ᐅ Are Roof Terraces Practical?

We used to have one, but I don’t need it anymore. In the peak of summer, you feel like you’re being roasted, and the little children can’t play in the garden. You end up carrying everything through the house: dirt, food, alcohol, people passed out from drinking, and at least twice a year plants and furniture. Besides, I also have an aversion to flat roofs—I’ve seen too many leaks.

If anything, the kitchen would need to be upstairs, but then for me it would be missing downstairs. There would also need to be a separate storage room for all the clutter, including cushions, decorations, and blankets.

In the middle of a city with a view of a beautiful old town, this is very nice, but in typical single-family home neighborhoods or new housing developments, it is completely unnecessary.

A garden with a kitchen and living area on one level offers us only advantages. Natural shading by trees is possible, it’s easy to quickly fetch supplies from the kitchen, there is more space, and you don’t have to build a flat roof, which many people do not like aesthetically (of course, a matter of personal taste).

We have one on the garage, but also the living area on the upper floor. With an exterior staircase where you can both transport things and let guests in. I wouldn't do it any other way. More sunlight, cooler bedrooms, etc.

I would first find out how much extra a rooftop terrace would cost. Then I would consider whether it’s worth the money for me. Such a feature is definitely nice, but also significantly more expensive. Besides, you can’t really spend time in two great places at once (rooftop terrace and garden). For me, it would be just a luxury. Building a house is expensive enough. If money isn’t an issue, I would go for a rooftop terrace. But the additional costs have to be worth it. I would rather build without one if I already had a nice garden.

The roof terrace would probably cost around 10,000 euros, but it’s important to remember that you would likely install more windows as well, which also increases the cost. However, this would provide more natural light.

More windows, more square meters on the floor below, an additional staircase, railing, overall more square meters than originally planned without the roof terrace by creating extra rooms upstairs, possibly expensive sanitary fixtures, possibly a kitchenette, an additional upper hallway, extra doors, potentially higher costs for a longer chimney, later additional expenses for decorating the roof terrace, sunshade... Basically, when building on top, you are not just adding the roof terrace, but also extra living space. Don’t forget the parapet. We currently have a large roof terrace in a small town. The view isn’t that great there either. In which area are you planning to build? Bringing plants outside in summer, bringing them back inside in winter, where to overwinter plants? Cleaning the outdoor railing... That’s all a lot of work.

If you have children, pay attention to fall protection. Children like to play a lot in the garden. I can’t really imagine it being ideal for kids on a roof terrace. Do you have a garden? How big is it approximately or how large would your plot be?