An attic with a balcony is becoming more and more popular. A beautiful, cozy addition to a custom floor expands the functionality of the home. Here you can arrange a greenhouse, a summer cafe or a place for contemplative relaxation. From the article you will learn about the main features of the attic balcony structure, its advantages and disadvantages. The subtopic about types of models will help you choose the appropriate option. You will also be revealed the secrets of successful project implementation for any choice of balcony and options for using the attic.
Attic with balcony Source mebel-vkysa.ru
Advantages of an attic balcony
This solution has a number of advantages, including the following factors:
- Completeness of the building as a whole;
- The presence of additional space that can be used for a variety of purposes: for example, here you can arrange a place to relax;
- Convenient evacuation during unforeseen situations such as fire;
- If there is a terrace on the ground floor, the balcony slab serves as a roof;
- Proper design of the attic helps create a special atmosphere;
- Charm and luxury;
- The protruding balcony slab serves not only as a roof, but also significantly increases the area of the attic;
- The attic adds additional value to the fact that from the height it offers a good view of the surrounding area.
Design project
This project is an example of an attic with a pediment balcony.
The construction of this structure is convenient because it provides a good view of the area
Division into several rooms. Two bedrooms have access to the balcony.
Houses with an attic and a balcony have unique architectural forms
Thus, such a design can be made in different ways.
When designing an attic floor, pay attention not only to the appearance, but also to the reliability of the structural elements
The main thing is to determine the purpose of the attic in the house, and also take into account the structural features of the building and roof.
Disadvantages of an attic balcony
However, in addition to such obvious advantages, such a structure has some disadvantages:
- Since the attic has access to open space, this greatly affects the thermal insulation of the room;
- Prices for attic balconies only increase over time, since proper construction and maintenance of the structure requires additional expenses, not to mention how much money will be spent on high-quality thermal insulation;
- Where there is open space, dirt will always accumulate, so cleaning the balcony will have to be done more often than cleaning other rooms.
- Excess light and fresh air;
- Increased humidity in spring: due to the snow accumulated over the winter, all the water will accumulate on the ceiling, which once again proves the importance of good waterproofing.
Types of attic balconies
Setting aside all possible design options for premises, extensions and superstructures, there are three main types of attic balconies, among which are:
- Front structures;
- Roofing structures;
- Windows-balconies.
In the case of a front structure, a distinction is made between external and internal balconies.
- A balcony with an extension provides the house with additional space and thanks to the additional beam, which is not an interfloor ceiling, during the season of heavy rains or melting snow, there is no risk of drips appearing on the lower floors.
- An internal balcony is made much simpler, however, such a room requires more serious treatment of the walls and floors with special means and materials to protect it from moisture.
- When designing a house, it is necessary to focus on the point that the wall that separates the balcony from the interior room should be relatively light, since it does not stand on a supporting structure.
The roof structure is somewhat different from the facade. The balcony is located on the roof side, which requires some changes related to the roof structure. To protect the balcony from rain and snow, a canopy identical to the roof is installed on top.
The third type is provided in the form of a special roof window with a balcony.
- What distinguishes it from an ordinary window is that in one position it is located in the same plane with the roof, while in another, when open, it turns into a mini-balcony.
- In words, the mechanisms of such a window work even simpler than it seems at first glance: When the handle is moved to the desired position, the lock from the window is removed and this allows you to raise the top and extend the bottom.
- Along with the extension of the lower part, the railings also extend.
The photo below provides examples of what attic balconies are.
Remote design on the front part
Balconies in the front part of the attic are structures that can only be built at the stage of construction and arrangement of the attic floor. The advantages of this option are cost-effectiveness and simple design.
A platform is built on the straight part of the roof of the house; the floor of this structure is the ceiling of the lower floor. Thus, the front part of the attic wall is simply moved deeper from the front wall.
Advice! With this design, the site turns out to be spacious; it occupies a space equal to the width of the house.
Design Features
The moved front wall rests on the ceiling, which serves as the floor of the external platform. In this case, the wall is not load-bearing, so the partition itself is made thinner than the other walls (this is necessary to reduce the load), but the layer of thermal insulation is increased. The fencing of such a site is chosen depending on the architectural appearance of the house, these can be:
- forged gratings;
- wooden structures;
- cellular concrete;
- brick, etc.
Advice! The balcony on the front part of the attic can be either open or glazed.
Nuances of designing a balcony
When designing a house, many people have a question about how to make an attic balcony and what you need to know for this. Two points are of great importance here: waterproofing floors and installing fencing.
Waterproofing is done to protect the room from moisture. At this point, it is advised not to save money and to provide your attic with decent moisture protection, so that later you do not have to overpay for repairs.
Fencing installation plays a key role in ensuring your safety. Despite the relatively low height, if a small child falls from such a balcony, such an event can have a tragic outcome. That is why it is worthwhile to protect yourself and your household from unwanted danger in advance.
