Full floors in the timber-framed house with a 53-degree roof pitch.

I now guess no.

Correct.

2. Can the expansion of the attic/roof space still affect the number of storeys?

In Lower Saxony yes, in NRW no.

Non-full storeys are not added together.

Correct, but the 2/3 rule in Lower Saxony only applies to the topmost storey.

But I don't see a habitable expansion of the attic (living rooms require certain minimum heights and escape routes) anyway with this house size.

With a 9m house width, I don’t see that either. Due to the full storey definition, the ceiling heights must even be chosen so that no living rooms are possible there, otherwise the attic becomes the topmost storey and thus the attic floor becomes a full storey. If you consider the second escape route for yourself, you can still use the room with a clear conscience as a playroom or office, you just must not designate it as such in the building plans.

We were specifically interested in this exact model house in terms of its appearance, as we already liked it.

Yes, which one? Model houses are usually all visible on the internet. Tell me the name of the manufacturer and the house, then we might also be able to take a look.

OK, now I understand why the model house (DLK Melle, Landhaus Klassiker) has 2 full floors. Based on the picture of the house, I think you can quite clearly see that at 2.30m height, the ceiling is still 1 meter wide. In the model house, there was simply an open staircase going up and a few pieces of furniture were placed there. We will probably have to sit down with the provider once and see what needs to be adjusted so that it remains a full floor and the appearance does not suffer too much.

Because of the definition of a full story, ceiling heights must even be chosen so that no habitable rooms are possible there, otherwise the attic becomes the top story

That means the attic ceiling would possibly have to be lowered (below a collar beam, so it doesn't look like a design misuse)?

Based on the picture of the house, you can probably see quite well that at 2.30m height the ceiling is still 1 meter wide.

I didn’t understand anything about that now. I still see about five of eight half-timbered panels in width remaining. However, I also see little hope in the pictures of getting away from the too large attic without a mansard roof or a lower roof pitch.

Based on the picture of the house, I think you can quite well see that at 2.30m height the ceiling is still 1 meter wide.

I don't understand either.

That means the ceiling in the attic would possibly have to be lowered (below a collar beam, so that it does not look like a design misuse)?

Yes, but not with 9m width, because then less than half is over 2.20m clear height.

However, I also see little hope on the pictures of getting rid of the too large attic without a mansard roof or lower roof pitch.

If no knee walls are planned in the attic, then more than half of the floor area is below 2.20m, so according to §43, para. 2 of the Lower Saxony Building Code no habitable rooms are possible there and the attic is thus a cavity according to §2, para. 7, sentence 4, which does not count as the top floor. At the same time, 5.68m of the gable length is above 2.20m clear height, which corresponds to a ratio of 5.68m/9.00m=0.63=63% < 66%=2/3 and thus it is not a full story.

Hello LeaLeoo,

I just found your post through the search. Have you decided to build the [Fachwerkhaus]? What are your experiences?

We are also currently considering building a [Fachwerkhaus] and have, among other things, been to [DLK in Melle] for consultation. I would be happy to hear about your experiences.