Addition2.html

Before: A Post War

2 Bedroom house in a nice neighborhood!

They had a number of small animals (2 dogs and 3 cats) but the bedroom and small bath sizes are what really got them. They decided it was a good investment to increase the house size and they could enjoy the additional room for years to come while deducting mortgage interest.

We Decided to Raise the Peak by 2 Feet

The low pitched roof on the rear of a post war expansion has a few drawbacks: 1) it must have special and more expensive low pitch roofing materials; 2) The rear wall height is typically the minimum allowed by code which is only 7 feet, and 3) the walkway on the front by the stair landing is very tight with not much head room at all except where there are front dormers.

By Raising The Peak
The Front Dormer Was Almost All Usuable

All three problems were eliminated by raising the peak 2 feet in this design. The rear now has a 3:12 pitch so it has regular roofing, and an 8 foot rear wall and the headroom is great in the walkway from the stair and the added bonus is the front dormer space is high enough to be almost fully walkable and usuable.

This Old Aluminum Screen Porch Had a Foam Roof - Yuck!

We discovered that the people who had added this room had actually attached the roof to the end of the small facia and soffit or the old roof leaving it 9 inches away from the house. As the home owners wanted to add a better room there later, we offered to give them a head start with a new roof for the interum to solve the problem.

Here is The Room After The Upstairs Addition is Done With New Roof

The cathedral style roof is supported by "Micro-Lams" and 4x4's in the outer corners and our carpenters cut them all in right around the aluminum storm door like walls and retrofitted it in. The home owners liked the feel so much that before we could side the gable they decided to have us put in energy efficient windows and doors and to insulate the lower portion of the wall and the roof! Later they added a heated ceramic floor (this to be added to our sunrooms section later when I find the pictures)!

It Pays to have Good Carpenters!

The old foundation had continuous block foundation 42 inches down otherwise known as frost footings which are required on most additions now. No walls or roof may be added to a patio or deck without these so the retro fit roof was possible in this case.