ᐅ Children’s bedroom on the upper floor open up to the roof space

Hello,

we have seen in some model homes children's rooms without a ceiling, open up to the roof. There was usually a staircase leading to a kind of mezzanine where a bed was often placed. Do you know what costs are involved in building a children's room with an open ceiling? Our daughter really likes that idea, but we think it must be quite expensive. Does anyone here have a room like that?

Regards
Sabine

We had the house built without a roof peak, so the children's rooms are currently open all the way up to the ridge beam. We have not had the mezzanine level installed yet. However, omitting the roof peak initially saved money, so I think that with a setup like this, having a mezzanine in, for example, 2 out of 4 rooms might possibly balance out the cost. But that again depends on the builder and whether they are willing to do something like that.

For solid brick or concrete houses, I estimate that this could involve additional costs since a carpenter would need to be brought in. For a timber frame prefab house, it might be easier to implement. But these are just my personal thoughts on the matter.

By the way, we planned this for later, when the children (currently 2.5 and 0.75 years old) are older.

From personal experience, I know of two disadvantages. I personally have issues with roof windows in the bedroom. For example, during rain, they can cause quite a bit of noise. Furthermore (although this might sound funny), the mosquitoes and gnats flying around my head at night drive me crazy, especially when I turn on the light and they settle at a height of 4.5m (15 feet).

PhiTh schrieb:
Personally, I have issues with skylights in the bedroom.

We don’t have skylights in the sleeping and children’s rooms because of the southern orientation and the resulting heat exposure.

However, the issue with mosquitoes could actually become relevant, but in that case, the windows would just be locked and never opened. Also, with a lower ceiling height, you rarely get bothered by those insects anyway.

By the way, we reduced the roof pitch to 35° to keep the maximum height upstairs at only 3.8m (12.5 ft).

We have a mosquito net (rectangular shape, not like a tent) over the bed. It’s very relaxing not having flies constantly landing on you. Not to mention the mosquitoes. I would definitely do this again.
I really like that it’s open at the top. The second layer can always be added later.

In our house type, it was even standard that all rooms in the attic are open up to the ridge. We have now been living in the house for over two years and think it creates a great sense of space. The roof windows do not bother us at all; on the contrary, we enjoy the sound of rain falling on them (but of course, this is a matter of personal preference).