About straighetening of the roof

pieroabcd

UnderOffer said:

“hitting the head against the roof every time that you try to move in the room is quite substantial,...”

How tall are you? 🤔

not a giant: 1.78. In all my (many) viewings I was about to hit the head against something, be it a bean or the sloping roof.

RAS

So you want to install a large dormer?

You're starting point would be the planning regs in areas you like. If you go down a street and it has no dormers facing the street, then assume it's not allowed, You might be allowed to do it on the rear. Google maps?

They do need a lot of maintenance though. 

Slithery

pieroabcd said:

...and much higher value to the house if/when sold.

What gives you that idea?

pieroabcd

Murphybear said:

We had a house with a flat roof once.  It developed a slight leak, not much fun.  We sold it and bought a bungalow.  I think the U.K. is too wet for flat roofs 

I think that -like everything- it depends on how the insulation is implemented.
In the town where I come from it rains definitely more than in London. In spite of this, pitched roofs are a rarity there, as all roof are totally or almost completely flat, possibly surrounded by some sloping part (like a skirt).
In my parents' house we have never had a drop of water leaking from the flat roof in 55 years. We had leaks from our balcony to the lower apartment, so we had to dismantle the surface and apply a proper insulation, but 30 years down the line we haven't experienced leaks any more.

pieroabcd

Slithery said:

pieroabcd said:

...and much higher value to the house if/when sold.

What gives you that idea?

A thorough look at the house market (zoopla and rightmove). Houses with more space available sell for higher prices.

RAS

And the owner probably spent £XX getting the dormer built and finished. OK if you are in the trade and can do half the work pull mates rates, or even better mates to cut the cost.

But not necessarily a way to make big bucks. Possible more sensible to pay down your mortgage and get a better deal.

bouicca21

"In the town where I come from it rains definitely more than in London. In spite of this, pitched roofs are a rarity there, as all roof are totally or almost completely flat"

That was the sort of logic that encouraged builders to install flat roofs several decades ago.  We have since discovered that it isn't about the amount of water - it's about how long the roof takes to dry.  In the UK that is a very very long time ...

ansaryon

eddddy said:

And you want to change it to something like this:

FWIW, I live in a bungalow which has dormers like that both front and back - taller than that, in fact, as the flat roof goes above the original ridge height by a few inches (not sure how that got approved back in the day, but hey, it did.

Having lived there for nearly 40 years, the loft conversion having been performed in the late 70s, it has both pros and cons.

The biggest pro is that the rooms are much larger than they otherwise would be... indeed, aside from a residual small cupboard along the gable end of each room, you wouldn't know from looking that you were in a dormer. The ceiling height is just under 2.3m upstairs, compared with 2,4m downstairs.

The biggest downside, even more than the flat roof (which I'll come to) is the heat generated in the summer. The flat roof itself traps heat very effectively on a sunny day from late February through to early October. As an example: it reached 10C outside today and it's been sunny most of the day. Downstairs it's 20C but upstairs it's 24C. In the summer it can effortlessly get into the mid 30s up there, which is far too warm for me! (A portable a/c unit is a must).

The flat roof doesn't take as much maintenance as some might say. Since I've been there it was refelted in the mid 80s and again in 2012. Annoyingly the roofers that time didn't quite go to the edge and last year it started leaking on that old part - patched for now, but will need refelting in another couple of years. 

(The roofer who patched it said the decking may need changing as it's only plywood and is a bit the worse for wear. I'll get a second opinion next year when I get the roof refelted again.)

The biggest hit financially is from insurance. Not only do they require documentation to say a qualified roofer has passed the roof as adequate (before they pay out for roof-related repairs), the costs go up massively. As an example, due to having 90% flat roof coverage the buildings insurance is the best part of £900/year. I suspect that will have generated a few gasps from readers on here!

Is it worth doing? If you have the cash, can get some sort of a/c and don't mind the premiums then yes, you'll get a lot of extra space. You will need to replace the roof felt every 15-25 years and to comply with modern building regulations you won't get away with such high ceilings as I have - not unless you have a *really* sharply-pitched roof to start with!

As for whether it looks ugly - I guess it does, but in my case I'm so used to it I don't even notice the looks. Then again my house is completely unique, there won't be any others with the same layout anywhere!

pieroabcd

Thanks for the testimony.
As far as I'm concerned I would be willing to pay £900 per year and install an A/C to have a much more spacious room (having the house, of course :-) )
Can I ask what's the cost of refelting the roof?

Jeepers_Creepers

Have it GRP'd, not felted. EPDM if you prefer, but ideally a modern GRP variant such as Flexitec 2020.

You shouldn't have to worry.