ᐅ Single-family house without a basement – creating additional usable space elsewhere

Hello everyone,

We are building our single-family house without a basement with the following specifications:

Gable roof with a 45° pitch
Knee wall 1m (3.3 ft)
Living area: 148 m² (1,593 sq ft)
House dimensions: 8.95m x 11.32m (29.4 ft x 37.2 ft)

We want to compensate for the lack of storage space from the missing basement through the following measures:

• Make the attic accessible
• Build an extended single garage
• Build a spacious garden shed

I have questions regarding the following points:

1 - Attic:

This is a cold roof, meaning the floor between the upper floor and attic is insulated with mineral wool and has a vapor barrier in between.

The goal is to create more storage space. The attic is not intended to be used as living space.

For this purpose, I want to use tongue-and-groove boards, as these are vapor permeable compared to OSB panels and therefore prevent issues with rising moisture from the upper floor.

Questions:

• So far, a pull-down attic ladder is planned. My wife prefers a fixed space-saving staircase with a railing for easier access. In my view, this should be no problem as long as the access hatch to the attic remains insulated. Are there suitable solutions for this?
• We would also like to dry wet laundry in the attic. In our case, is this unproblematic? I believe the evaporated moisture could easily escape.
• What do you think, how much effectively usable floor area would this create?
• Do you have any personal experience with this?

The attached picture is provided as an example.

2 - Garage

The garage is planned to be 3.45m (11.3 ft) wide and 9m (29.5 ft) long. Inside the garage, a partition wall will be installed to separate the parking space from a storage area. Do you have recommendations for manufacturers or personal experience with this?

Thank you for your help.

Best regards,
Enno

Also, drying laundry up there is basically out of the question. In winter, it’s so cold that you need to hang clothes wearing a jacket and gloves, and in summer, you’re likely to need a shower after just five minutes.

Then there’s the headroom, meaning the area where you can actually stand upright. It probably isn’t very large. We have an attic of a similar size, which is perfect for storage – you can fit quite a lot in there.

markus2703 schrieb:
Actually, you can pretty much forget about drying laundry up there. In winter, it’s so cold that you have to hang clothes wearing a jacket and gloves, and in summer, after 5 minutes, you’ll need a shower.

The standing height is also an important factor—that is, in which area can you actually stand upright. It probably isn’t very large. We have an attic of similar size; it’s perfect for storage, and you can fit quite a bit in there.

Thanks for your feedback.

According to the plan, the height in the middle is 2.50m (8 feet 2 inches). So I think there should still be some space to stand on the sides.

markus2703 schrieb:
We have an attic of a similar size, which is perfect for storage; it can hold quite a lot.

If you don't mind me asking: would you be willing to share one or two pictures of your attic? I’d like to get a better sense of the actual space available.

Depending on the climate, only tools, bicycles, garden equipment, drinks, and similar items are stored in the garage... I would no longer store garden furniture cushions here due to the risk of mold.

EnnoBecker schrieb:

So far, a folding attic ladder is planned. My wife prefers a fixed space-saving staircase with a handrail for easier access. From my perspective, that’s not a problem as long as the access to the attic hatch remains insulated. Are there suitable solutions for this?

I don’t think that’s a good idea. Since the hatch must remain insulated, it’s unlikely that the attic will be used regularly. It will mostly be for storing Christmas decorations and similar items, and even that usage tends to decline over time in our case. Besides, you would have to pay for an additional staircase, and access to the upper floor would probably become somewhat more complex.
It would be different if you built a proper access with a door, which could potentially be used later as a space for expansion. But do you really need that?