[djmcmath]

TimT -- I suspect it is, in fact, daylight. Project #1 is closing the house to the elements. Blech.

JYL, the roof is 12' on each side, so the ridge height is about 10'. Inside the "finished" space, it's approx. 6' head height in the middle, and slopes down to about 4' on the sides.
The stairs up are permanent, but were probably also not part of the original design. It looks like a bedroom closet was gutted to make room for the stairs. We're thinking that it would be nice if we could move the floors, but making the structure of the house continue to work with the stairs somewhere else could be an interesting challenge.
The basement has 6' head height in most places, with a concrete floor. It's really more of a cellar than it is a basement. It will never be approved as living space because of that low height.

GWN7 -- thanks for the information. There are existing two story homes in the neighborhood, but only one or two. One other idea might be to ask the neighbors what they've done -- there are a couple of other houses in the neighborhood that are the same model, so perhaps those owners could provide some wisdom. I definitely like the idea of less struggle getting permission -- rumor has it that the Gaithersburg permitting office is somewhat draconian.


I think the collective wisdom of the board has spoken: dormers, not moving the floor. I'll make up a floor plan in a bit and post it to solicit floor plan improvement opinions.


So to hijack my own thread ... One of the interesting things about this house is that it's a kind of forensic construction project. No construction work has been done in the last 30-40 years, so everything has that old patina on it. But some work is obviously not from 1927 -- like the stairs, or the kitchen addition. The kitchen is obviously NOT from 1927, but the stove says "Kitchenaid, made in America by General Motors Corporation" on the front, in neat little script. It's a treasure in its own right.