ᐅ Setback floor (or recessed storey), attic (or loft), gable roof, flat roof

Tentakel schrieb:
A flat roof is more expensive to build and maintain than a pitched roof.

Or put bluntly: A flat roof is only cheap if it’s not meant to be watertight.

Lumpi_LE schrieb:
and the stepped design also costs more on the resulting living area than if the walls had simply been built all the way up.

A stepped design means that exterior walls are located upstairs where there are no exterior walls below. Loads unsupported from below require beams to carry them. Furthermore, stepped designs mean that the floor slab below has both an interior and an exterior part that need to be thermally insulated from each other (which involves its own structural complexities).

Stepped floors are therefore always more expensive, and private homebuilders who use their homes themselves usually only do this once and would typically apply it more sparingly or not at all with their next house.

It’s no surprise, then, that stepped floors are mostly found where every fraction of usable floor area matters.

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A rooftop setback is expensive. It involves much thicker exterior walls with plaster, more parapet covering (metalwork), an additional staircase, and the resulting impact on the floor plans of the floors below. However, it offers the opportunity for a roof terrace if that is something on your wish list.
You also need to consider what the setback space will actually be used for. It is most exposed to wind and sun, and the path from the living area on the ground floor to the setback is quite long. We also considered this and thought about using the space as an office and storage room, but if I’m upstairs while the family is two floors below… running around, shouting across the house, small children, many stairs, and the distance to others spoke strongly against it. You tend to completely withdraw from the activity in the house, or so we assumed.

We are also building a flat roof, and in our experience as well as that of the architect, it is not more expensive. The price per square meter of roof is certainly lower than if you build a pitched roof with a bay window that has a small flat roof. That comparison is somewhat misleading. The durability is said to be worse, but that prejudice is based on past quality. Anyone who still builds a wooden flat roof today is responsible for the problems.

Alex85 schrieb:
We are also building flat roofs, and from both my perception and that of the architect, they are not more expensive. [...] Anyone who still builds a flat roof out of wood today only has themselves to blame.

When comparing flat roofs versus pitched roofs, neither is generally better or worse, nor cheaper or more expensive. There are many factors involved. Incidentally, leaks, for which many early flat roofs were notorious, occur just as often in concrete roofs as in wooden roofs.

Alex85 schrieb:
You also have to consider what the mezzanine level can actually be used for.

When it is intended to avoid a full legal story, part of the terrace is often built solidly because otherwise the total area would be too large.

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Hausbauer1 schrieb:
3. If you could choose freely, would you prefer a pitched roof attic or a recessed top floor?

That’s not easy to answer in general. It depends on the roof pitch, house style, and knee wall height. Every change results in a different appearance.

Personally, I have already lived in a two-story house, but with a low-pitched gable roof. I tolerate cubic architecture, but I wouldn’t want to live in it or have a 6-meter (20-foot) high wall next to my garden.

For living atmosphere, including in the garden, I prefer a pitched roof.

I would like to explain the background: We are currently looking at a house in the Bauhaus style. Great location. Everything basically fits. Except: The architect usually only designs Bauhaus style, meaning flat roofs. I would personally prefer a pitched roof but might consider Bauhaus style since everything else fits. Or almost everything, because here is the second point: We currently find some rooms are planned a bit too small... there are several rooms between 9 and 13 m² (97 and 140 sq ft). This could be alleviated with an additional recessed floor. Also, I really like roof terraces. Well, you can’t have everything—I would also like a wood stove and a conservatory. But the budget limits what’s possible, especially if you don’t want to move completely out into the countryside.

I am now trying to gather some ideas on whether it might be worth persuading the architect to go for a pitched roof, even though he doesn’t have experience with it, or if it’s better to take what he offers before it’s gone. And secondly, whether adding a recessed floor would still be feasible. If none of this works out, we will have to keep looking anyway.

Hausbauer1 schrieb:
Let me explain the background:

However, it’s not really clear.

Hausbauer1 schrieb:
Great location. Everything basically fits. Except: The architect usually only designs Bauhaus-style homes, [...] here is point two: We currently find some rooms too small... there are a few rooms between 9 and 13 m² (97 and 140 sq ft). This could be improved with an additional setback floor. [...] or better take what he offers before it’s gone.

Sounds like this is about a specific house offer, and the architect is also acting as the developer?
Rooms between 9 and 13 m² (97 and 140 sq ft) are fixed, but you think adding a setback floor on top is negotiable?

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