Flat to pitched roof?

[winecat]

Has anyone changed the roof on their house from flat to a pitched roof?  Part of my house has a flat roof which I loathe for a variety of reasons.  It's leaking and needs to be reroofed.  Then I got the idea that maybe I should look into changing it to a pitched roof with enough pitch to allow it to be storage initially and possibly be finished living space down the road.  

The exterior dimensions of that part of the house is 14 x 19 feet so I think that there'd be enough floor space to qualify for a living space.  I have an email into zoning to be sure that it's allowed.  I need a structural engineer to make sure that the foundation and walls can support the weight, right?  

I started looking at this option since my lot is small and I didn't realize how much adding a small addition on the back would cost.  


I found one good blog post with a list of what to do when building an attic space to make finishing it cost effective later but other than that I didn't find much info.

[InBetweenDays]

No experience changing the roofline, but in terms of "livable space" be sure and check your local code. I think in many areas the livable space isn't just defined by square feet of floor space, it's square feet of floor space with at least 5' of ceiling height. So depending on how steep the pitch of your roof is you may have to subtract a decent amount of space where the roof slopes below 5' of height.

[mrsukyankee]

We've only done the opposite, where we took a pitched roof and made it flat to extend it out and have more head space.

[froggy76]

I haven't done this, but we're planning a renovation and were exploring changes to the 2nd floor and roof lines/height, and it was WAY more involved and expensive than I had anticipated!

[winecat]

Oct 23, 2020 11:18:45 GMT -5 InBetweenDays said:

No experience changing the roofline, but in terms of "livable space" be sure and check your local code. I think in many areas the livable space isn't just defined by square feet of floor space, it's square feet of floor space with at least 5' of ceiling height. So depending on how steep the pitch of your roof is you may have to subtract a decent amount of space where the roof slopes below 5' of height.

I haven't found where it says it in the code but contractor websites have said at least 70 sq ft of 5+ feet and higher.  I am hoping that the 14 x 19 exterior measurements (266 sq ft) will yield enough floor space with the height requirements.  I'm guessing this is where I'll need to hire an architect to figure out if it'll work.  

[winecat]

Oct 23, 2020 11:44:02 GMT -5 froggy76 said:

I haven't done this, but we're planning a renovation and were exploring changes to the 2nd floor and roof lines/height, and it was WAY more involved and expensive than I had anticipated!

My googling has led me to believe that changing it after is a lot more expensive than building it to be finished later but these are all contractor/builder websites.  

This is one of the better articles I found: buildipedia.com/at-home/design-remodeling/how-feasible-is-it-to-remodel-your-attic?print=1&tmpl=component

[winecat]

I have 3 closets in my house for storage. I don't have a garage or basement. I'm so frustrated not having places to put stuff.