If your house isn't a full two-stories high, chances are that some of the upstairs rooms are tucked under the slope of the roof. Walking around can lead to a sore head and a crook in the neck, plus there's the dim light and lack of a view.

If you've been thinking about turning an unfinished attic into an office, a mother-in-law apartment, or a couple of bedrooms for your growing family, you'll be facing the same problems. Roof windows and skylights can help brighten up the space, but you'll still have to deal with the lack of headroom and view. (It's hard to look down through a roof window.)

You could raise the entire roof, of course, but that's a huge project. There's the cost, the disruption while the entire upper floor is off limits, and the extended period when your house will be exposed to the elements.

A Better Solution: Dormers

The easier solution is to add one or more dormers in the spaces where headroom  click here to continue reading..