New member planning to build a dormer.

Rughead · 06-03-2009, 10:06 AM

Hi there. Am retiring soon from my (too) long of a career in the UN and returning back to the States. We recently bought an old house in NY and it's small. I plan to make the top floor attic "A" frame into a master bed/bath suite. To do this I'll need to either raise the roof or put in two almost full length dormers. It's been a while since I did this type of work but my father and his father were building contractors and carpenters for whom I worked often years ago. I have all the tools of the trades. What's your opinion vis-a-vis cost and difficulty these days? Thanks for any advice. Cheers and best regards, Rug.

**AtlanticWBConst.** · 06-03-2009, 05:28 PM

"Raising a roof" involves essentially tearing off the entire roof structure and building framed walls and going up.

Installing full length shed dormers is slightly less work than that.

Either way, I strongly urge you to subcontract the demo and framing to a reputable company, or framing contractor. That level of work is NOT a DIY project. It is structural and involves safety protocol. Such things require serious experience.
I would also suggests that the exterior trim, siding and roofing be subcontracted out as well (Safety). You could tackle the interior work yourself.

Scuba_Dave · 06-03-2009, 10:47 PM

How small is small ??
I dormered the back 1/2 of our Cape house (1225 sq ft 1st floor)
Its a lot of work, I took a week off to get the rafters & roof up
I've done quite a bit of of this work
Dormering both puts a lot of extra weight on the house/roof
You would need an engineer to calc the new loads
I'm in my late 40's
I don't want to do work like this in 20 years
Cost can be low (compared to hiring it out), but if not done right it can be a huge problem

Rughead · 06-04-2009, 03:28 AM

Hi Guys. For sure I'll sub-contract all the demo, framing and roofing and do the interior finishing myself. I have a local architect already working on the permits, etc. with my village and he'll do the working drawings that I'll use to get bids from reputable local builders. Am thinking the dormers would go over better with the Architectural Review Board than a raised roof. Our village (Scarsdale, NY) is pretty fussy when it comes to any sort of renovations that are visible from the curb. Will come back once the project gets underway as I'm sure I'll need all the good advice I can get. Many thanks and best regards until around September. Rug.