Another Loft Conversion Question

n80krr

Sorry to bore you all with yet another question regarding a loft conversion but my fianc! and I have just found out we're expecting(don't trust the pill). I'm currently living in a one bed maisonette which has a massive loft, you can actually swing 2 cats up there:). Think the overall dimensions are around 13m x 9m. We have a set of stairs that could easily be extended up the the loft area and would have enough clearance to fit a doorway when at the right height. But I can't seem to find much out about whether we would be aloud to convert and whether because the size of room we would be adding would be a quite considerable % increase. Also has anyone use the telebeam system to create a loft conversion? as I'm now trying to save as many pennies as possible. I work with a carpenter, my father is an electrician and my brother in law is a plasterer so most of the finishing work would be done at beer rates just the initial building costs I would need to find. Many thanks to anyone would can help, oh the joy of life.:D

badbonty

sorry its been a while since you posted, i'm in the middle of the telebeam system install. I'm doing it all myself to keep costs down.
my loft was 15m x 8.5m so also was quite high, the fitting of teh beams i did in about a week, including fixing the beams to the rafters, but teh amount of work left after that is enourmous.

I'd highly recommend the telebeam as I did loads of research and didnt find anyone as helpful as Digby (the company architech). Also all the quotes i got were between 30 and 40K and the overall cost of my install with me doing it is abt 20K, so for me it was worth paying teh extra for the telebeam system as i could do it all myself.

Sounds like you have most of the finishing capabilities sorted, but its mainly carpentry skills you'll need and a descent cross cut chop saw with an aluminium cutting disc, i baught a 2nd hand dewalt from ebay and baught a new blade - cut throu ghte beam no problem.

One of teh biggest costs is all the screws, timber cionnectors, bolts, etc etc - they rally do add up as you need to use stainless steel cos of the aluminium. But you can do it bit by bit.

any mroe questions just get back to me.

ta

cyclonebri1

Those appear to be hellishly high costs compared to standard construction ??

Done 2 standard ones for myself, both bigger than the size mentioned, infact the present one we have is 10 x10 mtrs.

Only help I needed was 3 mates to lift the steels in, and a joiner to do the dormers as I have no head for heights.

Very time consuming tho'

iamcornholio

As the property is a maisonette, then permitted development does not apply and formal planning permission is required for the conversion.

Also you need the landlords permsision

Telebeams are specifically for trussed roofs, and traditional cut rafter roofs wont need this system. In addtion, there may be other implications of cutting trusses, which may require additional input from a structural engineer - in which case just the the engineer to design the support beams too, as it may be less cost overall