*
I have subscribed to your fine magazine for years and have put many of your building practices to use on my own projects. Fortunately or unfortunately, my expertise runs out at the project level and my wife and I want to do more than a project. We want to do some remodeling and add 940 square feet to our existing house. We have asked a couple of contractors in our area to look at the job and give us their opinions and bids.
One of the things that concerns me is the roof. We have a 47 foot long by 27 foot wide house that was built in the late sixties. The house has a hip roof. We want to add 20 feet of width, that will run the entire 47 foot of length. Obviously, the hip ridge runs the length of the house. How do we modify the hip roof to cover a 47 foot square building… without tearing off the entire old rood structure? We live in the middle Tennessee area and the roof appears to be between a 4 or 6 in twelve pitch.
Replies
*
Rob,
You have sketched the 47'x47' box with a pyramid for a roof already and have gone to a design/build addition contractor specialist in your area...His price was between $150-190/ft and up depending on the amount of marble to be laid in the new master bedroom suite. First to build in the addition foundation, deck and framed walls. Then he will have a new roof frame ready to crane drop in place the minute the demo crew has the old roof cut off and cleared.
Two months to do the work and your $190,000 is well spent creating the dream home you always desired.
near the stream,
aj
*Robert,Here's a "rough sketch" of the new hip roof that you propose, assuming that the roof on your house as it is, is a single pitch hip roof, correctly framed.Whether or not it is 4/12 , 5/12, 6/12, or whatever, is not important, the design would remain the same.Notice that the 4 hip rafters will eventually meet at a single point since the new, completed frame, is a square ( 47'x47').Since part of the new roof will "die" on top of the the existing roof, you'll have to make sure that the existing roof is well braced, and undoubtedly, you'll be adding more bracing than currently exists, before putting the additional weight of the new roof on top of it.The new walls that you build will be exactly at the same height as the existing ones in your house, and of course, the rafter tails also.I'll have more for you when this thread gets off the ground, and believe you me Robert, it could result in one or more new members into the Stooge Club.KenPresidentStooge Club
*RobertYou are talking to one of the best roof framers in the country, [KEN].Pay attention to him and you will not regret it. I notice you are a Guest user.I would advise you now to go to your local outlet and purchase a puter,scanner and a printer. You are going to need it or else move in with whoever owns the machine you are using.[see my 10/6 post HIP RAFTERS in the Construction Techniques section] PS Ken, I think there is more than a good possibility we may gain new members.MikeTreasurerStooge Club
*Robert, I'd suggest that you get some help with your design. At the very least, go buy a simple design program like 3D home degsign or something similar.A 47 x 47 home is not an easy one to turn into eye candy. Of course, it might keep the taxes down.curly
*Since you're overframing so much of the roof anyway, you might want to think about using different pitches on the ends of the house than you do on the back and front. That way you could have some sort of ridge, not just a point in the center. If you're spending that much money, how about hiring an Architect ? They could sit down with you face to face and sketch out some ideas.
*Robert,I totally agree with blue and Ron in suggesting that you get some professional advice (locally) with this one. I think Blue's point is that it's hard to make a 47' box look interesting. I couldn't agree more. Ron is implying the same thing.If you drive around the neighborhood that you are living in, try to find a house that has this shape, especially if it has a hip roof that comes to a point. Try to imagine what your house will look like with that particular shape. There are other ways to add on the additional room that you require. That's why you should get some experienced help from someone in your area who can come to your house and see what limitations, etc., exist for your project, and discuss various possibilities with you.The roof plan that I drew was meant to answer your question. I was simply giving a brief description of how it could be framed. To be quite honest, I don't like the boxy end result.Ken
*Under the circumstances neatly drawn by Ken, would you also recommend re-sheathing / re-shingling at least the sides if not the front? I've seen many cases where slight changes in roof plane/pitch telegraphed through to the shingles (depending on weight & quality of shingle). Considering the increase in required length of the original hip rafters, might they be somewhat undersized for the new span? I assume that this is what Ken is referring to with additional bracing.Since this roof will probably be 1/3 taller than the existing roof, you should also verify compliance with height restrictions, if any, not to mention the aesthetic considerations.Jeff
*Mike,While I appreciate your opinions and the compliment, I really don't think that my helping you to frame the porch project ( in Construction Techniques ) qualifies me as "one of the best roof framers in the country" as you put it. I would ask you in the future to refrain from making such remarks. I can assure you, there are many others out there that could be answering your questions, as well, if not better.When Blue catches wind of your statement, I can almost assure you of another 100 sheets of plywood to hump, and I doubt if they'll be 1/2" or 5/8".Ken
*Ken,Agreed, I meant no offense to anyone, just a poor choice of words on my part. Apologize to one and all.Mike
*Robert,Still with us?Any thoughts?Any anything?Ken
*Ken don't be so hard on old Mike. I agree you are one of the best.Luis.
*Luis,Not to worry Luis. Mike and I have been communicating via e-mail almost everyday since his request for help (in Construction Techniques), and will continue to do so. He's a great guy, I can assure you, and I have thoroughly enjoyed helping him with his project.Ken
*Whboop whoop whooppAnother 100 sheets of 7/16 osb Mike! And carry them four at a time!blue
*Ken that's great. You did a great job with that. It's ways good when you can make new friends. I've been framing for about 25 years and have been very impressed with the caliber of information at this site. I'm new here but hope that I too can lend some help as well.Luis.
