How much damage will a velux loft conversion do to the rest of the flat?

rainbow_carnage

I suspect that any answer to this will begin with "it depends...", but I'll ask the question anyway.

We're buying a flat that's in desperate need to redecoration. We're installing a new kitchen and bathroom and laying new wood floors. We're also having the walls and ceilings skimmed and repainted.

In addition this, we're planning to have a velux loft conversion done in a year's time. A couple of builders have told us not to bother with things like painting because the loft conversion is likely to destroy all of the work. This is really discouraging as we're spendings a lot of money to redecorate (which cannot wait a year).

Also, one of the builders said that we'd need to leave the flat for THREE MONTHS because of the dust. That sounds insane. Where are we supposed to go? We could go away for a couple of weeks during the most messy phase, but three months is not doable.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks in advance.

cyantist

We are redoing our loft conversion soon, but were planning a kitchen remodel and various redecoration first. The loft companies have all advised against this and said at the absolute minimum all ceilings will have to be skimmed after the conversion. Is there a reason why you can’t get the loft conversion done sooner rather than later?

However I specifically asked if we’d need to move out and everyone has said it won’t be necessary.

rainbow_carnage

cyantist wrote: »

We are redoing our loft conversion soon, but were planning a kitchen remodel and various redecoration first. The loft companies have all advised against this and said at the absolute minimum all ceilings will have to be skimmed after the conversion. Is there a reason why you can’t get the loft conversion done sooner rather than later?

However I specifically asked if we’d need to move out and everyone has said it won’t be necessary.

Would love to have the conversion done sooner, but we haven't even started the process, yet. Meeting with the freeholder today to discuss it. The redecoration, on the other hand, has to be done in the next three weeks before we can move into the flat. We could hold off doing the kitchen, but the rest really needs to be done asap. It's in no condition to be moving in with a three-month-old baby. Also, once all of our stuff is in there, it'll be much more difficult to paint or lay floors.

martinsurrey

As you said, it depends...

How good are the electrics in the flat, how is access for new wiring?

Same for plumbing?

How much steel will be needed in the loft?

all of the above could mean the finished rooms need to have floors lifted, walls cut away, and the extra weight in the loft could (will) cause plaster to crack below while the house settles down.

you will end up paying for some work twice, without seeing it, cant say just how much...

rainbow_carnage

martinsurrey wrote: »

As you said, it depends...

How good are the electrics in the flat, how is access for new wiring?

Same for plumbing?

How much steel will be needed in the loft?

all of the above could mean the finished rooms need to have floors lifted, walls cut away, and the extra weight in the loft could (will) cause plaster to crack below while the house settles down.

you will end up paying for some work twice, without seeing it, cant say just how much...

Thanks for your reply.

We're actually getting an electrician out today to look at the wiring. Are there any specific questions that I should ask him?

We're not planning on having a bathroom in the loft, so I don't think plumbing is an issue.

I don't know about the steel.

If it turns out that we have to have the floors lifted and walls cut away to do the loft, it'll probably take the cost of the project well above our budget. We were hoping just to have a simple one-room conversion with velux windows. The flat next door has one. I could ask them how it went, though I'm not sure if they were the ones who did it, or if it were the previous owners.

Thanks again.

chappers

When doing a loft with a dormer we bring everything up from the outside, which means that one of the last things we do is open the landing ceiling for the stairs, it can be very dusty but only for a day or so. The problem with not having the back roof open is that the ceilings may have to come down sooner to get materials up and then you will be exposed to the general building dust of the conversion works
Three months to convert a non dormer loft seems like a long time, we normally reckon on 8-10 weeks for a full conversion.
All of that being said I do tend to agree with your builder, I would wait to decorate. I have done conversions in immaculately finished and decorated properties but protecting the clients house properly does take time and cost money, for example if you had wooden flooring down we would hardboard all of that out in the areas we would expect to be working in and I would price that accordingly under preliminaries
A loft conversion shouldn't destroy anything but you will have to expect some cracking of the ceilings and the odd dings and dents to walls.