Should I De-loft convert?

duchy

Of course quite a lot of women have a teenage son ........and some women do crafts and some men have model railways -if you must insist on categorizing everyone by gender specific useage -whichever -if you found it attractive so will others.

You might get the estate agent to put more emphasis on the "hobby area" in the details perhaps ?

A Dad who has their child to stay at weekends might find it appealing too (and not need a massive 2nd bedroom)

How long have you had it on the market -and how many viewings have you had so far ?

FishHookPockets

Nearly 2 years and under 10 viewings. I think the es was not worth a bean. The only reason why I think women don't like it is the viewers have been all young women and one man a dad who didn't think it was suitable for his daughter at weekends. I never had any feedback whether it was the conversion or the size of the second bedroom. I know two of the young women wanted a friend to live with them.
Not a huge subset though but has made me wonder, never been pointed out by family and friends though. I agree as a hobby space for all sorts.
Personally I am in a disagreement at home as I think the high amount of 70s textured wall paint is a major turn off to many young buyers resulting in very low viewings.

stator

FishHookPockets wrote: »

. The space would be great for a teenage lad.

If it's not up to building regs then I wouldn't advise anyone sleeping up there, might not be safe if there's a fire. (not that anywhere is totally safe with a fire, but you know what I mean)

asharon

what about removing the stairs and installing a sturdy pull down set of stairs so you have the 2 double bedrooms and the hobby room?

hcb42

FishHookPockets wrote: »

Hello, thanks for the comments so far. The existing conversion was done when I moved in. The previous owners son lived up there and she was selling as a 3 bed. However the mortgage provider said it can't be classed as a living space. No planning was asked for but apparently its been there for so long it doesn't matter, but another skylight will be out of the question I'd imagine. The space would be great for a teenage lad. I have a bed set of furniture and a big office desk up there plus loads of junk. There are struts in a v half way down to walk between so it isn't a full conversion I guess. Its mainly women who seem to find it worse but it is a bit boys adventure playground I guess!

assuming it can be made into a proper third bedroom straight away then declutter it and dress it like a proper bedroom, not a "junk room..". That way you add value not take it away..

Put a link up if you would like specific feedback

Prothet_of_Doom

stator wrote: »

If it's not up to building regs then I wouldn't advise anyone sleeping up there, might not be safe if there's a fire. (not that anywhere is totally safe with a fire, but you know what I mean)

Just because it might not pass on all current building regs does not necessarily mean it is as scarey as you point out.


I have a loft which passed building regs and the main things that were put in place for that are


a) Enough space on the roof, once you have exited via the window. (I remember discussions with builder about having 150 cm of landing space on the tiles below the window.
b) A mesh under the floor and above the ceiling below to stop the floor, falling through into the room below.
c) Spring Loaded Doors (We have removed all the mechanisms as they kept trapping the cat in the bedrooms) and
d) We had to have a wall put in between stairs and lounge, because you have to be able to get out without going through a room. (This made the lounge warmer and the Hall stairs and Landing colder)
e) Smoke alarms - as it happens we had the house rewired at the same time, so one on each floor, via mains and battery and linked together, so if you burn the toast and fail to turn off the alarm within 20 seconds, any one in the loft will be woken up.

davidmcn

asharon wrote: »

what about removing the stairs and installing a sturdy pull down set of stairs so you have the 2 double bedrooms and the hobby room?

That's what I was about to suggest.

Is this just as much a "one bedroom which can only be accessed via another bedroom" problem as a dodgy loft conversion issue? Or is the loft stair separate from the downstairs bedroom?

FishHookPockets

A separate stair well has been created between both the bedrooms by shrinking the second bedroom from a double to a single by installing a partition wall on th elong side of the room decrasing its wodth bu about 120 cm. This is the crux of the matter do people expect a loft conversion in a flat? Would they rather have 2 double bedrroms all beit the second would be a small double ( think bed and bedside cabinet either side and not much else)
If the partition wall was removed to have a pull down stair case of a sioze big enought to carry substantial furniture up would require a large area of the bedroom floor to be kept free. I will have to get some photos taken.

marcowil

If it's not being marketed as a living space (as you say it cant be) then it shouldnt matter if you cant get "substantial furniture" in or out.
It sounds like it would make more sense to re-convert the 2nd bedroom to a double room with decent loft access/storage.
I would much rather have 2 actual double bedrooms and good storage space in a loft, rather than a smaller bedroom with a loft space that someone could possiby use as a sort-of-bedroom if they wanted to.