Building An Attic Dormer

For the room to be considered habitable under building regulations more than 50 per cent of it must have a ceiling height of 2 2m says structural engineer thomas o connor of occ engineering.

Building an attic dormer.

If the dormer is built above living space rather than over an attic or if you re converting attic space to living space then it provides much needed natural light. Building a dormer is a little like that although donna doiron president of doiron professional remodeling in louisville kentucky says that s a bit of a misnomer. Dormers and attic remodels homeowners typically add dormers as part of the process of transforming the attic into a usable living space. Roof dormers add light.

Whether you re expanding a cramped attic into a bedroom office or playroom if you have any carpentry experience you can accomplish this home renovation goal yourself. Drive nails up through the roof at the corners. You will need to choose a size of dormer that fits well with your house draw up a plan and get the required building permits. Mark the dormer wall layout on the attic floor and make sure the dormer walls are square with the exterior wall of the house.

You will be removing the roofing in the area of the dormer so you must be prepared to shield it with a waterproof tarp in case of rain. Build up the side and front walls by installing corner studs and a doubled 2x4 top plate onto the bottom plates doubled rafters and the sill. Cut the top plates at an angle equal to the roof pitch where they attach to the main roof. However there are other dormers including gable dormers that people sometimes prefer.

Here are 12 different types of dormer roofs and their history. You can locate the dormer s top plate elevation by measuring up from the attic floor. Adding a 15 foot shed dormer to accommodate a new 15 by 15 foot bedroom and 5 by 7 bathroom in the attic costs an average of 49 438 as of 2014 according to remodeling magazine. As architectural styles have shifted architects and builders have invented more ways to build dormers.

Dormers have an average return on investment or recouped value of 65 70 percent. When building a dormer an addition that comes through the roof to create a higher ceiling and more interior space you remove an area of the old roof and build the new structure. That s because they let in more light and improve ventilation. Framing a dormer refers to the first and most important step in constructing an upper level addition to your home.