ᐅ Full storeys in a timber-framed house with a 53-degree roof pitch.

LeaLeoo schrieb:

I would now guess no.

Correct.

LeaLeoo schrieb:

2. Can finishing the attic/roof space still affect the number of storeys?

In Lower Saxony yes, in North Rhine-Westphalia no.

11ant schrieb:

Non-full storeys are not added together.

Correct, but the two-thirds rule in Lower Saxony only applies to the topmost storey.

11ant schrieb:

However, I don’t see a habitable attic conversion (living spaces require certain minimum ceiling heights and escape routes) being feasible with this house size anyway.

I agree for a 9 m (30 feet) wide house. Because of the definition of a full storey, ceiling heights must even be chosen so that no living spaces are possible; otherwise, the attic becomes the top storey, and thus the attic floor is counted as a full storey. If you consider a second escape route for yourself, you can still confidently use the room as a playroom or office—you just must not label it as such in the building documents.

LeaLeoo schrieb:

We were specifically interested in this exact model house in terms of its appearance because we already liked it a lot.

Yes, which one exactly? Model homes are usually all available online. If you can tell us the manufacturer and the house name, we might be able to take a look as well.

OK, now I understand why the show home (DLK Melle, Country House Classic) has 2 full stories. From the picture of the house, you can clearly see that at a height of 2.30 meters (7 ft 7 in), the ceiling is still 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) wide. In the show home, there was simply an open staircase leading upstairs, and a few pieces of furniture were placed there.
We will probably have to meet with the supplier and discuss what adjustments need to be made to keep it as a full story without compromising the overall appearance too much.

Thanks!

Escroda schrieb:

Because of the definition of a full story, the ceiling heights must be chosen so that no habitable rooms are possible there; otherwise, the attic becomes the top floor.

So the attic ceiling would possibly need to be lowered (below a collar beam, so it doesn’t look like a design misuse)?

LeaLeoo schrieb:

From the picture of the house, I think you can see quite clearly that at a height of 2.30 m (7 ft 7 in) the ceiling is still 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) wide.

I didn’t understand that at all. I still see about five of eight timber frame panels remaining in width. However, looking at the pictures, I have little hope of avoiding an overly large attic without a mansard roof or a lower roof pitch.

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LeaLeoo schrieb:

Based on the picture of the house, I think you can clearly see that at 2.30 meters (7 ft 7 in) height, the ceiling is still 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) wide.

I don’t understand that either.

11ant schrieb:

So the attic ceiling would possibly have to be dropped (below a collar beam, so it doesn’t look awkward)?

Yes, but not with a 9 meter (29 ft 6 in) width, because then less than half of it is over 2.20 meters (7 ft 3 in) clear height.

11ant schrieb:

However, from the pictures, I see little chance of avoiding an excessively large attic without a mansard roof or a lower roof pitch.

If no knee walls are planned in the attic, then more than half of the floor area is below 2.20 meters (7 ft 3 in), meaning that according to §43, paragraph 2 of the Lower Saxony Building Code, no habitable rooms are allowed there, and the attic is considered a cavity space under §2, paragraph 7, sentence 4, which does not count as the top floor. At the same time, 5.68 meters (18 ft 8 in) of the gable length are above 2.20 meters (7 ft 3 in) clear height, which corresponds to 5.68m/9.00m = 0.63 = 63% < 66% (2/3), so it is not considered a full floor.

Hello LeaLeoo,

I just found your post through the search. Have you decided to build the timber-framed house? How has your experience been?

We are currently considering building a timber-framed house as well and also visited the DLK in Melle for consultation. I would appreciate hearing about your experiences.