# second floor addition without removing original roof



## coralhead1 (May 28, 2006)

Hello! I know a person whos actually done this but Ive lost track of him and would like to know more about the process. He basically added a 2nd floor addition over the original roof, then after the walls/roof were up on the addition he dismantled the original roof and discarded it thru a side large opening in the side of the house. They lived in the house thru the whole process, saving them thousands $$. 

Ive never heard of this except in this one case. 
1) how would you seat the 2nd story walls on the floor joists? I guess youd have to cut off the overhang, maybe tack the trusses to the studs on the new 2nd floor wall to hold the roof? Is there another way? 

cool concept. Im sure its more time consuming, but if your not pressed for time it could save you lots of cash.

thanks for any ideas!


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## coralhead1 (May 28, 2006)

*Im in Texas*

and so was he...we get months without rain. seems like this is doable.


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## joasis (May 28, 2006)

Talk about a concept that needs lots of information for advice, doing this would depend on lots of things, like your current house structure for one, floor joists for the second floor addition, size of add-on...roofline...and on and on. You would be better off seeking the advice of a GC or at least an architect to see if it is even doable. Building a second floor add-on is not a really big trick, and living in the house while it is going on would not be a big stretch either.


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## redline (Mar 5, 2006)

How steep is the pitch of the roof?
How large is the roof that will eventually be removed?


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## Joe Carola (Apr 14, 2006)

coralhead1 said:


> Hello! I know a person whos actually done this but Ive lost track of him and would like to know more about the process. He basically added a 2nd floor addition over the original roof, then after the walls/roof were up on the addition he dismantled the original roof and discarded it thru a side large opening in the side of the house. They lived in the house thru the whole process, saving them thousands $$.
> 
> Ive never heard of this except in this one case.
> 1) how would you seat the 2nd story walls on the floor joists? I guess youd have to cut off the overhang, maybe tack the trusses to the studs on the new 2nd floor wall to hold the roof? Is there another way?
> ...


I've done many add-a-levels before and I'm equipped to do it and have enough man power to do it. The only reason why anyone would do it that way is because they don't have the man power to rip the whole roof off and get it framed in a reasonable amount of time and most IMPORTANTLY, KEEPING IT WATER TIGHT!!!

I've seen it done your way many of times because the homeowner is doing it themselves but it's very dangerous because if your not adding new floor joists and keeping the old ones, you will have to cut out the perimeter around the whole house where the rafters sit on the top plate so that you can nail your wall studs on top of the top plates, not the joists because they will have a angled cut on the ends.

There's a million scenarios of this but what you want to do can be done but you have to have enough man power to do so and the only savings you will have is not hiring a framer to rip the roof off and frame it for you and getting your house WATER TIGHT.

Add-a-levels are not something I recommend a homeowner to try if you are one. Try framing an addition off the back of your house but these are no joke because you can LOOSE your whole house if you don't keep it water tight.....trust me I seen it happen 23 years ago.


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## coralhead1 (May 28, 2006)

*all good thoughts*

This would not be a project taken on lightly. I would definately seek help, and have a designer/archetect/engineer involved from the start, as well as a crew to help with the framing, roofing and demolition. The thought of not having to rent an apt for a month and displacing the family is the main hook for this idea.

answers to your questunes- 
-current house roof pitch is pretty low, dont know exactly but ridge is about 6' from a flat ceiling on an approx 40' width
-current house is brick single story approx 1600sqft, but have an interesting quirk that will further complicate addition (see thread "steel beam or wood reinforcment")
-I would have to add floor joists or composit beams. current cieling joists are 2x6.
-size of add on is still under consideration. Id like to add a whole second floor, but am considering a 3/4 addition.
-addition roofline would be approx same pitch as current
-current house is approx 40'x70' footprint with roof pitch approx above

thanks for your thoughts, guys. I like the idea, but I have to admit I think it would be a pain to do.


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## brownerd (Aug 1, 2006)

*Am I missing something?*



coralhead1 said:


> This would not be a project taken on lightly. I would definately seek help, and have a designer/archetect/engineer involved from the start, as well as a crew to help with the framing, roofing and demolition. The thought of not having to rent an apt for a month and displacing the family is the main hook for this idea.
> 
> answers to your questunes-
> -current house roof pitch is pretty low, dont know exactly but ridge is about 6' from a flat ceiling on an approx 40' width
> ...


Before you start adding a second story don't you have to enhance the foundation?


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## BLKMGK (Oct 6, 2006)

I'm in the middle of a second story addition now. Building this with a roof intact is insane. It took my guys all of a day to demo my roof, throw it into a dumpster, and haul it away. They put on a second set of joists going the opposite way from the original ones in order to bear the load of the second story on the opposite set of walls. Doing it this way allowed us to skip having to redo the foundation or even dig it up for inspection. By middle of next week we'll have walls, rafters up, and tar paper ready for roofing. The roofing crew will have a tin roof on it in 3 days tops. After that it's all interior work.

Rain, yeah everyone's terrified of that including us. Right now we have no roof and can see sky in one room. Before leaving today the guys had the second set of joists done and a plywood floor laid. They draped a tarp over everything and nailed the edges down - just as they have every day when done. Tonight it's raining - HARD. It's supposed to rain tomorrow too. Stressful? Yup but so far no leaks anywhere. So long as we don't get high winds I'm not too worried. My plaster ceilings are intact everywhere except where the stairs are going and where one of the guys slipped and nearly landed in my living room. He was okay, the ceiling held, but I think I'm going to need a bit of plaster work :whistling2:

So, figure in a little over a week I'll have walls and a halfway decent roof. I'll take that over trying to do it with a roof up there snaking joists after the fact. Get a good crew that shows up every day and skip the complexity...


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## AtlanticWBConst. (May 12, 2006)

brownerd said:


> Before you start adding a second story don't you have to enhance the foundation?


Not unless, there is something 'wrong' with an existing foundation (Cracks) or it was put in incorrectly (defective)..or not up to code (Old Stone...Old mortar..falling apart). 
Generally, most foundations built in the last 30-40 years have no problem holding a second level. An issue would be the size of the 1st floor ceiling joists: 2 x what?. These will hold the live loads of the new addition...

BTW - The circumstances spoken of originally are very, very, very....unusual. As stated.The closest thing we have come to something like this was a ski-chalet up in the mountains that we expanded the size on. We basically 'formed', framed and built an enlarged 'shell' with temp. supports around the old existing house. On top of the framed outer walls, we built the new roof, which went over the old roof. When everything was weather tight on the new structure, we started dismantling the interior portions of the old structure and tying it into the new outer one....BIG, big, LONG.... $$ project $$

Other wise, the only other way I could see to trying to 'live in' and keep from opening up the first level to the weather, is, if the home was a basic shape ranch. 
If you had a solid week's forecast of clear weather. A large crew. All materials and supplies on hand...including shingles and windows.....A large tarp, just in case. 

-my 2 cents-


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