fire wall in loft

Kitifer

Hi everyone,

just wondering if anyone has any experience of this situation at all? I am about to complete on my first house, the loft space is joined with next door. The dividing wall is only built up the the height of about 2/3 of the way (which I understand is how they used to be built). My terms of my mortgage are that this wall must be completed up to the roof, thereby completely closing off the two loft spaces of the houses.

I was just wondering, is this the kind of work I could complete myself? Or would it be better to get a builder in? If so any idea how much it might set me back at all?

Thanks in advance

duncan320

From what your saying you dont know, so get 3 quotes from builders for the work, difficult to guess a price depends how many bricks are required etc and anything else that might be required when they take a look. It needs to be done correctly as it affects your property and your neighbours to.

ngbhughenden

yes , you have got the option of a brick/block wall but it is hard work and messy what with getting all the materials through the house, up the stairs and through the loft hatch. I would consider constructing the wall from studwork and 2 layers of plasterboard ands then jointing and skimming the joints. Although still hard work it is a cleaner job. I dont think you would get much change from £900 depending on where you live.

Kitifer

ngbhughenden wrote: »

yes , you have got the option of a brick/block wall but it is hard work and messy what with getting all the materials through the house, up the stairs and through the loft hatch. I would consider constructing the wall from studwork and 2 layers of plasterboard ands then jointing and skimming the joints. Although still hard work it is a cleaner job. I dont think you would get much change from £900 depending on where you live.

eek! Wow that's a lot more than I thought it would be. Guess I better get a hard hat then lol. The valuer led me to believe that it was just a simple case of getting some bricks and building it up.

duncan320

I guess that £900 was if someone did it ? Still costly price. Thats about £50 worth of stuff from B&Q. Blocks would be the best option in my opinion, its secure and fire proff, even a good plaster board wall you could push your hand thew it. Just a personal view as its your loft and there is them risks.

Canucklehead

Hi

How small would you have to cut plasterboard to get it through the hatch?

IMO Thermalite blocks (9")would do. Could you share the cost with the neighbour?

Corgi Guy.

stephen25uk

yep i agree with the above thermalite blocks are cheap lightweight,ideal for lugging up to the loft and you can cut them with an old saw,or a new cheap hardpoint saw from b&q or the likes.

Doozergirl

Thermalite blocks are fine! Plasterboard?! It doesn't need to be tidy, you just want safe. You can do it yourself if you feel confident enough.

Mentally, I'd still rather have a brick wall than a stud one though it only needs to keep you safe for a certain amount of time.

Kitifer

thanks for the ideas everyone. Decided to get some quotes for the work and if they are scarily high then I will attempt it myself.

HugoSP

This is really not hard to do. I wouldn't go for plasterboard IIRC it has to be solid to satisfy the building regs but I could be wrong.

Basically all you have to do is take the brick/blockwork down to a sound level then build back up again.

If you are saving a reasonable amount of money doing it it may pay you to spend £50 on a cheap secondhand cement mixer. This will save time and then you've got the mixer for other jobs if you want it. Alternitively sell it on again when you've finished.

You could mix it by hand, but I personally wouldn't if I didn't have to.