Finishing a partial loft conversion

crayola

We bought a house with a loft that could be described as "part converted": there is a fixed staircase leading up to it, they've installed a velux skylight and put some flooring down so that walking around is no problem. They have also plastered some parts of the sloping walls.

However, it is still not what i would see as "a room". We don't ever use it other than to store furniture and other items. It is hard to tell whether this is just because the previous owner converted it 'on the cheap' (as he did everything else in the house :mad:) or whether it is because it is missing something simple but obvious, like a carpet or maybe painting some brickwork.

Seeing as an extra bedroom can add a huge amount of value to a property (and this is a larger room than our current 'master' bedroom) we now want to get it up to 'bedroom standard', but I don't really know where to start and would love to hear from anyone who's done this. So what I'd like to know is:

- what sort of changes would you need to make to a room to make it comfortable for spending time in? (we have already extended the central heating system up there and have installed two radiators)

- what do you need to do to make this room legally classifiable as a bedroom? There is space to put in an extra wall and a vertical door, so would that be sufficient?

- how much would you expect to spend on getting a loft that has already been part converted up to scratch? We want to keep costs as low as possible but are willing to stretch a bit to bear in mind the added value.

Mankysteve

To convert to a bedroom as you've allready mentioned a proper fireproof door will be required. The plaster work on the walls will need to come off for building Regs to check roof. Same with the flooring typical the floor joist in lofts are not strong enough and will need renforceing.

How olds the house ? My biggest concern in your case is that the previous owner may have cut roof beam he shouldnt have without aditional reforcement hence why building Regs will want to look under the plaster work. The roof you'll want someone to take a look at regardless if you go ahead or not you don't want your entire roof coming down one night.

A decent builders Should be able to sort out all the plans(allthough they'll need a structural engineer to do) and stuff.

macman

My main concern would be whether steels have been put in to provide the necessary floor support. That is the most essential requirement, without it your floor is not strong enough and it won't pass building regs. If it was just converted for storage then this wouldn't usually have been done.
Not a good idea to start putting in rads and fitting out before this is properly checked out. If it's not been done then a lot of the other work is going to have to be undone to rectify it.
When you bought the house, was there not proper documentation detailing what work had been done and what permissions obtained (planning permission possibly, certainly building regs certification)?

crayola

macman wrote: »

If it was just converted for storage then this wouldn't usually have been done.

Sure, we would have to get this checked. The thing is I don't think it was converted just for storage - when we viewed the house they had it set out like a living room. I just personally find the way that it has been done very utilitarian and not comfortable or pleasant.

When you bought the house, was there not proper documentation detailing what work had been done and what permissions obtained (planning permission possibly, certainly building regs certification)?

No we didn't see any but I know that our surveyor and then solicitor had to sign something saying it had complied with building regs.

macman

Your surveyor would not have been able to tell if the steels had been put in, even with a full structural survey, because they would not longer be visible. He would depend on the necessary paperwork having been supplied.

Mankysteve

Them signing paper work means nowt if they haven't got build regs paper work to prove it. If they have had building regs aproval then they may still have it on record. If not the floors going to have to come up for inspection and so is some of the plaster work. Hence why you should speak to building tete ASAP.

27col

The absolute major thing that you need to check up on before anything else, is the depth of the floor joists. Otherwise you will be in deep doo doo if they have not been upgraded. If they do need replacing then they will need doing before anything else.

tomfun

27col wrote: »

The absolute major thing that you need to check up on before anything else, is the depth of the floor joists. Otherwise you will be in deep doo doo if they have not been upgraded. If they do need replacing then they will need doing before anything else.

Yes i agree, see if you can locate a floor joist, it will be pretty obvious if it`s an original joist by a) its condition and b) it`s depth will be somewhere between 3" and 4"

An upgraded joist would be more like 6" to 8" deep.
even then you cant be sure it meets building regs.

planning_officer

Just to clarify on the above - internal works to a dwelling don't require planning permission - contrary to popular belief, loft conversions have never required planning permission. What can require planning permission is any external alterations to facilitate the loft conversion - like rooflights or dormer windows. They often benefit from permitted development rights, so don't require a planning application. In your case, a velux rooflight is unlikely to have required planning permission - unless a condition on a previous permission restricted the insertion of any windows in the roof - and, through experience, many solicitors miss such conditions when they are dealing with house sales.