Anyone done a loft conversion?

strtdv

How straightforward was it, was it very pricey, and did you go for the permitted development/velux window option or for a dormer or mansard type?

I'm distracting myself while waiting for the planning application for an extension to come through, and thought that 10 years down the line, or if we had more kids, a 5th bedroom might be useful, and the obvious place would be in the loft.

The house is a 1920s build detached so has rafters and purlins rather rather than trusses, so in theory should be more straightforward. The current ceiling trusses look to be about 6" thick as well so I think it may be possible to avoid doing much reinforcement to the new floor.

SPECTRUM001

We did one in 2014. Changed our life in a very positive way.

Traditional Victorian two bed now a three bed with an additional shower room (over the back Victorian extension).

London prices were circa £35k (for bare minimum) up to £55k for bells and whistles. We spent £50k. 

Make sure you get multiple quotes and question everything (who will project manage, who will actually do the work, the plumbing, the electrics etc).

We had various issues during the build and with party wall agreements - but it all came out well in the end. I could chat away for hours, as there is quite a lot going on...

WiresDreamDisasters

I've been looking at a company called Eco Truss:
https://ecotrus.com/

They fit these premade kits, and their prices seem pretty great. Does anyone know anything about this approach?? They seem respectable.

axisus

We had plans drawn up for one just over a year ago. We were talking to builders then the pandemic hit. All on hold since, bit of a bummer ..

wibble

This guy was getting one done....

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/mar/13/family-bill-insurer-claim-house-loft-renovation

monquixote

We had ours done.

Added 2 bedrooms and a bathroom to a bungalow.

Was budgeted about £30K, but what we didn't realise was the wiring in our house was a spiders web of point to point throughout the attic which had to be ripped out and it's ended up costing us about another £10K in rewiring the house and associated plastering which was very disruptive.

We got it done as a permitted development by only raising the roof on the side away from the road. Didn't stop the council turning up and demanding to see the planning permission that we didn't need thanks to an arsehole neighbour who decided to report us.

strtdv

@SPECTRUM001 I had reckoned on about £35-40k for a good level of finish and including an ensuite which seems broadly in line with your experience given I'm in Northern Ireland.

Our house is detached so no party wall issues thankfully.
I'd be surprised if a dormer at the front of the house would get past planning here, it looks like I'd be allowed to build it under permitted development if I stuck with velux windows on the rear aspect of the roof.

My main issue is the clearance needed above the staircase. It has to be 1.9m above the midpoint across the stairs if it's going into a pitched roof and I think it'll be tight, but in theory I could drop the ceiling level in the room below by about 4 inches and make it work.

chillidoggy

I had one done a few years ago with planning as it has a dormer. It's a no-brainer if you can afford it, because my house value jumped by more than the cost of the conversion, and it saved us all the dead money from having to move

I doubt you'll get away with 6" joists these days. I had to twist their arms to accept 9" ones.

strtdv

@WiresDreamDisasters you thinking of doing it to your current house?

If you're paying London rates for trades then it looks like it could save you money as the front dormer is made off site and drops in so should take a lot less time.
Your house is pretty old from memory so should have rafters and purlins which are more straightforward to remove than trusses without needing lots of extra bracing

boogieman

Had one done about 20 years back, on a 1930s semi in London.  Cost around £30k back then but that was for everything finished up to the bare plaster stage, and included all the electrical stuff, bathroom fittings and tiling. We ended up with a very large bedroom and a good sized shower room. We had the side wall built up in brick to give extra width and had a dormer put on the back. The guy we used came highly recommended by a friend but we had to wait for over a year for him to finish other jobs as he was so much in demand. It only took him 5 weeks start to finish but that’s very unusual, you’re more likely looking at 8-12 weeks. It was done with proper planning permission, I’m not sure permitted development was even a thing back then. 

the_jaffa

chillidoggy said:

I doubt you'll get away with 6" joists these days. I had to twist their arms to accept 9" ones.

All depends on the spans and the joist spacing rather than just on the joist depth. I agree that 6" is about as shallow as you'll get though and doesn't give much by way of span even with the joists bunched up

SPECTRUM001

@strtdv - there are certainly design idiosyncrasies depending on each building style and local authority rules.

in our area, lofts were restricted to pitched roofs until a dozen or so years ago. Now we all have dormers at the back, Veluxes at the front and outriggers over the back extension. It bumped the price by around £8k to have the outrigger - but a no brainier once you are having all the work done.

