Knee wall storage

saver2000

I have recently bought a house where the first floor is in the roof space with dormers at the front.

At the back of the property there are no dormers and knee wall is quite tall (probably at least 1.3metres so that would lead me to believe behind the wall (which sounds like plaster board) there could possibly be a fair amount of storage space between joists etc.

If I wanted to add some knee wall cupboards who should I speak to? A loft conversion company maybe or just a regular builder?
Is there any reason why such a thing was never considered when the property was built? (eg structural issues) or probably just cost?

I looked at the original planning permission and there was supposed to be dormers on the back but it was rejected as nearby properties are bungalows (understandable)

FreeBear

A builder would probably be your best bet if you can find a decent one willing to take on a small job - The good ones are booked up on bigger jobs for quite some time. A loft conversion company is likely to charge you well in excess of what the job is worth, and wouldn't be able to do it any quicker..

A general purpose handyman would be a better choice - The job covers several skills (carpentry, plastering, painting/decorating). I would imagine that once the wall is opened up, you'll find insulation poor to nonexistent. Use the opportunity to add more, lots more.

GDB2222

Do you really need a builder? Or, at least, you could do some preliminary work yourself.

I'd start by making a good sized hole in the plasterboard and shining a light through. If all you are going to do is continue the floors further into the eaves and plasterboard under the roof, that's not all that hard.  It's a handyman/DIY job.

saver2000

I was thinking about maybe just cutting a hole and building a frame to hold either a cupboard or drawers.

I'm happy to DIY as much as possible, I was just a bit concerned as a google search turns up a couple of results suggesting the knee walls support the rafters.

I have bought an inspection camera (I think it may come in handy) so I could drill a small access hole and see what is back there in terms of space and supports etc.

One of the reasons this came up anyway is I wanted to route cables for CCTV from the soffits so I wanted to see how I can route the cables

greenface2

knock it out and jump in . If its unsuitable throw your cables through insulate it to death and re plasterboard it . forget the iddy biddy camera on a decent size space . Knock it out and get your head in 

saver2000

Well it's turned out to be a nightmare. It doesn't look like I can't just get behind the wall.

There is just wood everywhere behind the wall (like thick wood the whole length of the wall). Never seen anything like this before

pmartin86

saver2000 said:

Well it's turned out to be a nightmare. It doesn't look like I can't just get behind the wall.

There is just wood everywhere behind the wall (like thick wood the whole length of the wall). Never seen anything like this before

A picture speaks a thousand words...

Le_Kirk

saver2000 said:

Well it's turned out to be a nightmare. It doesn't look like I can't just get behind the wall.

There is just wood everywhere behind the wall (like thick wood the whole length of the wall). Never seen anything like this before

No, you've confused me.  That is a double negative which means you can get behind the wall.  Did you mean "it doesn't look like I can get behind the wall" OR "it looks like I can't get behind the wall"?  As posted by @pmartin86 a piccie would be great.