Framing A Shed Roof Dormer

Shed dormers have a flat pitched roof set at a complementary angle to the existing roofline.

Framing a shed roof dormer.

Framing a dormer refers to the first and most important step in constructing an upper level addition to your home. You should have a few remodeling projects under your belt before tackling a task this big and complex. It typically costs between 2 500 to 20 000 for professional dormer installation or about 115 per square foot. Removing the old roof and framing the dormer was doable but as a small company that rarely uses framing subcontractors we had a couple of concerns.

They also give you more bang for the buck. The end wall of a shed dormer carries the. Recently my company was asked to build a shed dormer in the rear part of an attic to create a pair of bedrooms and to make the attic space more usable. Building a roof dormer is an ambitious and challenging project.

There are several options for dormers including shed flat gable and hip. A gabled dormer on the other hand is not flat but gabled which refers to two sides coming together to form a peak. If you re a little unsure of your rough framing or roofing skills hire a carpenter to help with this phase of the roof dormer project. Shed dormers are an efficient way to gain more space.

After the walls ridge and common rafters are set i overlay the valley framing on top of the main roof sheathing to save from cutting a true valley. The roofing material will need to be stripped back for this step. Smaller projects like adding a window dormer cost about 4 000 larger remodels like adding a bathroom dormer run about 24 000. Building a 20 ft wide shed dormer doesn t take much more effort than building a 4 ft wide version.

Because they can be much wider than gable dormers shed dormers can provide more headroom and therefore more usable space.