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wi_sailorgirl

Those with shed dormers please comment

wi-sailorgirl
14 years ago

We're planning to "pop the top" on our story and a half cottagy Cape Cod-y kind of house (raise the height of the roof a bit and add a shed dormer to create more space and clean up a horrific roof design). Our designer has come up with a nice plan with a shed dormer that I find very attractive but my husband is concerned about the roof line this creates in the corners of the upstairs bedrooms (the shed dormer is set in about two feet from the edge of the "main" roof). I look at those spaces as charming opportunities for built-ins, but my husband sees them as wasted space.

Can anyone with this set-up comment on how you find those corners of the rooms?

Here are some very preliminary plans (lots of changes still being made) so you get an idea of what we're up to.

Original front:

Proposed front:

Original east side:

Proposed east side:

Comments (8)

  • TxMarti
    14 years ago

    I love shed dormers and think your architect did an excellent job. The nice thing about shed dormers vs dog house type little gables over the windows is that there isn't an excessive amount of valleys that could leak. That & I just like the look, it's so much more comfortable looking to me.

  • sherwoodva
    14 years ago

    Sailorgirl, I don't have a shed dormer, but just have to say - your front door and porch are adorable. I'm glad you are keeping them.

    The new plans do look nice.

  • emagineer
    14 years ago

    What an adorable cottage. I love the windows and the way they open, the door, your garden. I just love the house.

    Haven't a comment on the dormer, but am sure you will be able to have so much more room. Losing the current one certainly makes sense in an architectural sense.

    Would love to see your interior. And the progress of all.

    It is always interesting how we post about husbands who don't get the vision. Why is it so darn hard for them to "see" what we do? Or is it just change and a tough go in this respect?

  • crystal386
    14 years ago

    I believe that when a dormer is set in a couple of feet from the edge of the roof it's called a "cheek dormer"--I could be wrong.

    I added that type of dormer to the second floor of my house (a Cape) and I love it--not only can you add built-ins, but it's more visually pleasing than a dormer that extends right to the edge of the roof (those just never look right to me).

    I think you'll be much happier going with the cheek dormer.

  • flgargoyle
    14 years ago

    I like the work your architect has done!

    I must comment- Once in a while, it is the wife that 'doesn't get it'. It's extremely rare, and were it ever to happen in our household, I'm smart enough to keep my mouth shut LOL! Once I finally figured out that my wife is, in fact, always right, I've been a much happier person.

  • wi-sailorgirl
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thank you for the nice comments and, Crystal, thanks for the info on it being called a "cheek" dormer. We met with the designer on Friday to give our round of changes on it .. just tweeking a few things, including increasing the peak of the new roof to a 12/12 so that we can make the windows in the dormer larger (in this version they would have started 5 feet off the floor and I'm 5'2"). If it were a dead view I wouldn't mind, but that opens to the east and lurking over there about 500 feet away (and through a neighbor's house/yard) is Lake Michigan. We don't really have a few of it but sometimes we catch a glimpse in winter.

    We also had him take out the ceiling joist to open up the ceiling to a cathedral type situation, but I have to ponder on that one just a little bit because the peak of the roof will not be centered in the room. I think that's fine but I just have to spend some time making sure that I'll be OK with that.

    DH seems to see the ... um ... intelligence of my ideas of the built-ins. Smart man.

    I'll work on getting a good set of interior pictures.

  • wi-sailorgirl
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Oh and thank you for the nice compliment on the front door. I love it. It's original to the (1936) house, which was built by our former neighbor, who built most of the cottages in the area. I've toyed with the idea of putting a circular window in it but I think I should just leave it alone out of respect. The door itself is very difficult to weatherstrip because of it's shape but I don't care how inefficient it is, I love it just the same.

  • johndouglas044
    13 years ago

    Well, it�s amazing. The miracle has been done. Hat�s off. Well done, as we know that "hard work always pays off", after a long struggle with sincere effort it�s done.
    --------
    johndouglas

    Here is a link that might be useful: Sunshine Coast real estate