Mansard Roof Style For Adding Third Floor Space
Mansard Roof Style For Adding Third Floor Space Few residential roof shapes promise as much usable square footage as the mansard. With its near-vertical lower slopes and shallow upper deck, this Second Empire silhouette transforms what most homeowners write off as cramped attic volume into a fully habitable third floor. Whether you live in a brownstone neighborhood in Brooklyn, a Victorian pocket of San Francisco, or a midcentury ranch in the suburbs of Atlanta, retrofitting a mansard can add between 400 and 900 square feet of conditioned space without expanding the building footprint. The appeal is structural, not just stylistic. Why The Mansard Outperforms Other Roof Types For Vertical Expansion Compared with a standard gable or hip roof, a mansard captures dramatically more volume in the upper story. A gable roof at a 9/12 pitch leaves you with sloped knee walls under five feet, which the International Residential Code does not count toward habitable area. A mansard, by...
