Raise ridge height and add half a storey at rear of house...

[Tentigers]

Hi all. New here and I'm having difficulty explaining what a neighbour has done to their house - I'm trying to find information online about it, but failing. Hopefully someone knows the terminology I'm grasping at.

Essentially, all the houses on the street are the same detached construction, with trussed roof timbers. We've previously looked at a loft conversion, but have been a little put-off by how much usable space will be created and the extra cost of reinforcing the roof when the timber construction is changed.

Our neighbour appears to have increased the height of the ridge and then built a half storey on the back i.e. not new regular windows, but velux windows over 4 ft of new brick work. The house appearance from the front is unaffected, but I'm guessing the usable space at the rear is significantly increased. I've not had chance to talk to them about it yet as they are on holiday while the work is completed, but I understand they are creating two new bedrooms with a shared ensuite.

I'm wondering if there is a special term for this type of conversion. I'm guessing it is significantly more expensive than a regular truss loft conversion (even my dull witted mind can understand the difficulties of keeping a roof up while you brick in more wall ).

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

A photo would help. Could just be a rear dormer but you said 'velux windows over 4 ft of new brick work' which seems a bit odd.

 

[Tentigers]

It's difficult to explain, but there is definitely no rear dormer of any kind. It is all very seamless and there is no 'break' in the roof as such.

From the back, compared to the other houses, it's like new layers of bricks have been added to created the start of a new storey (I'm guessing six layers maybe?), and then a shortened roof section starts. The velux windows (5 of them) are in this. The middle velux window looks smaller and I'm guessing is where the shared ensuite is.

So in order to keep the same pitch, but to be able to shorten the roof and build the new bricks on the same line as the rest of the rear wall, the ridge has had to be raised. Do you get what I mean?

I'd attach a picture if I had one; I sketched out a side profile to understand how it could be done, but it's not very good!

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

No still don’t get what you mean, you say the front elevation has not been changed yet you say the ridge has been raised? Are you getting your ridge and eaves terminology mixed up? If they’re away on hols then can’t you sneak into their back garden of an evening and take a snap?

A sketch showing before and after would hep.

 

[Tentigers]

View media item 81666
Here you go. Hopefully it is not too crude so as not to make sense. I've exaggerated the changes. Thanks.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

OK that helps, I’m not sure there is a name for this kind of roof modification, at east I’m not aware of it. They have just raised the ridge and the eaves at the rear. But kept the front roof plane. This would have required planning permission. But from the front the appearance has changed, as the ridge is higher, which is what threw me in your posts.

 

[Tentigers]

Thanks. I think because of how the house stands on a slight rise it is barely noticeable from the front. They did get planning permission talking to our nearest neighbour.

I'm just trying to imagine the process of conversion and look at cost feasibility for ourselves, specifically in relation to the trusses. Do they just put in a steel beam right at the top of the house from the top of the new wall on either side do you think? I've obviously got no idea when it comes to this kind of thing.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Did they remove the entire roof or leave the front pitch intact? A new ridge beam in anycase and either beefing up the existing rafters or their replacement with bigger rafters on the front, new rafters down the back.

But if you want to know more, then a word with the owners will tell you all, will it not?

 

[Tentigers]

They didn't touch the existing roof at the front. The only thing you could see was perhaps two rows of tiles at the top (which I thought were existing rows - it was barely noticeable).

I was just really trying to understand if there was a specific term to describe the technique so I could look around to see what I could find out. As it is eaves and ridge raising seems to have thrown up some results, so thanks for that.

I will be asking them on their return. I was just intrigued as to how it was done.