OT: Roof framing, alteration Options

[thomasotten]

I have an existing roof on my house that is pitched and creates a cathedral type ceiling underneath. I am considering increasing the pitch of this roof, for ascthetic reasons mostly, but also to add insulation to the roof, which I don't thick is adequetly insulated. There is no attic space right now, so I cant' be sure of the insulation, although it gets hot in summer time. I want the final roof to be 12/12, and to do this, I would need to raise the ridge by about 2'. From the ridge, I would then run rafters down to the bottom of the roof fascia. Instead of raising each rafter up and causing a mess, I am considering building a structure over the exsiting roof, and then sheathing over. That way I don't disturb the ceiling. I was thinking of also doing this in phases, keeping the existing shingles on as a I go. What do you think?

[flippa]

I'm sure that this may be doable and has been done before sucsessfully, but you should have a design professional give their input to make sure that it meets local building code.

Do yourself a favor and involve a Structural Engineer. There are lots of variables in the design of building systems that need to be considered; wind loads, snow loads, seismic considerations, etc., depending on what part of the country you live.

Have the existing structure evaluated and the new roofing system designed. This will also save your builder a lot of greif, as he will have a design to build to rather than making it up as he goes along. Believe me, this will be money well spent. I preach this to clients constantly, as I am a Civil Engineer. I have been dragged into numerous projects during construction to "fix" a problem that arose during construction. Believe me, this gets real expensive and causes heartburn when a problem stops a construction project dead in it's tracks.

Wouldn't you sleep a little better knowing that your roof has been properly designed? The Engineer may also be able to give you pointers that can actually save you money during construction.

Speaking from personal experience, it typically is much more cost effective to have building projects properly designed the first time. Projects become alot more expensive the second time when the work has to be redone.