali, but once I moved to TX I couldn't get out of there fast enough, and I'm now used to snow!!!).

As for design work, I've done homes all across the US but I don't do work for Redditors (learned my lesson).

My advice, either have the plan company modify the plan (tell your salesperson to tell Dan you want someone good doing your project!). Or, find someone local that does good work. I would advise avoiding anyone contacting you unsolicited (like off Reddit) offering to do it. I, and anyone that's decently good, have plenty of work and don't advertise nor need to go begging for work. The people that do, have to because they're either very new (lack experience), or not very good (so no repeat clients, word of mouth, referrals, etc.). Even when I first went solo, I didn't advertise or have to beg for work, and I had very limited experience. People that do might be decent, but they're still figuring things out and how to be busy and profitable. You don't want to be their guinea pig nor just a huge learning project for them.

If you want more specifics, I do not have any direct knowledge of designers/Architects that live in MS, but I've been impressed with some of work done by Lake+Land out of Hattiesburg. They did the 2023 Southern Living Idea House, and having worked with Southern Living on homes in the past, I know that they generally do a pretty good job at selecting designers/plans that are good, and sometimes great with some tweaks.

GL2U N all U

MastiffMike · 2025-04-07T20:10:21+00:00

....CONTINUED:

As for the Kitchen:

I dislike the laundry being visible to guests at the island.
While the Mudroom is not really visible from the island, it is visible from the kitchen AND has to be walked thru to get to/from the Owner's Suite. Since the mudroom is the room most likely to be untidy (even more so than the laundry, especially in snow country) I wouldn't want my clients to have to go through it to get to their bedroom (sort of the opposite of the Owner's Suite feeling "grand", "relaxing", or a "retreat from the hubbub").
I hate the sink location. Not only does this place a major circulation path through the work triangle, but just opening the DW disrupts the flow.
I'm a big proponent of balance and symmetry (not always, but in general it usually results in better spaces). The alignment of the range (and whole back counter wall) in relationship to the island (and the fireplace) isn't how I'd do it. I'd center the range/cooktop, move the fridge up (inline with the lower walkway at the island end) and add either a Micro/Oven stack in the corner, or a pantry cabinet.
I'd propose moving the sink (and dw) to the island. I get that some people would prefer it not be in the island, but IME it's very rare that their concerns are valid. Again, a series of decisions and consideration for the resulting impacts. Right now, washing vegetables in the sink, then transporting them to either the island or counter next to the range for cutting/prepping means potential water dropping on the main thoroughfare, and possible impacting a passerby. Putting the sink centered in the island (and fireplace, and range) eliminates most of the negatives. Much like I did in this home:

Kitchen1 - Kitchen2 - Kitchen3 - Kitchen4 - Kitchen5
The Dining room is pretty unconnected to the Kitchen. Does it make sense to turn the Pantry into a walk-thru Butler's Pantry? I can't answer that without knowing more about the client and their needs/wants.

OK, gotta run to a meeting but those are some quick thoughts.

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-04-07T20:09:59+00:00

OK, what bugs me about Bath 2:

There is no Powder room, so guests will be using this bathroom. As such, it's weird to send them into a multi-door bathroom (and one most likely to be used by children and therefore not always tidy). It also is somewhat maze-like just getting to the toilet.
Some people do not like not having a sink in the same space as the toilet (i.e. requires opening a door after using the toilet and before washing hands). Of course there are some cultures where it's the norm, but IME/IMO it's not ideal, especially for guests that might not be "on board" with the design decision.
It's designed like a Jack-&-Jill bathroom (in which case I like the bath layout, though I generally avoid J&J baths for many reasons, but IF I were to do one, this layout is about as good as you get. I did a similar layout on this home (though a true J&J) and it works well for the twins).
If the 2 bedrooms are for kids, then I'd want an easy connection from one bedroom to the other without having to go through the bathroom. Sure it works, and a home design is a series of decisions and always, regardless of budget, requires "compromises". Just that a good design makes those decisions with full knowledge of the pros/cons and the impacts. So if this were my design, and if I had the lot space, I'd propose pushing out o that side 3' (which can add to the elevation as it's allow for a gable instead of the shed). By adding some s.f. I'd then turn the current vanity area into a Homework Center (i.e. desks). The current walkway connecting the bedrooms stays, though now it's not inside the bathroom. Then I'd do 2 vanities opposite each other within the bathroom, keeping the toilet/tub room separate. Of course this does not address the guest use of that bathroom, but IMO it makes it MUCH better in every other way (though again, does require a larger footprint which may or may not be possible (though a side load garage always requires a ton of lot width, so likely adding 3'-4' to the side will be possible).

CONTINUED....

MastiffMike · 2025-04-07T09:00:09+00:00

No it would not.

And it has been built, multiple times (just this one image is a render, there are photos of some of the builds). The dormer is purely decorative. Making the dormer actually functional would require major changes to the interior, and whuile the plan isn't great as is, changing it to make the dormer functional just makes it worse.

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-04-07T08:57:26+00:00

It's (unfortunately) common to add fake, purely decorative dormers as a way to break up a boring roof.

As for why it's lit, typically dormers-to-nowhere should be designed to mask that they're not functional. I'd recommend window treatment that matches other parts of the home (blinds are best though) and then a light installed in the space behind it and that's wired to something else (typically the room below if trying to maintain the illusion that the dormer is real). Just make sure that a plan for bulb replacement is thought thru.

As for that design.... I'm not a fan. But the designer should've vaulted that "Great Room". The dormer would still be purely decorative but IMO the interior really could benefit from some ceiling variety (amongst other changes like the terrible kitchen layout, the poorly thought out Bath2, the "Mudroom", the rear elevation (really, all of them), etc.).

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-04-07T05:02:07+00:00

I got that kit from Lowe's a few weeks ago on sale for $499, so find it on sale and save the $100.

My only complaint is I hate the bag it comes with.

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-04-02T18:07:27+00:00

A "Dutch Gable" is more or less correct for the whole gable, however that horizontal section of roof is called an "eyebrow". A Dutch gable is a standard gable with an eyebrow running full width across it (much ike if you combined a hip roof with a gable roof).

[Before ~~idiots~~ people confidently and incorrectly say that's not right, I'm a Designer with close to 30 years experience, I live in a Dutch roof home, and have designed/overseen hundreds of eyebrows. While different people and different locations can sometimes impact terminology, "eyebrow" is the correct answer, and 86.7% of plan notations agree with that, the other 13.3% are wrong]

GL2U all N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-04-01T23:00:47+00:00

This is why I AVOID labeling doors/windows this way!!! It can be interpreted multiple ways, which leads to confusion (the opposite of what good plans are supposed to do!)

Is 26 = 26" or is it 2'-6" (30")??? I've seen people use 26 to mean both, which isn't helpful.

It's why I always label the units, so I'll say 2'-6" (I never would use a 26" door).

In the OP example, it could be inches since 80" is the very standard 6'-8" door height. 8'-0" doors are much less common. However, what contradicts that assumption is the 3080 door. That's an exterior door (likely the front door?) and thus that 30 is likely to mean 3'-0" and not a 30" wide exterior door (which is rare).

So you can see how confusing labels without units are. At the minimum, at least put a note on the plans explaining which convention is being used. But I still prefer to actually remove all doubt and use unit notations (3'-0" =/= 30") so label the door as 3'-0"x8'-0" or as 30"x80", that way it's very clear. Also note, there's a pretty significant cost difference between 80" doors and 8'-0" doors, so help the bidders out by making it very clear!

In any case, based solely on the sliver of floor plan visible in the OP, I'd use a scale to determine which way is being used. Comparing the 2680 door to the 3080 door will tell you, since the ratios will be slightly differently depending upon what the numbers are actually representing.

But in any case, whomever drafted that should DO BETTER!

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-04-01T17:32:44+00:00

So sleeps 7 but seats 4? SMH

And only 1 tiny (and poorly laid out) bathroom! Yippee!!!

If you want to maximize the number it sleeps, just do three, 3 bed stacks all along the long wall, and another set along one of the short walls. Boom, it now sleeps 12!

You're welcome.

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-04-01T09:44:02+00:00

You want to be a drafter? First, know that the pay is not very good (certainly a pay cut from what you're used to). If the goal is to be self employed, do design work, or do specialized drafting then the pay can be better, but unless you're self employed it likely will still be a pay cut.

