Loft conversion recommendations

Coach Steve

Member
Any one know anyone capable of doing it? To be honest just need support beams removing if possible a light and a new secure loft ladder ill do the rest myself. I'm.just not confident on which support beams I'm able to remove
 
There’s a lad that I’ve know since school does it. On Facebook it’s Hugills Carpentry and Joinery. Not had any work done by him but his work looks really good
 
There’s a lad that I’ve know since school does it. On Facebook it’s Hugills Carpentry and Joinery. Not had any work done by him but his work looks really good
Cheers mate spoke to a company today and we're quoting me thousands as apparently rules have changed and a lot of reinforcement is needed and sometimes steel. 🙄
 
Cheers mate spoke to a company today and we're quoting me thousands as apparently rules have changed and a lot of reinforcement is needed and sometimes steel. 🙄
Might be worth giving him a call. I’d get 3 quotes and run it past building control
 
Aren't the support beams what hold the roof up? I always thought if you had the triangular trusses
Cheers mate spoke to a company today and we're quoting me thousands as apparently rules have changed and a lot of reinforcement is needed and sometimes steel. 🙄
I'd have expected this anyway. If you have supper beams in the loft they're holding your roof up and most modern houses have the triangle trusses that have beams in the way in the loft now, so you can't just take those out and make it habitable. It'll also need insulating and probably the floor strengthening as it won't be rated to hold beds and furniture.

Ways around it, like building a large dormer area but yeah it's not really an easy diy job to make a loft into a habitable area. Still cheaper than an extension i suppose

I'd probably expect upwards of £20k for a decent job to be done
 
we were quoted £45-60k depending on the size of dormer, I was shocked by the cost. A mate of mine converted his loft himself but not with a dormer, just windows that stick out and create more space (not sure what they're called). While he's very skilled and knowledgeable it still took him months and took its toll on his mental health. He did most of it, including the supporting beams (steel, I think) but the electrics. He reckons it cost him around 20K in materials.

I've looked into it for our house but have opted for a garage conversion instead, for around 35-40K. Designs first and then seek planning permission. They seem to be very strict. I can build a granny annex without a kitchen unit, nor can I rent it out. The other option is to build a self-contained unit of a minimum 39m square but I don't have the space in the garden.

I've come to the conclusion that converting your home is not straight forward.

Good luck.
 
Any one know anyone capable of doing it? To be honest just need support beams removing if possible a light and a new secure loft ladder ill do the rest myself. I'm.just not confident on which support beams I'm able to remove
what is it that you're doing? Converting it for a bedroom? If so you need proper access, support system etc etc.
Speak to Access Loft conversions, they did a great job on ours, but you'll definitely run into thousands whoever you use if it's for a habitable room.
 
My opinion is that you really need to speak with a structural engineer, not someone who can do the actual work. Keep it separate. Get a quote from structural engineer to design the work and make sure they are appropriately insured. You can then give design to contractors to price up the work.
 
we were quoted £45-60k depending on the size of dormer, I was shocked by the cost. A mate of mine converted his loft himself but not with a dormer, just windows that stick out and create more space (not sure what they're called). While he's very skilled and knowledgeable it still took him months and took its toll on his mental health. He did most of it, including the supporting beams (steel, I think) but the electrics. He reckons it cost him around 20K in materials.

I've looked into it for our house but have opted for a garage conversion instead, for around 35-40K. Designs first and then seek planning permission. They seem to be very strict. I can build a granny annex without a kitchen unit, nor can I rent it out. The other option is to build a self-contained unit of a minimum 39m square but I don't have the space in the garden.

I've come to the conclusion that converting your home is not straight forward.

Good luck.
" just windows that stick out and create more space (not sure what they're called)."

They are called dormer windows.
 
we were quoted £45-60k depending on the size of dormer, I was shocked by the cost. A mate of mine converted his loft himself but not with a dormer, just windows that stick out and create more space (not sure what they're called). While he's very skilled and knowledgeable it still took him months and took its toll on his mental health. He did most of it, including the supporting beams (steel, I think) but the electrics. He reckons it cost him around 20K in materials.

