This is a section through the main body of the house showing the double volume ceiling in the living room area . The area behind is the mezzanine floor.
This is a view looking in the other direction showing the exposed rafters .
This drawing of a typical section of the house is important and I will go through it with you point by point .
OPTIMUM ROOM HEIGHTS
Now that we have worked out the floor layout and the best room sizes, we can look at the ideal height of the house.
Let’s start with the bedroom and bathroom ceilings. A good ceiling height for these rooms is 2.5 meters. I have allowed 20 centimeters for the floor thickness. If this is a concrete floor, it will give you a smooth plastered ceiling underneath in both rooms.
If you choose a timber floor instead, the timber joists will be thicker. This means the ceiling height in the bedroom and bathroom will be slightly lower. However, exposed timber joists can look very attractive and add character to both rooms. Ceiling boards can be fitted between the joists, with insulation placed above them to keep the rooms warm and quiet.
Next is the height of the side walls in the mezzanine area. Because a staircase will be added later, the side walls cannot be lower than 1.7 meters.
The roof rafters will also be exposed in this space. At the lowest point between the rafters, the ceiling height will be about 2.0 meters.
The ideal roof pitch is 40 degrees. I will explain why shortly. With a 40-degree pitch, the height at the center of the roof will be about 3.9 meters.
This means the total height of the house, measured from the floor slab to the top of the roof, will be around 7.5 meters.
We have increased the height of the house to allow for the mezzanine, but this extra height also helps when adding a patio and extra rooms to the side of the house.
The beam that supports the front of the “lean-to” roof must be at least 2.2 meters above the ground. The lean-to roof should have a 10-degree pitch. This gives a height of about 3.2 meters where the lean-to roof meets the main house. This leaves around 1.2 meters of wall space between the lean-to roof and the gutters of the main roof. That is enough space to install small windows.
These windows are important because they allow natural light into the main part of the house. The lean-to roof will create shade, which is great in summer, but it can make the house darker in winter.
The reason for the 40-degree roof pitch is that it is a very good angle for the sun in the southern hemisphere. Since we plan to install solar panels and solar hot water panels, this angle helps them work efficiently. In this example, we are assuming the house faces north.
In the next blog , we will discuss construction materials and the various options available .
See Ya