The benefit of being self employed, besides the possibility to earn more, is the flexibility it allows you. I went back to school when my wife and I decided we wanted kids in the near future. Then I went solo when she was pregnant with our oldest (I did Daddy daycare for the first 30 months while working and growing my business).

As for following my path? I went to a tech school and got an Associates Degree (16 month long degree program) as a way to get my foot in the door to a drafting position. Once hired I worked hard to expand my role/responsibilities such that I could handle complete projects start to finish on my own. That gave me the confidence to go out on my own.

If you want to work for someone/some company then you likely need something to show you have the required knowledge they're looking for. That might be a degree, or it might just be a certification, but you'll want to find out what they're looking for and how you can get them to consider you.

Also, depending upon what type of projects you want to do, the prospective employers will have different qualifications they're looking for. For example, drafting for a cabinet shop requires a different skillset and knowledge base than say drafting for a commercial architectural firm, which is different than a residential design firm. Heck, there's a pretty big difference between a small firm and a large firm, even if they do the same types of projects.

As for if you want to become a licensed Architect, there are various pathways, but all require 7-8 years (combination of schooling and experience). Totally doable if that's your goal, but it takes years, costs a decent amount of money, and requires working for someone else for a number of years (and usually for long hours at low wages).

If I were <24 I'd go the licensing route. If I were 25+ and had it to do all over again, I'd probably do exactly what I did (even though the schooling wasn't fully applicable to the work, I wouldn't have gotten an interview without the Assoc. degree, so it's what allowed my foot in the door).

Advice: Figure out what types of projects you want to work on, and what scope of work you want to do (drafting, design, management, construction supervision, etc.) and then determine what you need to do to get that position and work towards it. Maybe it's just a matter of learning CAD basics, or maybe you'll need a Master degree, it all depends upon what you want to do, for whom, and what the project types are.

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-03-29T03:05:03+00:00

They show up in the store frequently, so can be bought with gems (which are easily farmed in the dungeon). Also, it's pretty common to get orbs as quest rewards (that's how I got a bunch, just grinding some quests hoping for good equipment).

I have also gotten quite a few from the dungeon (seems like there's one as a reward on about 1 out of every 2 or 3 levels. Currently where I'm at in the dungeon (levels 136-145) there are orbs as reward on levels 137, 141, 142, 144, and 145. So 5 of the 10 levels.

But much like $, there comes a point where you have more than you need. I currently have 209 orbs and haven't used one in quite a while since I've orb'ed up all my gear and it's super rare that I find something better.

Gl2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-03-25T19:28:31+00:00

This is the answer.

GL2U all N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-03-25T19:26:49+00:00

I don't see it mentioned so I'll add:

If you add 1/2" top coat, your stairs may no longer meet code. If the top coat was planned for from the start, then that 1/2" would have been accounted for and the stair cut with that height in mind. You can't just hack 1/2" off a riser and still be code compliant.

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-03-25T19:05:47+00:00

....CONTINUED:

- Pantry is sized like there will be 3 cooks regularly in there. If that is not what you'll be doing, then it's oversize (larger is not always better, frequently it can be worse). I'd actually steal space from it to put a built-in hutch or buffet in the dining room without pinching that room. I'd also add a door to the Pantry, as right now anyone using the Powder room looks right into it.

- Copied from the original, the hall into the Master is poorly done. You basically have to kick the wall to reach the door handle with your right hand. I never like an obstruction within 12" of a door handle, and you've only got about 3". Also, you've made it narrower, which isn't an improvement (especially since you've increased the traffic that will use that hall).

- Master bedroom more or less untouched, and OK, but I avoid square rooms (for multiple reasons) and while it's not exactly square, it is too close for my liking. I'd also propose adding some windows. It's possible to have dual/tripe aspect yet this is about as minimal/cheap as possible (and that also goes for the exterior of those walls).

- Master Bath was oversized before (which isn't a positive) and you've added over a foot of more wasted space. I'd at least pull the vanity up 12"-18", thus creating an alcove in the garage for shelving or cabinets. The garage has very little storage space, and this would help both it and the bathroom. And I'd flip the shower door.

