7  Do we really need the dormer?

February 2024

 

Even with our decision to move forward with Anne’s latest design, I’m not entirely sold on the shed dormer. After all, as you can see above, Carolyn has her desk under the 3 lovely skylights in our bedroom, and we get lots of natural light from them. But more significantly, it will require:

• Removing our garage solar panels. If we change the roofline, those will have to come down.
• Hacking up a perfectly good roof. We replaced that roof when we added the solar panels in 2013, so we’re only about 11 years into a room that should have a 25- or 30-year lifespan.
• Adding significant cost and risk to the project. Other than the elevator, all of the other changes we’re making are to the interior of the house and therefore feel more manageable to me. The dormer will change the exterior, and I’m concerned that the shed dormer will make the roofline look inconsistent.

I also don’t really see the need to tear down the east-facing balcony of our bedroom. It is cantilevered over our driveway, and some folks who have looked at our house have said that it may not meet code. But assuming it remains legal, tearing it down just seems like a needless cost.

I sent Anne an email expressing some of my concerns, and we’ll be meeting this week to talk them out. Carolyn really likes the dormer, so we’re probably going to do it anyway; I just don’t feel totally sold yet.