loft conversion (Turning loft into livable room) HOW TO?

TerryT_2

I have just recently boarded up my loft and used the silver foil stuff to cover the rafters in insulate the room. It's not looking far off from looking like a room!

Initially i wanted to to convert the loft into a spare room and got a quote for about 10k. This included getting stairs built - inc door, heating - rad,electrics - light and plu sockets, strengeting the floor - beams etc etc, x1 skylight window, walls inc skirting and flooring. The sructure was to remain the same no dormer was being built - the sturcture would have been an upside down V with two walls in the middle on either side so effectivly it would have been a long room.

The point i am tryin to get to is it doesnt seem like its a really big job if i were to get someone to put in the beams on month then someboy to do the pluming etc etc the month after i might be better off?

Has anybody done a propper velux loft conversion way cheaper the 10K???

Any help is welcome.

Thanks

Terry

OddjobKIA

TerryT wrote: »

The point i am tryin to get to is it doesnt seem like its a really big job if

Terry

This is the sentance that will come back and bite you..

Get one contractor to do the whole job....if you start using diff people you will get problems and when they appear it will always be somebodyelses fault

angelavdavis

Terry,

Be really careful here. Loft conversions pose a potential myriad of challenges.

Are you a detached house? If not, you may have to consult someone on getting a party wall agreement drawn up in order to move the supporting joists and put in rsj's etc. Not doing this could result in a court case on your hands.

Have you had the floor strengthened? Most loft floors are not strong enough to support a room.

In addition, there are fire safety considerations to make. In the event of a fire downstairs, would the people sleeping in the loft be able to get out safely?

More tips here

TerryT_2

Sorry about the above sentence guys. Seems like theres a few implications i need to take into consideration.

angelavdavis - I live in a terraced property.

The guy who gave me the quote asked if i had friendly neighbors because i would need to get them to sign the party wall act or something along those lines and i also remember him saying that as im not having a dormer i cannot class the loft as a room because of the 1 meter rule restriction between the stair case steps and ceiling.

Think im better of getting one company to do it rather than a few.

benood

£10k sounds too good to be true - you will need building regs. Still certain to be cheaper now than last year.

beaker141

benood - there is a great blog of a loft conversion here with a breakdown of costs in one of the posts - no labour though as all diy.

http://roomuptop.blogspot.com/

I have done a similar conversion but dont have the detail thats in that blog.

Doozergirl

We' re carrying out a loft conversion now wit Velux windows and it really isn't simple. After having the structural engineer calculate the RSJs we needed and all the work around it, it's working out at the same price to completely remove the roof, all the trusses and purlins and put on brand new attic trusses!

£10k sound fairly cheap - mine probably won't compare because it's 20 feet wide and 54 feet long. It will certainly come in at more than yours!

If it doesn't conform to building regs then you'll never see the value back on resale as you can't sell it as a proper room. You're better spending the extra on something that conforms (and, in the process, is safe).

Sailor_Sam

I would have thought a loft conversion wold cost a lot more than £10k. But still, another site you may find useful, with a link to loft conversions is,
http://diydoctor.org.uk/index.htm