We did lower our ceilings to get an additional 10cm of head height - and we are really glad of it. For us it was a balance between compromise and retaining the buildings’ integrity.

SPECTRUM001

I would also say that without wanting to throw money away, don’t scrimp on the small stuff. 

Eg - we went for really nice Skylight and Veluxes, but put in a cheap shower and tiles - and boy does it show now. 

strtdv

@chillidoggy that was more a guess then a measurement, I know they're much thicker than our current house which was built in 1998 and uses trusses. 

I'm basically trying to plan ahead as we're doing an extension and full renovation to the house this year and I want to make sure that if we need the space later we don't do something silly in the renovation now which would prevent us doing the conversion later.

In terms of cost, you don't want to know how much the quantity surveyor reckons the current work will cost  so it'll be a while before I've £40k lying around to put into the loft (I'm planning a ~£6k garden room too, but I'll build that myself)

WiresDreamDisasters

strtdv said:

@WiresDreamDisasters you thinking of doing it to your current house?

If you're paying London rates for trades then it looks like it could save you money as the front dormer is made off site and drops in so should take a lot less time.
Your house is pretty old from memory so should have rafters and purlins which are more straightforward to remove than trusses without needing lots of extra bracing

Yes our current one. It's 1930's, and has rafters and purlins. I've watched a lot of videos on their Youtube channel, and it seems like it could be a viable way to go. Would save quite a lot of money too; they're based in Leeds, and their quick pricing on their website says £9,000+VAT for a project managed build, and they have a team who can arrange getting the cost added to the mortgage too.

Jalapeno

Had one done a few houses back, it was good.  Don't plan on making money from it, you'll get it back though.

Just make sure you put in more support than the ceiling rafters for the rooms below !

As much insulation as can be squeezed in.

Dormers if you can to maximise usable space.

If you can extend above existing stairs rather than circular - do it !

Not sure wha the planning/building is like these days - we had to fit a 30 min fire door to the loft, and auo-closers to all other doors to avoid the "chimney" effect.  Once inspected we disconnected all the closers    I think they're more relaxed these days.

Looked at having one done at current Jalapeno Towers when we bought it, but it would have take £50k's worth of steel beams alone, so we parked that.

gavin_axecaster

WiresDreamDisasters said:

I've been looking at a company called Eco Truss:
https://ecotrus.com/

They fit these premade kits, and their prices seem pretty great. Does anyone know anything about this approach?? They seem respectable.

I've been watching the youtube channel of one of the fitters and I'm very seriously interested. The speed the can get a conversion done is so much faster than traditional methods.- hip to gable dormer structurally finished in 3 days. Obviously the interior work will take a while longer but it radically reduces the inconvenience.

WiresDreamDisasters

Jalapeno said:

 it would have take £50k's worth of steel beams alone, so we parked that.

Would be a fucker as well, when they get melted by dank memes.

GuyR

If you are having an extension done first, followed by a loft conversion, it is worth checking with your local planning department first.
I had intended to do the same about 10 years ago. I lined up builders, had plans drawn and approved for a kitchen extension, then discovered by chance during a conversation with the planning dept that my local authority don't give planning permission for loft conversions. You can only build them under permitted development. If I had built the extension first, I would have used up all my permitted develoment allowance and been unable to build the loft room.
It may well be different where you live, but worth checking.

My advice would be build the biggest one you can, straight off the flank and back walls, and in a smaller house, completely removing the chimney stacks can make an enormous difference to the amount of space available. The space above the stair well is perfect for a clothes hanging cupboard, accessed from your new bedroom.

It is very worthwhile to knock on the door of anyone with an identical type house in your road who has had the loft done and ask for a look. I managed to get in to six. That will give you some good ideas and crucially, will help you avoid expensive mistakes.

Re cost, ours was £30k finished, and saved us at least one house move so in effect cost less than nothing.

viz

You don’t need planning permission for dormers that aren’t at the front or against public highway (ie back garden is ok), and less than 50 cubic metres, don’t protrude out from original roof plan, don’t encroach more than 0.12) metres from eaves, and the window sills more than a certain height from the internal floor. 

GuyR

viz said:

You don’t need planning permission for dormers that aren’t at the front or against public highway (ie back garden is ok), and less than 50 cubic metres, don’t protrude out from original roof plan, don’t encroach more than 0.12) metres from eaves, and the window sills more than a certain height from the internal floor. 

You did where I live, if you had already used your permitted development allowance,10 years ago. 

It it may well be the rules have changed.