The mezzanine is a good solution to gain space, especially if you have a small house available. Naturally we will need a lot of height, provided that the mezzanine is used to recover a livable room, such as a bedroom, a studio, a environment to pursue your hobbies. If, on the other hand, the additional space we are looking for will be dedicated to the storage of objects that clutter up and that we do not use very often, such as suitcases, camping tents, sleeping bags, beach umbrellas, sports accessories such as skates, skis, boards snowboard or surfboard and the like, height will be a minor problem.
Follow the rules
According to the law, the minimum height of a habitable space is 2.70 metres. However, many Municipalities allow it to be lowered to 2.40 if the mezzanine covers less than half of the room or is positioned above bathrooms, closets or corridors.
The mezzanine can also be considered a piece of furniture to obtain an extra bed, perhaps to be used in case of unexpected guests, or to create a library area. In these cases the height will not have to submit to rules other than those of common sense.
If our mezzanine is positioned above a door, we will have to be careful to leave the necessary space that allows it to continue to be opened, therefore around two meters with a few more centimeters. The same is more or less true for the library area, where, however, it is sufficient to save a height of one meter ninety, maximum two meters. It is possible, in some cases, to create a mezzanine without having to requesting for any type of permit.
Accuracy and safety
One of the essential steps to take before building our mezzanine will be to check that the supporting structure is able to support it. It is still a real attic, so it will be necessary to contact a professional to verify the resistance of the structure, decide the dimensions that we can achieve with the new construction and, if necessary, provide for any reinforcements, and then present the necessary paperwork in the Municipality and Civil Engineers.
In fact, we will have to intervene on the load-bearing walls by creating breakouts and carry out a whole series of works so that our mezzanine is not only beautiful and useful but above all also safe.
In the event that the load-bearing structure is in reinforced concrete, the procedure is different as it is not possible to break in, but it will be necessary to fix prefabricated elements, called sockets, using steel cables.
Quanto costa?
As regards the cost of the new structure, this will include the necessary material (wooden plank is sold at around 50 euros per square metre) plus the fixing and consolidation of the existing structures, the ancillary and finishing works, such as stairs , flooring or balustrades.
All this may seem too expensive or somehow even complicated compared to more basic needs, such as the construction of a temporary mezzanine. In this case we can easily rely on the do-it-yourselfer or buy a product on the market, a self-supporting mini-mezzanine.
Alternative solutions
The self-supporting mini-mezzanine consists of a surface with a limited surface, like that of an approximately queen-and-a-half bed, supported by wooden pillars resting on the floor. It can be a quick and cheap solution to enrich the children’s bedroom with a space for games or study that we may only need for a few years.
Another interesting solution could be to place the bed above a horizontal wardrobe, built for the occasion by a specialist in custom-made furniture.
