Loft conversion cracks 2 February at 6:05PM in In my home (includes DIY) MoneySaving 16 replies 680 views

diystarter7

sevenhills said:

diystarter7 said:

Re the screw, as I typed the above, I'll hand it to you as I recall a builders incident in a property of ours years ago, therefore the probability is that you are 60% correct and me 40% but we shall see. Importantly, you do often make the right calls and from the many posts I've read from you, you are very knowledgeable.

There are always right and wrong answers, all our answers make the OP think, only they can find out who is right.

Indeed, yes.
There are a handful of posters here who often come up with good solutions and are pleasant to interact with.
It all helps and OP's can untilise the info and a time even a small bit from a post goes a long way and they are often better armed with help from guys like you.

Thank you.

charleneann09

Section62 said:

charleneann09 said:

I'm having a loft conversion and was told it's ready for the floor to go in. I have absolutely no idea what thry have been doing up until this point as I don't really understand it.

Have you got Building Control involved in your project?  They would be the ones who could monitor what work is being done and whether it is being done properly.  You'd also get 'sign off' at the end so a future buyer would know everything is Ok.

Who is doing the work?  Is it a specialist loft conversion company, or a local builder?

When you purchased the property did you get any of the ceilings tested for asbestos in the Artex?

Yes we have building control. It's only part way done though

charleneann09

diystarter7 said:

diystarter7 said:

Hi OP
Before the LA coses, give them a call and take it from there. If a LA officer is already involved, give them a call the building regulations dept asap. They are there to try and ensure the place/work is carried out safely.

Good luck

Hi again OP

I've blown up the pics of the cracks

The one nearest to the edge appears to have been caused by something dropping on it. The 2nd appears to have been along the joint of the ceiling board and possibly they just stood on one oist, too much weight causing that.

Once you have established what happened - the plaster, tell them to stick it back on if no further problems as that will be the best match.

Ask if builders have contacted the council re building regs. What is the room going to be used for? Builds regs are required if using the loft as a liveable space.

Decide what is best for you and move it forward.

Btw, are the builders insured and have you checked this out if they say they are?

Btw2 - if you have a mortgage on your property, most lenders will want to know about any significant changes to the property - you may want to read the T&C's  for this lender.

Take care and good luck

It will be a bedroom. We have paid the council for building regs and i know the builder has spoken to them. I don't know when they came out though as I'm not normally home 

charleneann09

diystarter7 said:

Hi OP

The party wall has that been created and if so what material was used? Are you mid-terraced so did you need 2 party walls?

Thanks

Yes 2 party walls. Used it as leverage to get one side to sign the party wall agreement as they are difficult 

DRP

It doesn’t really matter how it was done. There’s almost always going to be a bit of damage from a loft conversion , and this looks fairly minor.

As someone suggested above, if the damage is above and beyond the expected then you could ask your builder to rectify - we did this as we had a large chunk fall off in one room, and cracks and water damage in another. 

It’s a negotiation and it depends on goodwill and what’s in your contract. Mine included a warning that there might be minor, unavoidable damage.

charleneann09

DRP said:

It doesn’t really matter how it was done. There’s almost always going to be a bit of damage from a loft conversion , and this looks fairly minor.

As someone suggested above, if the damage is above and beyond the expected then you could ask your builder to rectify - we did this as we had a large chunk fall off in one room, and cracks and water damage in another. 

It’s a negotiation and it depends on goodwill and what’s in your contract. Mine included a warning that there might be minor, unavoidable damage.

It really has set my mind at ease I never thought about damage like this so was really worried