Hello everyone,
I’m asking out of curiosity if there are any homeowners here who have built a gable roof and deliberately chose not to make the knee wall as high as possible? Many are restricted by zoning regulations or planning permission, but some are not.
We built a gable roof in 2018/2019 with a knee wall height of 1.30 m (4 feet 3 inches) interior measurement, a roof pitch of 38 degrees, and just under 170 sqm (1,830 sq ft) of living space. Since we don’t have any specific zoning restrictions here, we could have built it differently or higher. However, we decided against it for the following reasons:
- We actually like sloped ceilings, as long as we’re not talking about a knee wall of only 40 cm (16 inches). It feels particularly cozy in the bedrooms.
- We are both only 170 cm (5 feet 7 inches) tall and therefore hardly feel restricted. If we were taller, it would probably be a different story.
- At the time, a gable roof with a very high knee wall didn’t appeal to us visually at all (it somehow looked too “leggy”); meanwhile, I (my partner does not) also find houses with a high knee wall and a shallower roof pitch very stylish. The only downside is that it reduces the size of the attic.
I’m really looking forward to your replies.
Best regards
I’m asking out of curiosity if there are any homeowners here who have built a gable roof and deliberately chose not to make the knee wall as high as possible? Many are restricted by zoning regulations or planning permission, but some are not.
We built a gable roof in 2018/2019 with a knee wall height of 1.30 m (4 feet 3 inches) interior measurement, a roof pitch of 38 degrees, and just under 170 sqm (1,830 sq ft) of living space. Since we don’t have any specific zoning restrictions here, we could have built it differently or higher. However, we decided against it for the following reasons:
- We actually like sloped ceilings, as long as we’re not talking about a knee wall of only 40 cm (16 inches). It feels particularly cozy in the bedrooms.
- We are both only 170 cm (5 feet 7 inches) tall and therefore hardly feel restricted. If we were taller, it would probably be a different story.
- At the time, a gable roof with a very high knee wall didn’t appeal to us visually at all (it somehow looked too “leggy”); meanwhile, I (my partner does not) also find houses with a high knee wall and a shallower roof pitch very stylish. The only downside is that it reduces the size of the attic.
I’m really looking forward to your replies.
Best regards
hampshire schrieb:
To break up this "window dividing line," you can arrange windows by combining both a floor-to-ceiling knee wall window and a roof window. This leaves a continuous line, and the windowsill is eliminated. The hybrid angled windows were a short-lived trend in the early 1980s, so brief that they never really had an established name and remain a nameless phenomenon. Even 45° corners in floor plans lasted significantly longer. As a window manufacturer, I was relieved from a warranty perspective to enter the industry only after this brief trend had ended. Although we also specialized in roof windows, we never sought projects with these hybrids as modernization clients.
hampshire schrieb:
The look of the room can also be influenced by boxing out areas for storage or built-in furniture. Built-in furniture is good, but classic knee wall cavities are, from an insulation perspective, let's say "not ideal." That's why I recommend very sparing use of consecutive connections between knee walls and low parapets, limited mainly to areas like toilets and showers (unless the bathroom is located in a dormer extension).
hampshire schrieb:
In some development plans, it is possible to expand a room with dormers. This then depends on the specified length and width ratios. Thanks to overly strict regulations pushed to the extreme by persistent opponents, most municipalities now limit exceptions so sharply that often only full dormers—not even cross dormers—are allowed. However, for roof trusses with knee walls, full dormers are, as one of my mentors used to say, "a death sentence."
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
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11ant schrieb:
but traditional knee wall spaces are, from an insulation point of view, let’s say "not ideal".The knee wall spaces in the family home were insulated. Isn’t that the usual approach? What exactly is not ideal about it? 11ant schrieb:
That’s why I recommend using knee walls and knee wall cavities very sparingly, at most in areas like the toilet and shower (unless the bathroom is located in a dormer).If done properly, there’s no reason not to do it.ypg schrieb:
If it is done correctly, there is no reason not to do it.Cavities should generally be avoided, as they are usually beneficial from a building physics perspective: ypg schrieb:
The knee walls in the parent house were “insulated.” Isn’t that the classic approach?
What is unattractive about that?Traditionally, construction was done without a knee wall, with knee spaces behind the dormers. The dormer walls were insulated afterwards (or in a transitional phase between the dormer and knee wall era, sometimes during construction). According to current insulation standards, the thermal envelope boundary then only extended down to the dormer wall beneath the rafters, abutted the dormer walls, and continued along the floor of the knee space (i.e., the ceiling of the floor below). This created three "sections" of insulation — technically "not ideal" — and, in my opinion, this was an important reason for the trend to replace the dormer wall with a knee wall, even more so than the increase in usable space.https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
ypg schrieb:
That would be a two-story house. Unfortunately, and this probably applies to you, plot sizes are getting smaller, so the floor area ratio limits builders to the extent that the roof slopes can no longer be offset by the building footprint. Therefore, you have to increase the knee wall height to gain the required square meters, even if it’s only achievable through actual headroom clearance.
Honestly, our plot isn’t that small at all (700 sqm (7,535 sq ft)) with 180 sqm (1,938 sq ft) of living space plus additional storage area. We simply like the spacious appearance.
Deadree schrieb:
We just like the spacious appearance. What exactly is more spacious about a two-story house of 180 m² (1,938 sq ft) compared to a 180 m² (1,938 sq ft) gable roof house?
B
bauherr2019_he17 Dec 2021 06:39ypg schrieb:
What is more spacious about a two-story house of 180sqm (1937 sq ft) compared to a 180sqm (1937 sq ft) gable roof house? It looks bulkier from the outside, and that’s something you have to like.
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