ᐅ Window height in dormers and the distance to the eaves

Hello everyone,

We are currently working on a roof conversion project that has been in planning for years. We’re glad it has finally started, but unfortunately there are some unintended details in the design that I hadn’t noticed earlier.

Among other things, the window height in the dormers is much higher than usual. The bottom edge of the window opening is at 117cm (and the window frame adds to that), which is determined by the roof slope. They can’t be installed any lower at this spot because the exterior part of the roof extends that high. If the dormers were positioned slightly further out, the window height could be at a more typical level of about 90cm.

My question is: Are there regulations (in northern Hesse) that specify how close a dormer wall can be to the eaves? I do have the Hessian building codes on my computer, but it’s difficult to find all the relevant information ... so I’m asking here if anyone might know something about this?

Unfortunately, it is too late anyway. The dormers are installed and the windows are high ... but at least knowing the background about what I am a bit upset about would be helpful 😉

That depends on the knee wall height. You can’t really push it outwards beyond the lower wall. At least, that’s not usually how it’s done.

With a 1 m (3 ft 3 in) knee wall, I get a windowsill height of 1.05 m (3 ft 5 in).

Not on the outside, of course, but it is closer.
I just measured, and there is 90cm (35 inches) of space between the dormer wall and the main house wall (fire wall).

It could be that less space is not possible...
The "remaining roof" still needs to have a certain level of stability, and if the gap between the house’s exterior wall and the dormer’s exterior wall is too narrow, the overhanging part of the roof might end up being too short.

Then you have a knee wall, and the windows are placed on the knee wall. You could have extended the knee wall outward, up to the exterior wall at most. Is the main ceiling beam resting on the ceiling?

hanghaus2000 schrieb:

You could have pushed the knee wall outward.

Yes, that’s exactly what I mean, but the roof overhang needs to be securely anchored, and the smaller the gap between the dormer and the main wall, the less stable it becomes.

I assume the architect did it right this time 😎 (and now I always have to stand on tiptoes when I want to look out the window 😉)

The title of this post is unclear. More important than the distance between the dormer’s outer wall and the eaves is the distance between the dormer wall and the main house wall, because there the stability of this roof section is established.