Een optopping of extra verdieping in houtskeletbouw is een eenvoudige manier om een bestaand gebouw uit te breiden zonder dat er extra grondoppervlakte nodig is. Door te kiezen voor houtbouw kunt u op relatief korte tijd een nieuwe hobbyruimte, een extra slaapkamer of kantoor toevoegen.
Our society is changing at a rapid pace. Many people need more space at home due to working from home or a growing family. Adding an extra floor to a house can be a way to create additional bedrooms, a bathroom or a play area for the children, but it can also be used to convert a single-family home into a multigenerational home.
The options for filling in a rooftop extension are endless! That is why, when buying a house in need of renovation, it is worth keeping the option of a rooftop extension in mind, especially if there is no room for expansion beside or behind the house and the existing building seems too cramped. This is also the ideal solution for schools, hospitals or businesses that could use more space but have no ground area available.
Adding a storey to a building with a flat roof delivers the greatest gain in space — on average around 30%. For a building with a pitched roof, there are various ways to create an extra floor. One option is a roof structure with a raised ridge, which is especially worth considering when the existing roof could use a thorough overhaul anyway. But it is also possible to remove only part of the roof and build an extra floor on top of it. This last option is often chosen when there is not enough space to build an entirely new floor.
Carpentier manufactures the prefab elements for a storey extension in timber-frame construction, made to measure in our own workshop, and delivers them to the site as a kit. In addition, we hold ample stock of timber-frame products such as I-joists, glulam beams and LVL beams, which we can machine using CNC. As a contractor or professional timber builder, you can quickly create a wind- and watertight extra floor. And since this is a dry construction method, the interior and exterior finishing can be carried out immediately afterwards.
Wood is a lightweight building material and therefore places minimal load on the existing foundations and the building. A rooftop extension in timber construction can therefore be placed on lighter foundations. The perfect solution for older structures, where the foundations and technical elements are not designed to support heavy, new floors.
Another advantage is that a rooftop extension in timber-frame construction can be built very quickly. Thanks to the high production speed of the timber-frame walls and delivery as a ready-to-assemble kit, all you have to do on site is put them together. You also need less heavy lifting capacity and fewer staff. All of this means you can complete the project in a shorter period and move on to the next site more quickly. A win-win for both contractor and client.
On a floor with pitched roofs, fitting dormer windows is another option. A dormer creates extra usable space and makes the room lighter and more functional. Just like a rooftop extension, we can also prefabricate dormer windows fully made to measure in the workshop of our family business and deliver them as a ready-to-assemble kit to the site. All prefab elements are numbered and assembly instructions are included, so that building the timber structure on site is child's play for you as a professional.
The fact that the government has announced a concrete halt or building shift by 2040 is just one more argument for adding to existing buildings to create more living and working space. Roof extensions offer incredible opportunities and a smart solution for the ongoing and growing demand for more space. By expanding existing buildings upwards, the available space is also used more efficiently. There appears to be a bright future ahead for roof extensions in timber-frame construction.
Is your client opting for a complete concept? Then we can also include a timber deck, wooden gate and/or fence in the same wood variety and style as part of the kit.