I've looked into it for our house but have opted for a garage conversion instead, for around 35-40K. Designs first and then seek planning permission. They seem to be very strict. I can build a granny annex without a kitchen unit, nor can I rent it out. The other option is to build a self-contained unit of a minimum 39m square but I don't have the space in the garden.

I've come to the conclusion that converting your home is not straight forward.

Good luck.

We got a dormer done earlier this year. 46k and took about 3 months give or take. Prices have shot up over the last couple of years for various reasons (primarily cost of materials). It falls under permitted development but will need to go through Building Control. First step would be getting an architect to draw up plans.

We found having one person to manage every aspect of the job made it much easier, so he just coordinated, the electrics, plastering, roofing etc. I'm not in the Teesside area so no point giving recommendations to OP!
 
We got a dormer done earlier this year. 46k and took about 3 months give or take. Prices have shot up over the last couple of years for various reasons (primarily cost of materials). It falls under permitted development but will need to go through Building Control. First step would be getting an architect to draw up plans.

We found having one person to manage every aspect of the job made it much easier, so he just coordinated, the electrics, plastering, roofing etc. I'm not in the Teesside area so no point giving recommendations to OP!
What kind of house is yours? Ours is bog standard 3/4 bed (my bedroom was the utility room) 1930s end terraced. I need a bigger room, hence the conversion. House down the room had a loft conversion and cost 60K. Possibly a bit pricey here in Bristol, don't know.
 
What kind of house is yours? Ours is bog standard 3/4 bed (my bedroom was the utility room) 1930s end terraced. I need a bigger room, hence the conversion. House down the room had a loft conversion and cost 60K. Possibly a bit pricey here in Bristol, don't know.
It is a lot more expensive mate. It's the same where I live, building work, plastering, tiling all that is much more expensive than in north east
 
What kind of house is yours? Ours is bog standard 3/4 bed (my bedroom was the utility room) 1930s end terraced. I need a bigger room, hence the conversion. House down the room had a loft conversion and cost 60K. Possibly a bit pricey here in Bristol, don't know.

3 bed semi. 1930s. South Tyneside.

I think most areas of the country, with the cost of materials it'll likely be north of 50k these days. Our initial quote, a year before the work actually started was only 38k! We got ours done in January but our builder got the materials in a couple of months before hand as he'd heard what was going to happen to prices. He said quoting a job these days is a nightmare with the fluctuating prices.

Really glad we got dormer rather than velux only though as makes a big difference!
 
5 or 6 years back I paid £700 to have loft reinsulated, fully boarded out and new drop ladder filted. Can't remember firms name which doesn't help you much but gives an idea of cost. If I can find firms name I'll repost but they did an absolute spot on job. Turned up at 8:20, worked non stop and the loft, landing and stairs were immaculate when they left mid afternoon.
 
At my parents place it's a old 3 bed semi and my Dad converted the loft himself that has massive sleepers running the length of the roof on both sides which is obv keeping the roof up. Mines a newer build and has them triangle supports right the way through. I'll have to get someone out to have a look if it's possible to remove them and put some other kind of supports in as me and me dad will be able to do the rest.
 
At my parents place it's a old 3 bed semi and my Dad converted the loft himself that has massive sleepers running the length of the roof on both sides which is obv keeping the roof up. Mines a newer build and has them triangle supports right the way through. I'll have to get someone out to have a look if it's possible to remove them and put some other kind of supports in as me and me dad will be able to do the rest.
You could do it but it needs to meet building regs and include staircase, new floor joists etc etc. It's a lot of work.
 
I had a company look at how they would gain access and convert my loft in my 30's semi about 5 years ago, a Stokesly firm specialising in loft conversions. I was told that there had a minimum headroom clearance above the ceiling joists etc before they would come out and quote.. I measured from the bottom of the ceiling joists because I would assume that is where they would lay the floor joist, along side. When they come they didn't even consider this as an option. They also wanted to build access stairs along one of the bedroom walls to gain access. I pointed out they could turn off the landing and up, into the loft space which would require a false dormer to give head room as you turn up. Allowing for far more space than they were considering. I mean these 'experts' really didn't impress me at all.
My advice is to work out what is possible by talking to a few companies, deciding what you want then go from there. There are some good guys out there who will allow you to chip in to reduce costs if you are handy.
Best of luck
 
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