ᐅ Single-family house without a basement – creating additional usable space elsewhere

Created on: 26 Mar 2018 14:43
E
EnnoBecker
Hello everyone,

We are building our single-family house without a basement with the following specifications:

Gable roof with a 45° pitch
Knee wall 1m (3.3 ft)
Living area: 148 m² (1,593 sq ft)
House dimensions: 8.95m x 11.32m (29.4 ft x 37.2 ft)

We want to compensate for the lack of storage space from the missing basement through the following measures:

  • Make the attic accessible
  • Build an extended single garage
  • Build a spacious garden shed

I have questions regarding the following points:

1 - Attic:

This is a cold roof, meaning the floor between the upper floor and attic is insulated with mineral wool and has a vapor barrier in between.

The goal is to create more storage space. The attic is not intended to be used as living space.

For this purpose, I want to use tongue-and-groove boards, as these are vapor permeable compared to OSB panels and therefore prevent issues with rising moisture from the upper floor.

Questions:

  • So far, a pull-down attic ladder is planned. My wife prefers a fixed space-saving staircase with a railing for easier access. In my view, this should be no problem as long as the access hatch to the attic remains insulated. Are there suitable solutions for this?
  • We would also like to dry wet laundry in the attic. In our case, is this unproblematic? I believe the evaporated moisture could easily escape.
  • What do you think, how much effectively usable floor area would this create?
  • Do you have any personal experience with this?

The attached picture is provided as an example.

2 - Garage

The garage is planned to be 3.45m (11.3 ft) wide and 9m (29.5 ft) long. Inside the garage, a partition wall will be installed to separate the parking space from a storage area. Do you have recommendations for manufacturers or personal experience with this?

Thank you for your help.

Best regards,
Enno
N
NanDe
25 Apr 2018 13:14
We need to insulate because otherwise the heating system and mechanical ventilation cannot be installed on the floor. We would also like to use the space in the utility room for other purposes.
K
Knallkörper
25 Apr 2018 13:25
NanDe schrieb:
Recommendation from the energy consultant: 18cm (7 inches) Styrofoam insulation (flat insulation board EPS 035) + OSB 315mm (12.4 inches).

Is this insulation meant for the concrete intermediate ceiling? It doesn’t really make much sense to insulate that. Do you have sloped ceilings on the upper floor?

In my opinion, a vapor retarder before the friction-fit mineral wool is absolutely necessary.
J
Joedreck
25 Apr 2018 13:43
So if the attic is going to be insulated and heated anyway, the ceiling of the top floor does not need to be insulated. Only the entire sloping roof down to the bottom.

By the way, I don’t understand why the attic must be heated because of the heating system and controlled mechanical ventilation?
A
Alex85
25 Apr 2018 13:53
Because the regulator requires the heat generator to be located within the heated building envelope.
Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery will develop condensation issues if it is located in an unheated space.

So the surfaces are at least passively heated through heat transfer between floors/rooms.
N
NanDe
25 Apr 2018 14:05
Knallkörper schrieb:
Is this insulation intended for the concrete intermediate ceiling? It doesn’t really make much sense to insulate that. Do you have sloped ceilings on the upper floor?

In my view, a vapor retarder in front of the insulation felt is absolutely necessary.

This is meant to be the insulation for the top floor ceiling. We are building a bungalow.

The vapor retarder will definitely be used. According to the consultant, a vapor barrier on the floor ceiling is not necessary.
N
NanDe
27 Apr 2018 11:56
Does anyone have their heating and/or ventilation system in the attic and can share how they insulated it? :-(