Two story homes

A second floor to your home might present as a great idea: it will not spoil the garden except through construction, creates the additional rooms needed, can separate kids from grown ups or create a quiet private meditation or work place.
 
But a few things to heed:

• The loss of a room on ground floor for the stair well will be roughly a minimum seven square meters which is equivalent to a small bedroom.
• To avoid a pokey dark “stair tunnel” some space is required for an open two level void with window placement a sizable consideration with regards to easy of cleaning, repainting of repair.
• Space on the upper and lower floors for shower, toilet, vanity is paramount for safety and convenience. Eliminate the need for further expense and suffering to be relocated  if a broken leg means you can't get upstairs to the shower.
• Fitness: How probable are you to feel like dashing up & down stairs for any little thing. Fancy leaving glasses upstairs when breakfast and paper are ready down in the kitchen? Coffee is on kitchen bench downstairs when the plan was to sit in the upstairs study and keep working: it becomes another exerciser.
• The regulations for avoiding overlooking and overshadowing neighbours' properties are praiseworthy but I do not believe they work effectively. The calculations for the suns overshadowing are taken for September and March doing away with winter sun angle calculations that are vital to neighbour's passive solar design. Therefore neighbours may have a brilliant plan that is warmed for free in winter until you build your second story and from then on through the coldest months of each year they are in the shade, paying for mechanical heating and cursing your new renovation. The design and its effects on surroundings can be carefully calculated on paper first which is a vital process for an amicable, useful and worthwhile outcome for all.
• A home on acreage need not add the second story expense when using the land to extend would be more efficient.
• Costs for stairs, handrail, finishing of or building in below can add up quickly. An additional one little room at the top of the stairs can turn out to be a superfluous and expensive undertaking.

 
Care and thought needs to ensure the second story is not over capitalising and is a worthwhile undertaking.

Author

Margot is a qualified architectural draftsperson with a passion for practical living, making the best use of space, natural light and warmth. She will turn your ideas into scaled sketch design plans that you can take to a builder to quote. 

​Email: [email protected]

Image by khiem tran from Pixabay