Reader Project
Doghouse/shed dormer addition
Our two-story house has a weird combo gambrel/gable roof. The gambrel half is in front, facing east, and it had no windows. So the upstairs lacked morning light in the eastside rooms, and missed out on a pretty nice view of the woods. I punched through the eastside walls (which were on a 73 degree angle–the gambrel slope–and added a couple of shed dormers flanking a gabled doghouse dormer over the front door. The larger of the sheds is in my wife’s study, where it accomodates a couch. The closet next to it has plenty of strange angles, like compound mitered baseboards, and the pointy cabinet in the construction pic–we call it the lawn dart. Dormer over the door is the exercise room, and the little shed is a closet.
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The dormer walls are supported by new joists that extend from the house to the beam atop the posts along the front of the porch.
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This shot is taken next to the shed portion of the dormer closest to the driveway. The angled studs and the 2x6 floor boards bear on the original wall. The plywood subfloor bears on the new floor joists. The new floor extends 2 ft. over the porch for each of the sheds--the doghouse portion extends 3 ft., giving it a little more prominence as the cap over the front door.
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This house was sort of a blank slate, style-wise, so I decided to inject a little quasi shingleish/bungaloid attitude into it with this gable end detail.
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I'm a big believer in models for trying out design ideas. I made this one out of illustration board held together with hot-melt glue.
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I hate ladders, but I love staircases. I spent a couple of hours building this one before I started this project, and I'm really glad I did. I went up and down this thing a zillion times--carrying most of the materials on it as well. the tapered railings made an excellent ramp for pushing sheet goods--especially full sheets of plywood--in a safe, efficient manner onto the roof.
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Wow, that is a dramatic transformation. So much so, that it took me awhile to correlate the before and after shots! Talk about maximum bang for the buck - amazing what a few changes can do for the look of a house.
Did you have to add any structural support below? Do you have any "in progress" photos you could post? A website or blog with more photos of the project?
Hi Huck,
Thanks for your comments--I'm glad you like our dormer addition. I've posted a few more photos to address your questions, and to add a bit more to the story. All told, this project added about 70 sq. ft. to the house.
Chuck
Cool! Nice photo documentation. I didn't know you could post more than 5 pics - how did you do that?
Man, 70 sq. ft., shows how much impact a few well thought-out square feet can make!
Wow, that is a sensational change. To such an extent, that it took me for a short time to connect the prior and then afterward shots!
This is wonderful
Superbbbbbb