Attic conversion with a 25-degree hip roof - a sensible project?

Lower Saxony Building Code Par. 43, Habitable rooms, Par. 33, Escape routes, Par. 34 Stairs and ff.

I was actually of the opinion that spiral staircases are not suitable for an escape route. But the architect might know that.

Spiral staircase with 140-160cm diameter

That is then about 60cm tread width. I consider that too little for the accessibility of official habitable rooms.

According to the building code, in my opinion, you will not get approval for this room either. These will be rooms that are too small and/or have insufficient ceiling height.
I would at most set up an office there, but no children's rooms. In the event of a fire, you will not get them out of there anymore.

The second escape route is a double issue if the first escape route is limited.

A dormer across the entire width would be feasible, but it might be difficult to pay for with your budget.
Since you are not skilled in craftsmanship, you have to have everything done, which costs.

By the way, that's how we arrived at the 70k. We received this sample calculation from the real estate agent.

I can’t imagine that it can’t be planned without attic expansion.

I’ll quote myself.

In my opinion, it’s also easily possible.

The forum members here will gladly show you that.

Maybe even the 50k will be enough.

Although in the attic it looks like neither the roof nor the ceiling are insulated.

What kind of heating is installed?

What is the bungalow supposed to cost?

That’s correct, the roof is not insulated, only the floor of the upper story. So that would also need to be done as part of a possible expansion.

A gas heating system is installed; the photovoltaic system has a fairly high feed-in tariff of 18 cents and would continue to run at that rate until the subsidy expires. We were thinking about additional energy generation with a balcony power plant (e.g. on the garage) in case an electric car is planned in the future and we need to buy a storage system and wallbox. But we are just at the beginning and are currently gathering information about what makes sense.

The bungalow is supposed to cost 650K, so quite a lot of money as well.

We have somewhat fallen in love with the spaciousness of the rooms. Nevertheless, costs and benefits must clearly be weighed against each other.

So if it really should be rooms upstairs, then I believe even with dormers you won’t quite make it and it might not even be officially approved. The only correct option there, according to the development plan, would probably be to raise the roof. But you can’t do that with the 50-70,000€. Even then, it will hardly be enough to create something with dormers etc. where there are two rooms and a bathroom.

So either you spend significantly more money and possibly add another floor, or you adjust the layout. In my opinion, that mainly concerns the kitchen. From which you then separate a part into an office or utility room and possibly open it towards the living/dining area and/or the summer garden.

We fell a bit in love with the spaciousness of the rooms. Nevertheless, costs/benefits clearly have to be weighed against each other.

I can understand that, you see a house and are blown away by the layout and the sense of space. Then the question arises whether the rest can somehow be accommodated elsewhere. The other thing is feasibility in reality. I wouldn’t rely on the realtor for that, after all they want to sell the house, but would involve an expert or architect. They can assess the costs more realistically, although even then there is no guarantee it won’t end up being more expensive.

...because the 70k is our maximum desired amount. Through a sale of country parts, we have significantly more available, yet we do not want to unnecessarily blow money if the final result in the new upper floor is modest.

Every penny would be "blown unnecessarily" here because you need a station wagon and have found a convertible whose color and parking spot you like. *Post#24[If you really want an attic, ... because this roof was simply not designed for a conversion for residential purposes. I therefore do not understand your line of thinking.]fully agree*

We have somewhat fallen in love with the spaciousness of the rooms. Nevertheless, costs/benefits must clearly be weighed against each other.

Economically, this is kamikaze, and if you follow the reasonable conversion proposal from , none of the spaciousness of the rooms remains. The hut is a livable Derrick film set – economically sensible houses are different.

If you can put a 1 before the budget (with a lot of your own work) or a 2 ("turnkey") (> 820 or 920 k plus additional costs!), then get the building file to discuss the conversion of the ground floor as well as the development plan to discuss the conversion of the ground floor plus an extension – but this only makes sense with a second residential unit. Then I’ll gladly come back because my interest in chip post threads is zero.

Here is my suggestion.


This could work.