converting attic to bedroom

[Josephine]

I am in the process of converting the 1/2 story attic of my 1910 bungalow into a master bedroom. The area is currently plastered as one long skinny room with larg crawl spaces on both sides. I want to puch those walls our and creat a more spacious room. Does anyone have any advice on things I need to take into consideration??? Since we live in Minneapolis and have th threat of ice dams, my husband and I are planning on hiring someone for this job. Any website that I can go to for examples of a project like this?

[tomh]

Bad news, the knee walls you want to punch out probably support the roof rafters along their span. You cannot take out those walls before determining if they are needed to support the roof.

[Daniel E. Fall]

I will give a strong second to Tom’s msg. Many homes in Mpls (I live in St. Paul) have these types of attic spaces. They were designed in this fashion. Sometimes they are purposely, or accidently supporting the roof.

The bad news is even if they are accidently supporting the roof, there is a good chance your rafters (roof supports) may not be sufficient to allow removal of the knee walls today without creating major building change/damage. Oftentimes, the 2×4 rafters will crack, and suddenly even non-load bearing knee walls inherit a load bearing, or structural presence in the dwelling.

The other thing about the knee walls is they actually have an aesthetic effect of making a space seem larger. If you had completely angled walls, the room might seem even smaller.

The best way to determine whether you really want to go forward with this type of plan is to hire some advice.

If you live in the Lakes area, and your house is older and needs a roof, it would be worth discussion.

Another great option is adding dormers. Adding two dormers on each side of the dwelling might be possible. Again, structural concerns must be addressed in a planning stage.

Budget some money for an architect, you are probably looking at removing the entire roof for any plan.

Dan (famous for removing my own roof, but not going to be removing yours!)

We didn’t help you find any websites, but we did help with a course of action.

[Jason]

Greetings Josephine,

You might want to talk to the Building/ Inspection Department in your town to see what they will require to protect you.

A second egress (way out) will be one of the things you will need to plan on. And it will have to be the size your local code requires.

What you find out what you have to have you can go from there.

Good Luck,

Jason

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