construction....two storey vs dormer???

pepe the prawn

Hello everyone. First time poster on this site. Any help or advice that ye could give me on the following matter would be greatly appreciated. Myself and my girlfriend are going building a house in the coming year or two, we have a site and are contemplating on what type of house to build on it. We have been told that dormers are more expensive to build than two storeys, is this true? We were thinking a house in the region of 2000 sq feet is what we want, incorporating three to four bedroom. Based on the current economic climate we want to build the most cost effective house that we can, and whether its a two storey or dormer doesn't bother us too much, its all really down to cost. Thanks in advance for any advice.

sydthebeat

the most "cost effective" design is a basic rectangular two storey box.

however, what you want to build and what you may be allowed build are two separate issues. Your local planners will assist you in what you may be allowed to build. If thinking two storey, look at rural Georgian type plans.

a very basic hierarchy of prices go as follows:

cheapest: - two storey, basic regular shape. same 1st floor as ground floor.
medium:- dormer, 2/3 floor area below, 1/3 floor area above.
dearest:- single storey dwellings, largest roof and foundation footprint.

soldsold

Also it's way easier to make a flat ceiling airtight compared to eaves of a dormer.

Flat Glass fiber insulation is way cheaper than insulating a sloping roof.

However in my opinion dormer roofs give much more interesting room shapes and allow higher ceilings in some rooms, plus velux windows give hallways a nice feel, kind of like a holiday home. But at a big price. Have a look at the Denny Dale passive house blog (google) which is a rectangar 2 storey house built at fairly low cost to a very high spec. Some really good reading in that blog.

muffler

sydthebeat wrote: »

the most "cost effective" design is a basic rectangular two storey box.

however, what you want to build and what you may be allowed build are two separate issues. Your local planners will assist you in what you may be allowed to build. If thinking two storey, look at rural Georgian type plans.

a very basic hierarchy of prices go as follows:

cheapest: - two storey, basic regular shape. same 1st floor as ground floor.
medium:- dormer, 2/3 floor area below, 1/3 floor area above.
dearest:- single storey dwellings, largest roof and foundation footprint.

+1 to all of the above.

galwaytt

sydthebeat wrote: »

the most "cost effective" design is a basic rectangular two storey box.

however, what you want to build and what you may be allowed build are two separate issues. Your local planners will assist you in what you may be allowed to build. If thinking two storey, look at rural Georgian type plans.

a very basic hierarchy of prices go as follows:

cheapest: - two storey, basic regular shape. same 1st floor as ground floor.
medium:- dormer, 2/3 floor area below, 1/3 floor area above.
dearest:- single storey dwellings, largest roof and foundation footprint.

Amen.

In particular, the planning process may have a bigger say in it than you think.

seaniefr

galwaytt wrote: »

Amen.

In particular, the planning process may have a bigger say in it than you think.

Cheapest house you will ever heat will be a two-storey and thats really becoming an issue with the price of oil/gas/electricity. Don't be fooled by fancy design-the the fancy corners, eaves, slopes etc you have will really add to the price. Best off to pump the money into insulation-best grade of windows you can buy and anywhere else you can make it as cheap as possible to heat-just finished a long self biuld myself and planners dictated a bungalow/dormer as that was all that was in the neighbourhood-then the guy next door submitted & got approved a completely different design to mine-it all depends on who you meet on the day. One other piece of advice-get an architect who has dealt with your planning authority( if there are any architects left!) you are in a good position if you have the cash.



A passive house if possible!

L driver

Hello,
TWO STOREY... END OF STORY:D