Our 26' x 32' wood framed ranch with 3/4 basement

[Arlynn]

Hi everyone, we are new to the forum.  We are wondering if it is possible to use one of the small house plans to add a couple loft bedrooms to our existing ranch style house?  My husband says we must use plans with the exact dimensions, but from what I've read it seems as though the small house plans can be altered?

We need a new roof so now is the time for us to do something.  We had a roofer come out and give us an idea of what to expect should we go in that direction and he said we would need an engineer or plans if we were to do anything other than put up a new roof just like the existing one.  This brought us back to the small house plans idea.

We purchased the sunroom glazing details and are ready to turn our little greenhouse & herb garden area into a sunroom in the spring.

[PEG688]

Welcome aboard   Jessh this is just like my USN days , well it is  a board , oh well you get it

 Your partly right , you could use the lil house plans , as the addition will be self supporting . Where the stickie parts are is adding width to the plan as this adds lenght to all the joists , rafters , beams etc . Getting longer , generally , is not a issue. Just more of the same.

Your other issues which you have not and MTL(more than likely ) can not , don't know about , are the tie in issues , how the new roof ties in to the existing , would be the biggest one .

Thats where you'll MTL need a designer , builder , architect , or some such to work out the details .

Things that vary are , area you live in , earthquake , high wide , soil conditions , etc , etc , etc . Building codes , permits , lot setbacks , septic system location . Know unknows , at least to us / the board.

 So more info is required to give you even half way good advise.

See ya around campus .  

G/L PEG  

[bartholomew]

Are you talking about replacing the entire roof with a steeper one and converting the existing attic space to living space?

Like PEG says, the difference in width between your house and John's plans is a huge issue. There are other issues to consider as well. I did an attic to master suite conversion once... didn't replace the whole roof, just added a big dormer to the back of the house. The existing ceiling joists weren't large enough to support the extra load so we added new ones. Headers over windows and doors also need to be checked for adequate strength. I think you'll need to get a local architect/designer/experienced builder/structural engineer to have a look and give you advice.

Good luck

[Arlynn]

Yes, the entire roof has to come off.  In fact it's a bit of a nightmare.  There's actually 2 roofs.  They never took the old one off, just put up a new one about 30 years ago right over top.  And yes again to the steeper roof with livable attic space!  You're good.

We live in Western Pennsylvania where summers are hot and winters are usually very cold.  Zone 5 for gardening.

Thanks for the great advise.  So, before we actually do anything then we will have someone come in and go over everything to see how much weight it can handle.  

I had entertained the thought of a dormer as well  

I have a feeling we're going to purchase that retirement property earlier than expected and build something that we really want  

Arlen knows the house better than I do so once we get past the structural engineer, he'll give you all the gorey details  

Oh by the way ~
Arlen + Lynn = Arlynn  ....we'll be seeing you around the boards again.

[John Raabe]

Yes, you will need to work with the structural layout of your house.

Stock plans can be modified relatively inexpensively for new houses, but existing houses already have critical structural layouts that have to be worked with. One early question will be can the foundation and walls support a second floor load.

If the first questions look good, consider having a set of "as built" drawings done of the house (assuming you don't have the original drawings). This will give you scale drawings to start your remodel layout and explore options.