Renovation Solutions: Adding an attic bedroom

In this remodel, an attic bedroom was added to the attic space.

David Price, Renovation Design Group

When it comes to making the most out of your home-remodeling investment, reconfiguring or repurposing existing space to add more bedrooms is a surefire way to get some bang for your buck. In our series of high return on investment remodeling projects, No. 3 on the Remodeling Magazines Cost vs. Value national report for 2013-2014 is adding an attic bedroom. (See No. 1 of a front door replacement and No. 2 adding a wood deck from the past few weeks).

We see a lot of people searching for ways to better use their existing space. Tapping into the attic space is one way to get more livable space out of your house.

Adding an attic bedroom is easier in some houses than others. Could you turn your attic space into a bedroom or two?

There are a few items to consider. First, determine if the structure of your roof is composed of individual rafters or prefabricated trusses. The shape of trusses prohibits the use of the space for living, and they cannot be easily modified. Most homes built after 1960 were constructed with trusses, so they rarely have an attic that can be reclaimed for living space.

Next, look at the ceiling height in the attic. The center of the space at the peak of the roof must be a minimum of 7 feet high 8 feet or more is better. Keep in mind also that the usable floor space of an attic begins where the height of each side wall reaches about 5 feet. The low-height space in the area near the outer edge of the roof (known as the "kneewall" space) is good for storage, but not for furniture or for people walking around.

So, even though you have a stick-built roof with adequate height at the center, you may not have enough usable space in your attic without changing some of the roof line. Added space can be captured on the ends of the space if you have a hipped roof (a roof that slopes on all four sides), which can be changed into a gable end with a window for light, views and egress requirements. New space can also be captured on the sides of your attic by adding dormers. These triangular additions to your roof line allow you to transform kneewall space into usable floor area by providing enough height so you can walk into this area.

Many municipalities have restrictions on the addition of dormers. For instance, you may be restricted to an overall width (such as 10 feet), a required distance between dormers (such as 4 feet) or an overall percentage of the existing roof length that can be covered by dormers (such as 50 percent). The height of dormers must also comply with building height limits, and they should never be higher than the existing roof.

Another consideration is that the joists that hold up the existing ceiling below the attic space are generally not strong enough to act as the floor of your newly finished space. Be prepared to beef up this structure and add a new subfloor to the attic to carry the additional load of people and furniture.

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Renovation Solutions: Adding an attic bedroom