*Luis, welcome to the site oldtimer. I hope to hear more from you. I've been framing for about that too and did structural steel fabrication and installation before that.I too, am impressed with the caliber of info at the site. I'm not too impressed with the poor smack that's delivered however. These guys are pikers!Whoop whoop whoooop!Nyat, nyat, nyat,Curly, err, I mean blue
*Luis,As blue says, welcome, and I'm sure after 25 years of framing, you do have a lot to offer. Looking forward to a few of your helpful hints, etc, in the future. All we need now is a new roof or something to bring us all together. Hey blue, what about that new roof that "your aren't looking forward to". Anything particularly interesting or difficult about it that you'd like to talk about? Or is it just big?
*It's just a big, boring pile of scrap lumber right now. soon it'll be a big boogered mess of steep sticks.It's really not anything special. If I spot something worthwhile, I'll take pics and let you in on it. If i had the plans (Frank has them or they're in the Jobox), I'd snap some pics of it.blue
*Well, thank you Ken and Blue! You sure do know how to make a newcomer feel welcome. I do look forward to giving some advice and hope that I can be of help.Luis.
*47x47, could put a real steep pitch on it and make it look like the Washington monument.Welcome Luis, good to have you. Where are you from?MD (Wisconsin)
*Hi Mad Dog,Robert thinks the existing roof is somewhere between 4/12 and 6/12 (see his first post), he just wants to extend the roof at the same pitch, as I showed in my diagram.
*As an owner of a 1950's era L-shape hip roofed home with several different ridge elevations, I'm always on the lookout for discussions such as this.(Our plan is to extend from the short side of the L at 90 or 45 degrees....sortof forming a "J".)While crawling around in the attic I've been coming across a lot of penciled notes for calculations made by the framers.There is not a single sheet of plywood to be seen anywhere and everything is hammered together rock solid.Makes my head spin when I look up at all the intersections and compound angled cuts.
*Hi Ken,I knew that. I was just funnin'. I think the monument look is a worthy option, although not a true hip roof unless you consider 200 foot kneewalls, don't you? Just need to check local height restrictions...
*Mad Dog,I have a neighbor who claims that when you need to make an addition that big, the smart to do is sell the house and build, or buy, a bigger one. But the monument could be a solution. And he could put a revolving restaurant on the top floor.Ken
*alright, meet you up there for drinks. hey luis? you comin? New Guy Buys.
*if you make the 20 ft addition a gabled roof...assuming the existing is 6/12... the new gable could be 3.5/12 and look like this
*Mike,
View Image © 1999-2000"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich W. Nietzsche
*Mike,Re: message #25 - just want to join in and say that looks like a real simple (and I mean that in a good way) approach, and leaves the height the same, etc. Around here, it's what we call a "California fill".Joe: Enjoyed your Nietzsche quote; just got back from two days up in L.A. on a construction lawsuit (damn California, sometimes) - so that particular quote resonates with me, at least this afternoon it does.George Lentulo
*That's nice, Mike. Has some added interest compared to a square box with a regular roof.
*Ken,I like Mike's idea but thought I'd throw this in. Construct the new roof to match the existing roof slope. You'll be left with a flat square on top formed by the ridge boards. We know this is no good (leaks etc.) so using a number of windows, frame in that square and put a small hip roof on top of them kind of like a large cupola. Depending what is under that area of the roof you can leave the ceiling open into the area. Maybe even electrically operated awning type for venting, I've seen this effect in architecture mags. I'm not sure it's locally inherent to Tenn., but if I recall correctly you come across it on the coast in NC, SC, and GA. Wish I had an ability to draw this like Mike did. E-mail me if you're interested and I'll see what I can do.Don
*Don,I think I have a good idea of what you are talking about. Here is something similar, at least. It's sort of like building a small hip roof on top of a low pitched Mansard roof. ( My drawing shows no overhang) I first noticed this style of architecture while working with Adirondack Jack in upstate New York many moons ago. I don't see it anymore in new house construction, but it really does have a nice look, when the overhang is shown.BTW, Mike Smith, that was a very good suggestion that you had earlier to give the house some character.
*Ken,Good drawing,(someday I'll learn how to do that)if you take your frontview' and raise the low pitched roof top by installing window/walls underneath you get the idea. Don
*Don,Yeah, I think you mean something like this. I made both the lower and upper pitches 6/12 in this sketch, but it wouldn't have to be. Good idea.Ken
*Ken,Bingo! And the height of the "cupola" is limited only by window dimensions eg. one, two, three (etc) Anderson awning (powered)so you can operate them from below (assuming it is open to the living space below).Don
*
I have subscribed to your fine magazine for years and have put many of your building practices to use on my own projects. Fortunately or unfortunately, my expertise runs out at the project level and my wife and I want to do more than a project. We want to do some remodeling and add 940 square feet to our existing house. We have asked a couple of contractors in our area to look at the job and give us their opinions and bids.
One of the things that concerns me is the roof. We have a 47 foot long by 27 foot wide house that was built in the late sixties. The house has a hip roof. We want to add 20 feet of width, that will run the entire 47 foot of length. Obviously, the hip ridge runs the length of the house. How do we modify the hip roof to cover a 47 foot square building... without tearing off the entire old rood structure? We live in the middle Tennessee area and the roof appears to be between a 4 or 6 in twelve pitch.