ᐅ Raising the knee wall – exceeding the eave height?

Hello!

We are currently in the more detailed planning phase of our construction project and are obtaining quotes from potential building companies. We have received a design that we generally like. However, the issue is the knee wall height on the upper floor after finishing, which is 75cm (30 inches) with a roof pitch of 42°.

There is no zoning plan for our plot, only regulations from the building authority that specify a eaves height of 4m (13 feet) and a ridge height of 8.50m (28 feet).

How could the knee wall possibly be increased? Would this only be possible by setting back the walls, thus losing floor space on the upper floor? A consultant from another company told me that raising the knee wall is not a problem at all and can be done without losing any floor area...

We would like a knee wall of at least 90cm (35 inches), preferably 1m (39 inches). However, to my non-expert understanding, this would mean exceeding the eaves height?

A lot of space is simply lost in the rooms, and I find the layout of the bathroom quite unfavorable.

I look forward to any suggestions.

I'm not the right person to answer questions about ceiling heights. Others will be able to help you with that.

Regarding the knee wall
Take a look on Pinterest. Knee wall cabinets and similar solutions offer clever ideas to use that area for storage. In a model home, the shower was positioned so that a bench was built under the sloped ceiling.

Many thanks for your reply. I took a look and found some really great ideas and implementations.

We have now reviewed the plans of a similar house and realized that we would only need to raise the eaves height to 4.30 meters (14 feet) to build the house as we envision it.

Is there a chance for an exception permit (without a building permit / planning permission)? After all, it’s not about 2 meters (6.5 feet)...

LotteBerlin schrieb:

Is there a chance for an exemption (without a building permit / planning permission)?

Who set the 4 m (13 ft) limit, which reference point was used, and what site analysis was the decision based on?
If you can provide the authority with evidence of different values in the immediate area, no exemption may be necessary. Otherwise, there is the option to argue using either absolute or relative heights, depending on which is more advantageous for you.
However, if you want to exceed the eave heights of neighboring buildings regardless of the approach, you will need the persuasion skills of your designer, as I cannot think of any valid arguments from a distance without knowing the site and surrounding buildings.

It also depends on your ground floor, ceiling height there, floor construction, intermediate ceiling, and floor construction above... information is simply missing. And also, what exactly the eaves height refers to – as @Escroda has already mentioned. Can you provide more details on that?

So with a 42° pitch, you set the knee wall back 30cm (12 inches) into the wall and get the desired knee wall height. You can integrate shelves or storage into that 30cm (12 inches), for example... calculate for yourself what you really lose... in my opinion, we're talking peanuts here... kids’ rooms with almost 17 square meters (183 square feet) are really huge anyway, and no one will notice the little space that’s lost.