Small House Projects with Attic: Secrets to Expanding Space

Attic - a great idea for building a house in a small area. And in this case, and when the device of the building changes after some time after its operation, it is necessary to strictly observe the design principles. This is the only way to achieve the most rational use of space.

Often the problem for designers is the small size of the house. Therefore, many ways have been developed to overcome these difficulties and turn difficult circumstances into advantages.

Buying your own home is a dream for many people, and it doesn’t matter whether it is the main residence or just a place for short leisure time. Material circumstances force many to give preference to small houses.In this case, it is recommended not to hurry, but to carefully select the project, considering the options of different design organizations, comparing the proposals among themselves.

Small children, the elderly, the sick, or simply tired people find it difficult to get to the attic. Once again, going down is also not very convenient. In this case, you should simply swap different rooms.

Exit to the balcony can be very attractive., but the cost of such a design decision is large enough. Sometimes it is more expedient to limit oneself to a not too large platform instead of a full balcony, keeping the aesthetics.

When building a small house with an attic, you should observe a reasonable balance between the quality of the foundation (its bearing capacity) and the total cost of the work. If the base is significantly raised above the ground, it is necessary to equip the entrance staircase and railings on it. For people seeking to maximize comfort, this circumstance will not be too pleasant.

To correctly use the territory of small buildings, it is recommended to seek help only from trained designers and architects.

The building materials industry has developed a large number of options that can be used in the construction and decoration of the attic.

Traditional solutions are:

• brick;
• wood;
• clay (saman);
• shell rock.

Most often, the heaviest materials are used on the ground floor, while relatively light materials are used to create mansards. Among them there is also aerated concrete. From it form blocks with a thickness of 300 - 400 mm, which are superior to many other materials for thermal insulation. Construction of aerated concrete is cheap and practical.

Brick walls have their advantages. One of them is a long construction service, which can be more than 100 years old. The brick easily holds a form, does not collapse under the influence of change of temperature and humidity.Block bricks are more modern and cheap, but their parameters are in no way inferior to the classic version.

Frame construction with an attic have a number of strengths:

• multiple reduction of heat losses compared to cold attics;
• finishing of the upper room can be smooth (tenants can safely be on the first tier);
• There are many ways to use the top floor.

If you deviate from them, you can face constant freezing, heat loss and accumulation of condensed moisture. It is also necessary to take measures so that the snowfall does not interfere with the natural lighting of the attic.

The outer wall of the attic is made of a vertical part formed by the main structural material of the house. It uses rafters, roofing and paneling for the inside of the room. The ratio between them in each case is determined based on the characteristics of the project.

Outside, they mainly use metal tile or soft roofing. Options for finishing the facade of houses with a mansard quite a lot.This and experiments with the configuration of the roof, which make hip or polupalmovoy with a different number of ramps. This and complementary visors round and even more extravagant form (the so-called shed roof).

Often, designers conduct experiments with different types of windows, giving them an intricate and extraordinary look (round, trapezoid, and so on). Other designers prefer even less catchy, but good-quality and stable operating types of windows.

Window blocks can be installed:

• in single version;
• in the form of a chain;
• divided into separate blocks;
• monolithic.

One of the latest design solutions is a “folding” balcony, which is easily folded and opened as needed.

• According to experts, it is best to either abandon the crushing of space in the attic, or to give preference to drywall partitions. This is a fairly lightweight material that minimizes the load exerted on the foundation of the building. In this case, their task such delimiting blocks perform stably.
• It is undesirable to make a ceiling that will occupy less than half the area of ​​the entire room. This can create visual discomfort.
• The windows of an atypical design are a way to not only express your aesthetic concept, but also add the maximum amount of light to the room.

Attic began to be used for permanent residence in the 17th century, but today people have much more opportunities for their design and functional content. Inside you can place both bedrooms with panoramic windows and more economical options (for example, gyms). A fairly spacious and bright room easily turns into a study and a children's room. Some designers offer to occupy the entire attic with a bathroom in order to preserve the useful area on the first floor of the house.

For example, gable roofs, for all their visual appeal, make it possible to use only 2/3 of the available area. Broken configurations allow you to increase this figure to 90%.Raising the roof to 150 cm, you can add the total area of ​​the house by 100%. It will also help get rid of the feeling of lack of space inside.

If in the attic it turns out to create only a narrow area, it is recommended to place a bedroom in it. In the lowest segments of the attic are advised to place the storage system, because people still can not move there.

Designers advise from the very beginning to think about how the entrance to the attic and its exit will be made, what stairs will be installed. Another important point is the use of durable flooring to ensure the elimination of unpleasant incidents. Of course, the rafters and the details of the floors must also be strong. In areas where summer is hot, rational use of air conditioning.

Beautiful attic can have a color that matches the front wall. Framing a separate section of a pitched roof allows you to make a decorative element more attractive. Having made an attic floor inside a country house, you should not be ashamed of its pronounced triangular shape. On the contrary, it is easy to turn into dignity and advantageous to "beat."The alternation of saturated black beams with wood of noble color, located perpendicular to them, looks very impressive and unusual.

As for the exterior performance of country houses with attic, the white color of the facade with a small brick pillar that separates the two parts of the window from each other, is almost the best solution. The window itself can be made non-uniform in height. Thanks to its atypical form, the interior of the room will appear lighter.

Review the small house with a loft in the next video.