What is the height of the 1.5 story 20x30, from floor to top of ridge beam?

[steved0x]

I am back on these boards after a long break I am gearing back up to try and get myself a small cottage built. The place I am looking to build has this requirement for cottages:

Roof Height: Maximum height allowed is 21 feet from the finished floor to the top of the ridge board.

On the plans page (the free page on the site, I have not purchased any plans) it lists the building height as 22'6" but I can't tell if that includes piers/crawlspace, etc...

Does anyone know if the 23x30 1.5 story cottage meets this height requirement?

Thanks!

Steve

[John_M]

I'm not sure of the height but you could do some things I would guess like a lower pitched roof and 8 foot walls instead of 10 or 12 foot walls like many have done here.

A 21 foot height is very possible but you may have to compromise on some things.  Making it narrower would help too!!

[John Raabe]

Getting out the structural cross section the peak of the roof framing is 21'-6" from subfloor to ridge.

You could cut out 6" by shortening the sidewall or lowering the pitch slightly.

[steved0x]

Thanks everybody. I would be using trusses, so instead of 12/12 I could get 10/12 (I need to run the calculations but I am sure I can find it) and that sounds like it would do it!

Thanks

Steve

[rocking23nf]

The developement permit officer may allow a 10% variance, so you can probably go 23 feet, but check first. I was allowed a 10% variance for building within x amount of feet of my property line.

[tc-vt]

Steve,

Going from 12/12 to 10/12 on a 20 foot wide building will lower the ridge approximately 20 inches.  If you only need to lower it 6 inches, consider taking back the extra 14 inches in your wall height.  If you do, you'll appreciate the extra livable space upstairs.  In other words, build it as tall as they will allow, and if they'll give you a variance, take the extra height!

Tom

[John_M]

But if you are using trusses....won't that eliminate any use of space above the wall height???

[John Raabe]

Only if they are flat trusses. If the Truss Co. fabricates the trusses like the owner-built ones in the plans then you will have the sloped roof pitch until you get up to the center flat ceiling area.

PS - I doubt the 6" is much of an issue in the real world. Unless you are blocking someones view and they are willing to go to a lot of work it is unlikely the peak height will ever be checked. There are so many ways the height restrictions are measured - some give you a break for higher pitch roofs (like this one). If you want an official reading take the plans to the inspector and ask what he would do.

[tc-vt]

I had tray trusses made for my 20x30 1-1/2 story with a 12/12 roof pitch, placed 2 feet on center.  They cost about $110 each and I think it was money well spent since the materials in each one would have cost me around $50.

Tom

[shmily524]

tc-vt, do you have any pictures of the trusses? I would love to see the design as that is something I am considering...

[tc-vt]

Some pictures of the trusses are on page 2 of this thread:

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=5841.20

The schematic of a tray truss in the thread is just something I found somewhere and is not the design for the ones I used.  If I find the design to my trusses, I'll scan it and post it.

Tom

[John Raabe]

Here are some good pictures of the roof trusses. If these had been made by the local truss company they would likely have metal plates rather than the plywood gussets shown here. Either way it is a combination of a sloped insulated ceiling and a triangulated peak with a flat ceiling at the center.

http://www.countryplans.com/mcelroy.html