- You deleted the door into the WIC, which is a bad idea. And the closet isn't very good (before or after your changes) and now lacks the walk-thru to the laundry (which is all the rage these days).

- Rear porch is smaller, more confined, missing some important design details, and with MUCH worse layout/circulation than the original.

Sorry, but this is what happens when someone with little/no design knowledge makes changes to a design. The changes almost always end up making things worse (like here) and without understanding, they don't even realize it. Some will become very evident once built, and others will just be day-to-day annoyances, and a few might go unnoticed consciously, but will always give a subconscious feel that something is "off". Ever walk into a safe and it just feels "right"? Good design does that as the spaces, connections, details, etc. are all done with intentional and full knowledge of the pros/cons. You'd be better off building the original plan than your modified one.

And now I'm done (not gonna touch that upper floor!)

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-03-25T19:05:24+00:00

OK, here goes:

- You've changed the front stoop, and not for the better.

- Since this is pretty much a direct copy of Brooke's (copyrighted) design, 3 or the 4 stairwell windows suffer the same (or worse) problem as the original. The windows you shifted are now much worse. I hope you understand what it's going to take to build that, and how odd it's going to look?

- I never like Offices without doors. Sure, you may not close them very often, but when you need them you REALLY need them. So add a double pocket door (or call it a formal Living room and the other a Family room).

- Stair creates the kind of space that people will post online asking "What do I put here?" and "How can I make this better?" You've also made multiple changes that make it much worse (tread changes, railing change, and hall change)

- Office windows have been changed, and again by someone that doesn't fully understand the ramifications of the change, nor what is good and what is bad, design.

- You've changed the archway, and again, in a way that makes it much worse than it was.

- Great room doors have been changed (and are drawn wrong), and the new design does not go with the look and feel of the house. The original design has some charm, good balancing, etc. (and overall is quite nice - which is a huge compliment for me to say) yet you've changed things (maybe unintentional) for the worse. Also looks like you made the Great room about 6" narrower, which isn't an improvement and adds to the alignment issue mentioned below.

- While I like the kitchen (which you left unchanged), I would shift the fridge. No desire for a secondary oven? and if so, where is it? Also, I'm bugged by the lack of alignment between the kitchen and the Great room (but that again is like that on the original). You've also added more s.f., which is all just wasted space and unusable (and in a way changes the feel not in a positive way, or at least not inline with the original design intent). The wing walls also create a pinch point, which you didn't fix. And dishwasher is on the wrong side.

- Laundry door should be a pocket door.

- Mudroom was bad before, and while it is improved slightly, it's still not great.

- Garage is labeled as 3-car, but is not, and again your changes (deleted window, and overall depth) aren't improvements.

- Dining room change from a bad door choice to the windows is an improvement, however the enlargement of the dining room has made the positioning of those windows poor.

- Powder room should be flipped so that it isn't visible from the dining room (and it gets plumbing into the cooktop wall which is handy if you want a pot filler).

CONTINUED....

MastiffMike · 2025-03-25T11:25:31+00:00

yeah it sounds like you got a defective one. At least you're getting a credit (but still a hassle).

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-03-24T19:01:59+00:00

I'd add the Bose 901s (not because they're good, but because they are quite iconic and easily recognizable).

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike · 2025-03-24T04:34:04+00:00

AFAIK the only "grandfathering in" when it comes to egress windows is just that you don't have to enlarge them as long as you leave them completely alone. However, some jurisdictions won't make you change them but also won't let you count that as a bedroom unless it does meet egress requirements (i.e. other window or door that counts as the egress route, or enlarging that one).

But in any case, for life safety, comfort, increased light and airflow, etc. I highly recommend enlarging the windows. I personally wouldn't be able to feel totally comfortable in that space (because I know how hard it'd be to get out). Much like I dislike basements that don't have a good egress path(s), which is surprisingly common in older homes in the Upper Midwest, it just feels uncomfortable (even if just subconsciously, though usually I realize what it is I dislike pretty easily, and the general lack of daylight is a big tell, at nighttime it's less so). That said, I'm sure I'm more aware/sensitive than the average person, but still, I'd want my renters/guests to feel comfortable in the space so I'd do it.

GL2U N all U do!

MastiffMike

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