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October 8, 2007
New cornice and additional floor on a frame house
Has anyone had experience doing the following:
- adding a new floor onto the top of a frame house (we're considering a 16-foot-wide house)
- having a decorative cornice put across the top/front of a frame house (nothing there currently, I assume there was one at one time since neighbors on both sides have them).
It would be great if you could share your experience re cost/feasibility. thanks.
Comments
The maximum # of stories for a frame house is two. Existing 3-4 story frame houses are grandfathered.
Posted by: guest at October 9, 2007 10:27 AM
10:27,
I had not heard that before, that's very interesting. Could you refer me to where you obtained that information. Much appreciated!
Posted by: Espresso at October 9, 2007 10:59 AM
I think chapter 5 of new Building Code has the limits based on building use and fire rating.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/html/model/construction_code.shtml
Posted by: guest at October 9, 2007 12:07 PM
I looked into this recently and found chapter 23, which relates to wood construction. Specifically section 2308.2, which limits wood frame construction to 3 stories, and section 2308.12, which further limits detached 1- and 2-family houses to 2 stories if they're in something called "Seismic Design Category D." I'm not an architect or engineer - can anyone translate this into the real world?
Posted by: guest at October 9, 2007 5:43 PM
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