ᐅ Calculation of knee wall height for a one-and-a-half-story house

Hello,
I just have a quick question.

What is the maximum height allowed for the knee wall (gable roof) if we need to stay within 1 1/2 full stories in Schleswig-Holstein:
- Ridge height 8 m (26 ft)
- Roof pitch 15–51 degrees
- The house should have about 130 sqm (1,400 sqft) of living space
- Standard ceiling height on the ground floor

The reason for my question is that I want to minimize the sloped ceiling areas as much as possible. However, I am not sure how the calculations are done.

Maybe you can help me briefly here.

Thanks and stay healthy.

Without reading the state building code of SH now, on average 3/4 or 2/3 over 220 or 230 ceiling height are allowed (you can check that yourself).
It always involves determining/mediating the knee wall height and roof pitch. And of course, when setting the ridge height, the reference point and the building structure are important.
Have your architect do the calculations!
I would roughly estimate a knee wall height of 140/160cm (55/63 inches) with a roof pitch around ±26 degrees, or a 180cm (71 inches) knee wall with a shallower roof pitch. There are houses that look like two-story but are still considered single-story in the calculations.
There are no half stories.
Through extensions, bay windows, or void spaces, the architect can sometimes be creative.

PyneBite schrieb:

- Ridge height 8 m (26 ft)
- Roof pitch 15–51 degrees
- The house should have approximately 130 sqm (1,399 sq ft) of living space
- Standard ceiling height on the ground floor

That is a very wide range of possible roof pitches. The ceiling height on the ground floor is not relevant for calculating the full story. The information is insufficient; the gable width is missing.

PyneBite schrieb:

I want to try to minimize the sloped ceilings as much as possible. But I am not clear on how the whole thing is calculated.

Pythagoras.
However, you should be clear about what knee wall height means for the view: it represents a compromise between facade windows and roof windows. In this sense, you should consider the knee wall height as a "beam in your sight."

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ypg schrieb:

There is no such thing as half stories.

There is no such thing as half stories.
There is no such thing as half stories.
It cannot be emphasized enough.

PyneBite schrieb:

What is the maximum allowable knee wall height (gable roof)?

Is this still about the property on Dorfstraße?
That area is covered by Section 34 of the building code, meaning it is within an infill development zone where there are no requirements to match roof pitches or styles. Also, the full story calculation doesn’t have to follow the strict definitions of the state building regulations.

Escroda schrieb:

There is no such thing as a half-story.
There is no such thing as a half-story.
It’s worth repeating.
Is this still about the property on Dorfstraße?
That area is within a §34 zoning district according to the Building Code, where there are no requirements to match roof slopes or shapes. And the calculation of full stories does not have to follow the strict definitions of the state building regulations.

Hello Escroda,

I’d like to invite you to check out my new thread. It probably clarifies a lot.

I just thought I could ask the question here in a more general way, since according to the search function, I wasn’t the only one wondering about this.

P.S. If half-stories don’t exist, what should I call them? Unfortunately, I haven’t known any other term so far. Could it be called a setback story?

PyneBite schrieb:

P.S. if there are no half floors, what do I call that?

Partial floor
42 is probably the wrong answer, but maybe the question should be asked to Deep Thought anyway

PyneBite schrieb:

Setback floor?

- only if it is stepped back.

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