Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Aug 16, 2010 8:14 pm Hello I'm in the design development stages of an extension. The architect asked us if we wanted flat or pitched roof for the extension, and we're going for flat. All up our budget is $250K for 65sqm extension, the entertaining area and minor renos to existing structure (plus contingency and fees) so we need to be careful with costs. Apart from the cost and look of it, what are the other differences to consider? I imagine it could be warmer/colder possibly. Could this be overcome with insulation? Anything else we should consider? Also, the cost estimate came back at $2000-2500 per sq m in Adelaide. I'd be interested in people's opinions on how realistic this is. It seems to fit with the various cost guides out there, but is there anyone whose recently extended that has a view on this? Thanks Re: Flat roof vs pitched roof extension 2Aug 16, 2010 10:08 pm When you say flat roof, do you mean totally flat (with small slope for run off) or do you mean higher at one side (there is probably a technical term for this but I am not sure what it is ) Are you planning on having a flat ceiling inside? We are having a similar dilemma with our extension as well so I will be interested in any feedback you receive. Insulation is one thing we are considering but the main thing for us is that we don't want a flat ceiling for our extension - we want a bit of interest in the ceiling to avoid it looking like a box in contrast with the rest of our house which has 3'7'' ceilings. Re: Flat roof vs pitched roof extension 4Aug 17, 2010 8:41 pm We have both flat and pitched colourbond roof as part of our new home build, flat downstairs, pitched upstairs. As long as you insulate well, we have a thermal blanket under the roofing material as well as R4 roof insulation, there seems to be no difference. The only thing with flat roofs is box gutters which have their own pros and cons. Re: Flat roof vs pitched roof extension 5Aug 18, 2010 10:39 am We're in the middle of a two area extension. One is out the front of our standard 'L' shaped weatherboard in Melbourne's East, we're extending the main bedroom out to allow space for walk in robe and finally have an ensuite. We went for pitched/tiled room here so that from the street it matches the rest of the house. The second part is for a home office out the back, we're gone for flat roof there because it's out the back and nobody will see it. From inside you won't even notice and from outside it seems to look fine as well. It doesn't look like a bungalow attached to the main house which was my concern. The gutters are a mix of normal and something else (sorry not sure of the terminology) so that it doesn't flood. I think it might be box? gutter where everything joins. So that's my advice really. If it's hidden from the street, flat roof is fine in my opinion and saves tons of $$. If cash is no object, then go for the pitched roof so it joins the original house more naturally. We couldn't afford that for both areas, but in the end I don't think we'll care, and if we sold, I don't think the flat roof area would be an issue for any buyers *edit* The only big disadvantage I've noticed so far (because we're sleeping in the new office area while the front is finished) is the rain noise. When it rains, the flat roof makes a racket. If you're building sleeping areas, definitely talk to the builder about not just insulation but if there's any sound proofing that can be done to reduce the noise further. Re: Flat roof vs pitched roof extension 6Aug 18, 2010 11:04 am Hi Shebu We've just started major extensions on our house in Adelaide and our extension will be a 'flat' roof. I didn't want a flat roof under any circumstances but unfortunately it came down to cost! The inside will obviously match our existing ceilings so there will be no noticeable difference. Our concern was the fact that we are on a corner block, so to try and make it more aesthetically pleasing, our builder suggested building a parapet wall. Cant say the idea really grabbed me at first, but we went & looked at another house on a corner block with one and it looked really effective. Not ideal, but a compromise! One thing to consider is that if you are wanting ducted air conditioning, rather than a split system, having a flat roof can make it more complicated. Obviously there is an issue with the roof space and ducts etc but there are solutions, probably more expensive! As far as cost, I think we had 4 quotes from builders and they were all in the $2000 - $2500 per sqm price range. I think there was about a $15 000 price difference from cheapest to most expensive quote, so we based our decision on who we felt most comfortable with. Time will tell if intuition was correct but so far so good! Good luck! Re: Flat roof vs pitched roof extension 7Aug 18, 2010 9:45 pm Thanks so much for all your replies. That has really helped me confirm our decision. It seems like the best area to cut back $ on. I'll make sure I ask our architect about gutters and air conditioning. Re: Flat roof vs pitched roof extension 8Aug 18, 2010 9:49 pm Quote: As far as cost, I think we had 4 quotes from builders and they were all in the $2000 - $2500 per sqm price range. I think there was about a $15 000 price difference from cheapest to most expensive quote, so we based our decision on who we felt most comfortable with. Thanks Vanillabean, that's good to hear. I was a bit concerned we'd get to tender after spending $$ on fees and find that our budget is completely unrealistic. Re: Flat roof vs pitched roof extension 9Aug 18, 2010 10:51 pm Hi Shebu, We've just started our extension and decided to go with continuing the current roof line/pitch. Even though we plan to live in the house for the next 10 - 15 years, all the advice we were given from real estate agents to architects, said that keeping the existing roof line would add at least $40K to the sale price. So not sure how long you are planning to stay in the house, but you may want to think about further down the track. Good luck!! Re: Flat roof vs pitched roof extension 10Aug 19, 2010 9:47 am Hi. I moved a house about 15 years ago. The back part of the house was built on concrete so we pulled it off and re-built. Because of cost I went for the flat roof option. Ours is visible and is not the most attractive, so I would agree with the person who said it depends if it can be seen. We hope, down the track (when we can afford it) to re-do the roofline to bring in line with the rest of the house. There is a bigger problem however. We have now built an extension which is to be a family room, which abutts the flat roof section. We have not yet plastered and finished the room as the box gutter between the flat roof and extension is continually leaking in heavy rain (which we seem to have had continually lately ) and causing flooding in the extension. The only way we can remove or change the guttering is to change the roof. So i guess if you are ever going to add on more, it could be a problem It also makes rodent eradication more difficult. We had a bit of a rat problem in the roof this year. We could get up and lay bait in most places, which worked. However, we can't get into the flat roof section, so we were unable to get near one nest and it took a lot to get rid of those. 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