Hi,
we are planning to extend the upper floor of our 30-year-old 1.5-story house by replacing a smaller dormer with one that spans the entire length of the house. We have two options for how it could look, but I'm unsure which option to base the building permit drawings on. Option 1 (attached two views) is what we initially envisioned, while option 2 (attached one view) is similar but with the dormer roof extended to the ridge.
I designed option 2 after talking to a carpenter who said the construction would be simpler if we do it that way. Can anyone confirm if that's the case? The reasoning was that the easiest way to construct it would be to place the ridge side of the dormer roof beams on the house's heart wall (which runs longitudinally in the middle of the house, the heart wall would need to be built up to the ridge for this) and then support the other end of the beams with support from the house's exterior wall (on the front side). The existing trusses (frame) would then not need to bear much extra weight, but the existing walls would bear the dormer. This construction would be simpler by extending the dormer roof to the ridge.
Aesthetically, I prefer option 1, but the differences are small, and if it is indeed simpler to go with option 2, we will proceed with that. I hope someone can confirm if that is the case.
Additionally, are the walls of a house normally adequately dimensioned to take the extra weight that such a dormer would entail?
Best regards,
/ola
we are planning to extend the upper floor of our 30-year-old 1.5-story house by replacing a smaller dormer with one that spans the entire length of the house. We have two options for how it could look, but I'm unsure which option to base the building permit drawings on. Option 1 (attached two views) is what we initially envisioned, while option 2 (attached one view) is similar but with the dormer roof extended to the ridge.
I designed option 2 after talking to a carpenter who said the construction would be simpler if we do it that way. Can anyone confirm if that's the case? The reasoning was that the easiest way to construct it would be to place the ridge side of the dormer roof beams on the house's heart wall (which runs longitudinally in the middle of the house, the heart wall would need to be built up to the ridge for this) and then support the other end of the beams with support from the house's exterior wall (on the front side). The existing trusses (frame) would then not need to bear much extra weight, but the existing walls would bear the dormer. This construction would be simpler by extending the dormer roof to the ridge.
Aesthetically, I prefer option 1, but the differences are small, and if it is indeed simpler to go with option 2, we will proceed with that. I hope someone can confirm if that is the case.
Additionally, are the walls of a house normally adequately dimensioned to take the extra weight that such a dormer would entail?
Best regards,
/ola
First and foremost, it's difficult to know if it will "hold" for this load; you will need to have a construction drawing anyway with the building permit. I am mainly wondering if it might be more economical to lift the entire roof instead; it could actually be equally expensive (what is your budget?). The trusses will still need to be heavily unloaded, possibly replaced; how does the floor plan look, and where are the load-bearing walls? In our house, we had to reinforce the roof with beams on both sides as it was from '57, and the trusses turned out to be undersized for our snow zone, and we only made two smaller dormers between two trusses.
Aha, didn't know that a construction drawing was required for the building permit, thanks.
Attached is a picture of the floor plan for the upper floor. As I understand it, it's the longitudinal wall (where the bathroom door is) that is load-bearing. We don't have a clear budget, but preferably under 200k...
/o
Attached is a picture of the floor plan for the upper floor. As I understand it, it's the longitudinal wall (where the bathroom door is) that is load-bearing. We don't have a clear budget, but preferably under 200k...
/o
I would recommend you start with a short call to the building permit office in your municipality first, to save yourself trouble later on. I'm currently building a dormer, and in my municipality it turned out that they had two principles considered quite important:
- Dormers that are at most 1/3 of the house's length are considered unproblematic, larger dormers are harder to get a building permit for (but not impossible)
- There should be two full rows of roof tiles between the ridge tiles and the junction between the dormer's roof and the regular roof.
In other words, your second dormer would have been difficult to get a building permit for in my municipality.
- Dormers that are at most 1/3 of the house's length are considered unproblematic, larger dormers are harder to get a building permit for (but not impossible)
- There should be two full rows of roof tiles between the ridge tiles and the junction between the dormer's roof and the regular roof.
In other words, your second dormer would have been difficult to get a building permit for in my municipality.
Thanks for the tip, I did as you said and just spoke with one of the building permit architects and she didn't see any direct problems so so far so good...
Hello,
We are considering the same building plans as you, to construct a dormer that spans the entire length of the house. Did you go through with the construction of the dormer? Was it option 1 or option 2? What was the cost of the construction? Could you share some tips about the construction?
Thank you.
Kind regards, Tosan
We are considering the same building plans as you, to construct a dormer that spans the entire length of the house. Did you go through with the construction of the dormer? Was it option 1 or option 2? What was the cost of the construction? Could you share some tips about the construction?
Thank you.
Kind regards, Tosan
Hi, I'm wondering a bit the same as tosan about which option you chose, what sum you settled on, and of course how the result turned out. We have the same plans so I'm trying to get as much info on large dormers as possible but finding few who have done exactly like you.O oandersson said: