Loft conversion do's and don'ts

WeAreGhosts

i am in the process of buying a bungalow and i would be converting the loft

i have looked around for ideas [magazines, websites etc] but would like to hear from people who have done a conversion


i have 30ft by 18ft to play with and dont want to be spending much more than 20k, so a dormer is probably out of the question.

i am planning on doing two rooms [one with en suite and the other would use the bathroom downstairs [althouth we wouldnt be using that bedroom, i'm just think of re-sale there]
is that a rubbish idea? i really want just one large room ....but ...

my problem is, the stairs would go up the middle and i don't want the stairs opening into the bedroom directly. is there any way to get round this to do just one room?

also windows, i am not keen on velux, and a dormer is probably out of my price range. are there any alternatives?


also, any thoughts from people who have done an extension and regret things they have done would be most appreciated. i hope this is going to be a 'last move' and so i dont want to get it wrong and waste money.

tigsly

could you have a lobby?

missbiggles1

We did something smiliar, putting the stairs roughly in the middle with a small landing (about 3' x 3') at the top, turning left for one room, right for the other and put the en suite over the stairs.

WeAreGhosts

tigsly wrote: »

could you have a lobby?

upstairs? that would cut the one room up though, wouldnt it?

missbiggles1 wrote: »

We did something smiliar, putting the stairs roughly in the middle with a small landing (about 3' x 3') at the top, turning left for one room, right for the other and put the en suite over the stairs.

thats what i was thinking of doing to get round the 'stairs going into a room' thing. but i really wanted the upstairs conversion to work as a living/sleeping space. if i had two rooms it wouldnt really work.
the reason i REALLY don't want the stairs going directly into the bedroom is because i hope to have an en suite that doesnt have a door and has walls of glass bricks (so i wouldnt need a window in the en-suite). so i would need a door on the room to stop people wandering in when there is someone in the bathroom!

clockworks_2

Have a read of this, https://www.buildmybungalow.blogspot.co.uk covers a loft conversion too.

missbiggles1

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

upstairs? that would cut the one room up though, wouldnt it?



thats what i was thinking of doing to get round the 'stairs going into a room' thing. but i really wanted the upstairs conversion to work as a living/sleeping space. if i had two rooms it wouldnt really work.
the reason i REALLY don't want the stairs going directly into the bedroom is because i hope to have an en suite that doesnt have a door and has walls of glass bricks (so i wouldnt need a window in the en-suite). so i would need a door on the room to stop people wandering in when there is someone in the bathroom!

Is there any way you could put a door at the foot of the stairs?

WeAreGhosts

clockworks wrote: »

Have a read of this, https://www.buildmybungalow.blogspot.co.uk covers a loft conversion too.

thanks for that, i will have a browse ...

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Is there any way you could put a door at the foot of the stairs?

not really. the staircase is going to come from the hallway and i think it would look a bit odd having a door to the stairs right where you come in the main door. think it would make the hallway feel narrow too.


i might have hit upon a solution - have a small landing at the top of the stairs and a door to a small shower room leading from the landing. then two separate bedrooms.
i don't think i can make it work if i just have one room, and i suppose resale value will be higher with two ...

JustinR1979

missbiggles1 wrote: »

We did something smiliar, putting the stairs roughly in the middle with a small landing (about 3' x 3') at the top, turning left for one room, right for the other and put the en suite over the stairs.

This is how my place is

WeAreGhosts

JustinR1979 wrote: »

This is how my place is

do would you have room for a door into a small shower room that was placed over the staircase?
i am finding it hard to visualise ...

JustinR1979

Shower room is accessed through bedroom.
Maybe one of us has misread something - post I quoted said ensuite, which mine is. Is over stairs but part of bedroom
You are looking for a shower room to be accessed from top of stairs I think? Looking at my place, this would lead to some funny shapes and low ceilings.

WeAreGhosts

JustinR1979 wrote: »

Shower room is accessed through bedroom.
Maybe one of us has misread something - post I quoted said ensuite, which mine is. Is over stairs but part of bedroom
You are looking for a shower room to be accessed from top of stairs I think? Looking at my place, this would lead to some funny shapes and low ceilings.

i was thinking of en suite at first, but that would leave one bedroom without access to the shower room.

im looking to have the shower room over the stairs but to access it from the small landing, which would have to run back past the stair opening, meaning one bedroom would be smaller than the other. ...