how to build a room in the loft?

ed110220

You may not need steel joists, depending on the spans involved. My dad converted his loft by the book and it only involved timber strengthenings, but the house is smaller (a smallish c. 1900 terrace) so the spans were relatively small. He is a builder and it was a big job, so I don't think this is a DIY project.

muckybutt

Doozergirl wrote: »

You wait until he tries to sell it! £4000 is not a loft conversion.

You have to start with a structural engineer to tell you if your joists are strong enough. They probably won't be. Sticking your kids up thereto play is not a good idea! :eek:

Utter rubbish !

Myself and my mrs did everything by the book and it cost us iro £5000 to do everything.

It was a 1930's bungalw we lived in and we decided to convert the loft into a huge living room, when completed it gave us a room 27ft x 17ft.

I beefed up the joists installing new 3x9's then installed two fire escape velux windows, insulated the roof, put the studding up and plasterboarded, electrics etc.

My mrs did the drawings, we had bc inspect when the joists went in, when the windows were done, when the insulation went on and finally when the stairs went in, the only other help we had was a joiner installed the stairs and a gas fitter installed a living flame fire.

WLM21

Not trying to be cheeky, but by the wording by the OP I would strongly advise against any type of DIY work.

Get a decent builder in to give advice.

True it would probably cost more, but a collapsed ceiling / hurt children would be a lot worse.

beaker141

muckybutt wrote: »

Myself and my mrs did everything by the book and it cost us iro £5000 to do everything.

I've just had a quick look back out of curiosity to see how much it cost me. Excluding the reroof, all the £50 trips to Screwfix, and any internal finish such as tiling, painting, laminate floor, bathroom suite then I come up with the below cost just shy of £9k :-

Floor Joists 357.58
Hangers 70.86
Misc 438.31
Steel 487.63
Velux Windows 707.02
Insulation 1,240.01
Flooring 115.66
Stairs 1,621.70
Electrics 1,390.00
Plastering 750.00
Fire Doors 931.41
Plasterboard 879.01
Total 8,989.19

Insulation & Plasterboard (It was the K17 insulated stuff) accounts for £2k ! No wonder it doesnt get cold up there!

Electrics were quite hefty due to changing the consumer unit at the same time.

Stairs were quite dear as they had 2 turns in them, with spindles and balustrading etc.

£1k of above is new internal fire doors through the whole house to give protected staircase route.

Not in the above is plans being drawn and building regs fees which in total probably added £1k on.

Hope this helps someone.

Gloomendoom

muckybutt wrote: »

Utter rubbish !

Myself and my mrs did everything by the book and it cost us iro £5000 to do everything.

When was this though?

Doozergirl

muckybutt wrote: »

Utter rubbish !

Myself and my mrs did everything by the book and it cost us iro £5000 to do everything.

I'm not being funny, doing the whole lot yourselves is highly commendable, but you still spent £5000, which is more than £4000. If you'd counted your labour, it would be a great deal more.

However, I wasn't particularly talking generally, The OPs friend did it for £4000, including a kitchen and shower room. The fittings alone for those rooms, even basic, would take up a chunk of that money. Do you think you'd have been able to do that job for £4000 as well, add on the drainage and ventialtion needed, cut your own costs down from the last one and meet BRs? I don't think the OPs friend did it correctly, otherwise the OP would know a little of the proper work that goes into the job; and with the OPs lack of knowledge, it sounds like they would not have the skills to DIY either.

ormus

generally,
on older houses could get away with boarding out the loft and using it as a room. with no joists problems.
modern houses (post war) are very different. you really need to know what you are doing.

and if you do it unofficially then when you come to sell, itll be classed as a storage area only. you cannot call it a habital room.

sebastianj

Thank you all very much,
'are there trusses and purlins up there ', I did not answer this because I did not know what these were, what are these?
I think I have 4x2 joists, which i think are smaller than 75mm x160 or what ever, shall i get some of these and screw it to the existing one's?
Every one who advised were very sincere and I am greatful to every one. Problem is the cost and how to cut it down, I think i will invite the building control and see what they say, do they charge a fee to come?
seb

jc808

sebastianj wrote: »

Thank you all very much,
'are there trusses and purlins up there ', I did not answer this because I did not know what these were, what are these?
I think I have 4x2 joists, which i think are smaller than 75mm x160 or what ever, shall i get some of these and screw it to the existing one's?
Every one who advised were very sincere and I am greatful to every one. Problem is the cost and how to cut it down, I think i will invite the building control and see what they say, do they charge a fee to come?
seb

OK what I mean is do you have:

Option 1:
Lots of vertical beams going from the floor to the beams on the roof that are 'in the way' of you when you walk around your loft like this:


Option 2:
Or do you have a type of loft where all the members are supported without having huge beams from floor upwards like this:



I would not get BCO involved at this stage for two reasons:
1) They will likely want a fee and do not provide advice under such circumstances
2) They may pick up on (and condemn!) Other things. Best not to get them involved.

fluffpot

if you are thinking about having a toilet/bathroom up there then you will need to comply with all the waste/plumbing regulations - can't see how you're not going to get BC involved