Fortunately, the world of design does not stand still and every year more and more new ideas appear that can be combined with the exterior of any home.
- Wooden railings are an eternal classic, especially if the house itself is built from solid wood;
- Metal railings - stylish, reliable and durable;
- Glass railings - this type of fencing looks very presentable and, as a rule, despite its deceptive fragility, is quite durable.
Special conditions
Thus, it becomes clear that the front and side balconies are part of the attic floor with common load-bearing elements of the building. Consequently, part of the structure will be open. And here the acute question arises of how to protect the house from aggressive environmental influences.
To avoid the disastrous consequences of precipitation, chemical and biological influences and gusts of wind, it is necessary to carefully consider the hydro- and thermal insulation of premises. The floor slab must be coated with bitumen mastic, covered with a special membrane, or laid with a layer of thick polyethylene film. Insulation is laid on top of the waterproofing, which is sewn up with sheet material, and only after that a screed is made or the finished floor is laid.
Pay special attention to the joints, they are the “weak link” of the entire structure.
Attic balconies, photo of the side structure in the roof slope on additional supports
Features of attic design
In order to make staying in the attic more pleasant and free from all possible inconveniences, it is recommended that even during the construction of the house, pay attention to the design features of such structures:
- Attaching a balcony to a ready-made and fully finished house is very troublesome and requires huge financial investments.
- Instead, you should initially include it in the house design.
- Such a thoughtful solution will save a lot of effort, money and nerves.
- A side or front balcony can continue the attic. However, their planning is fraught with the fact that some part of the house will remain exposed to natural precipitation and the house owners will need to carry out good insulation of the interior rooms.
The dimensions of the balcony slab, which will protrude beyond the facade, depend entirely on the size of the attic itself. It is not recommended to make it too heavy.
Attic in a residential area
The special atmosphere in attics inspires home owners to furnish them based on their own preferences. Therefore, many of them equip attics as living rooms.
Listed below are several options for which rooms you can equip the attic space for.
- Bedroom: such a room is ideally suited for sleeping quarters, since there is always good air circulation, it is light, quite cozy and beautiful;
- Children's room: for the same reasons as above, you can make a children's room from the attic. The only thing is, in this case, it is necessary to take into account all the points and secure the room so that the child does not have access to window handles and other things on his own until a certain age;
- Cabinet;
- Kitchen;
- Living room;
- Bathroom.
Balcony under a gable roof. How to make a gable roof with a balcony
If there is a lack of living space in a private house, then creating an attic space would be an excellent solution. But you can’t just build it like that. To do this, you will need to build a special roof. Then you can create a full-fledged roof on the roof. And to make it unusual, comfortable and beautiful, many people build a balcony on it. How nice it is to go out onto the balcony in the evening, breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the beauty of the starry sky.
True, such a sloping roof with a balcony will not be cheap, and such projects are not so easy to do. There are nuances and problems here that need to be paid attention to. Let's look at what types of attic roofs with a balcony exist, what are their features and advantages.
Owners of a private house have many advantages over apartment residents. One of them is the presence of an attic. This is a unique room that is located under the roof. It will become additional space that can be used for a variety of purposes. Here's what you can do in the attic:
- Children's room.
- Rest room.
- Living room.
- Dining room.
- Bedroom.
- Cabinet.
- Library.
- Gym.
- Greenhouse.
It turns out that everything that is missing for a private house can be implemented in the attic. The design is thought out in advance. You just need to perform heat and sound insulation. It is noteworthy that an attic can be made when designing a private house, or it can be erected in a finished house. If necessary, the rafter system is changed and the space inside is organized.
In addition, the attic will be very warm, since, based on the laws of physics, heat from the house rises upward, heating the room. And if, during the construction of a house, an attic room with a gable, hip or sloping roof is immediately included in the project, then the costs will be small. Then it will be easier to equip it with a balcony.
Let's take a brief look at what roofs can be made in a private house and see if it is possible to organize an attic in them.
- House with a pitched roof. The simplest and cheapest option. In this case, it will not be possible to create an attic, and the presence of a loggia and balcony is also not provided. It is rare to see houses with a pitched roof. Most often they are used for simple buildings.
- Houses with a gable roof. This option is already more popular and is used quite often in house construction. The advantage of the roof is that it can be used to create an attic or attic. Yes, and you can make a balcony here, as you can see in the photo. The gable roof is one of the popular ones and you can even make it yourself.
- Hip roof. Just an ideal option for creating an attic. A hip roof has 4 slopes, which is why it is also called a hip roof. Two slopes are made like the gable version, but the second two are located instead of gables and look like a trapezoid. These are what are called hips. Such a hip roof is quite difficult, so a specialist is needed to create it. But there will be plenty of space inside for the attic. The room is somewhat reminiscent of an ordinary living room. In the photo you can see what a hip roof looks like.
