Raising the roof

SemperFidelis

I'm in the process of buying a bungalow with a roof with a pitch of about 20 degrees and very little head room in the attic, about 1.8m max. We would like to convert it at some stage so I'm wondering is it possible to raise the roof by jacking it up and building up the walls by a couple of blocks.

Would it be better/cheaper to remove and build a new roof.


Thanks in advance

BE_MIEI

SemperFidelis wrote: »

I'm in the process of buying a bungalow with a roof with a pitch of about 20 degrees and very little head room in the attic, about 1.8m max. We would like to convert it at some stage so I'm wondering is it possible to raise the roof by jacking it up and building up the walls by a couple of blocks.

Would it be better/cheaper to remove and build a new roof.


Thanks in advance

Engage a qualified structural engineer for professional advice.

muffler

+1 to the advice above.

Mod hat on: I'll let this run for a while but be careful with replies as we dont allow discussion on structural elements.

DOCARCH

Cheaper by far, I'd suggest, to build a new roof with a higher roof pitch or build up walls a little and then build a new roof as well. Probably a very complex and tricky opertation (i.e. costly) to raise an existing roof.

Either way, you will require planning permission for this.

Poor Uncle Tom

If you think of the logistics of jacking the roof properly it is easy to see that removing and replacing the roof would be way cheaper.

DOCARCH

Replacing the roof structure also allows you to put in the required structure, in terms of space (and floor joists), for an attic conversion/first floor.

If the roof was jacked up, the existing roof structure would probably have to be altered anyway.

BE_MIEI

The proposal to raise the existing roof is most likely impossible. Since the roof has a low pitch already, it is most likely that the ceiling joists form part of the roof structure. Moving the entire roof structure up would therefore be of no benefit as the loft space would not increase. Disconnecting the rafters from the ceiling joists would lead to certain collapse of the roof. Introduction of a collar tie would also defeat the purpose and reduce headroom. A new roof is the only way to go.

SemperFidelis

many thanks for the replies. I thought it might be a mad idea alright.

I'll look into getting a new roof and see how costly that will be.

Ddad

I might save you the trouble. I looked at this on my own house before and unless you'll gain substantial I.e. over fifty percent of the floor area you'd be better off with extensions from a cost benefit point of view. That's assuming the local planners won't have a problem with the new ridge height and that the walls are capable of carrying a more substantial roof. When we boiled it all down on this house we could remodel and extend to get the same living space on the ground floor for the cost of redoing the roof and making it habitable. The rooms are bigger and don't have slopes and we have masses of storage in the attic.

slowharry

had a quick glance and didn't see anyone else mention that the raising of the roof would require planning permission

just saw Ddad post

DOCARCH

slowharry wrote: »

had a quick glance and didn't see anyone else mention that the raising of the roof would require planning permission

Also see post # 4.

SemperFidelis

Thanks for the advice Ddad. Unfortunately the way the house is positioned it has left very little space out the back so any extension would have to be to the front and would again require planning permission. I was thinking it might be easier to get permission to build a new roof 1m or so higher and add in a few velux and some solar heating.

Did you get an estimate for raising your roof?

Ddad

No. I was working with an engineer at the time on plans for the house and he'd done a case study on a very similar house and he ran through the costs involved on that one and why it wasn't a good option financially.

My house is for the most part 27 feet deep so the space achieved would have been expensive for the work involved. If I was you I'd go and talk to a professional as they can add a lot of experience and insight into the project and you may be surprised by the alternatives you wouldn't have even imagined.

You're always better off with a well designed smaller house than a poorly designed large one. Trawl through this forum as well, there's a lot of good advice here.

By the way. Planning is planning. It'll cst you to go to the planners whether it's the roof or an extension so try not to tie yourself in one direction at this point. Spend a lot of time looking for similar cases to your own and see what solutions people employed to overcome the issues you have. In many cases the house mightn't look anything like what you yourself want but the design principles can be a great guide to get you where you need to be.

Ddad

Also post some pics and plans on this or a new thread and I'll guarantee you'll receive very useful feedback. Your budget is also vitally important at this point so consider posting that along with plans etc.