Wet Over Dry - Letter of the Law

Hi, I have been reading these forums for years and hope you can advise me now that I'm finally moving into property ownership. I'm looking at 1br/1ba Co-ops in upper Manhattan and of course they tend to be designed and built using some basic parameters, to make them as attractive as possible to the widest market. But I am comfortably and permanently single and very home-based so Kitchen and... [more]

Hi, I have been reading these forums for years and hope you can advise me now that I'm finally moving into property ownership. I'm looking at 1br/1ba Co-ops in upper Manhattan and of course they tend to be designed and built using some basic parameters, to make them as attractive as possible to the widest market. But I am comfortably and permanently single and very home-based so Kitchen and Bathroom are important to me. I'm looking at places which have floor plans conducive to enlarging the bathroom and accessing it only from the bedroom, so that I have space for a free-standing tub and a separate shower enclosure, and walling off the toilet so that it becomes a powder room accessible from both the bathroom and the living area, including adding a small sink. There are many many variations and possibilities but my main concern is this: I would have to re-purpose built-in closets to claim their real estate for my bathroom, thus creating wet space over dry. Forgive my ignorance, but is this what the rule refers to, and is there no way around it? For example, is it simply necessary that the plumbing remains within the same area? What if, theoretically (but practically pointlessly) I made the bathroom bigger but kept the fixtures in exactly the same locations. Would that be creating 'wet over dry"? Thank you, in advance, for any help or advice! I've been reviewing DOB records for the buildings I'm interested in looking for precedents but while I find evidence of renovations the details are lacking. Thanks again, HappyTBS. [less]