What to Expect from a Loft Conversion
A loft conversion can provide invaluable extra living space in your home. For a builder, it can be one of the most rewarding projects to complete, but it can also be one of the more daunting for a homeowner. In this guide, we hope to give you all the information you need to prepare yourself, and your home, for your loft conversion.
So, what is a loft conversion? A loft conversion is usually the process of converting unused attic space into a functional living area. This can involve adding windows, stairs, insulation, and other necessary modifications to create one or more usable rooms. Loft conversions are particularly popular in Furzedown and South West London as they can significantly increase the square footage of a home by building up, rather than into our generally smaller gardens. Loft and attic space is generally underused so this is a great option that can allow you to add an extra bedroom, bathroom, study or any room that you may need.
The stages of a loft conversion
Starting a loft conversion project can feel overwhelming, below is how we see our projects evolve, and if you have any questions we’re always on hand to answer. The loft conversion process typically involves:
Planning and Design
Before we do anything else, we sit down with you and our designer and chat through what you want and need from the space. We’ll check the loft space to make sure the conversion is viable and investigate if any necessary permits are needed, when the time comes we’ll also apply for them for you.
We’ll then create a technical plan that reflects what we have discussed. We have a full article on the design process alone if you want to delve deeper into that.
We’ll also talk to you about how you plan to live during the building work and we’ll iron out details such as, where we can put a portable toilet for the building team and if it’s advisable for you to spend some time away from the house.
Things to consider:
Do you want to stay in the house throughout the build?
One of the pros of staying in your home while it’s being extended or renovated allows you to grow a relationship with your building team, it also means you can feel more connected to the project as you see it develop and there’s no chasing to find out what stage you’re at, as you can just take a look!
Having said that, you have to be prepared for some disruption. There will be a point we erect scaffolding, take the roof off, turn off water and electricity, and the constant thrum of construction might not work for you if you work from home a lot.
Can you afford to go away for the worst part?
With a loft conversion, the roof will come off fairly near the beginning while it sounds dramatic, things aren’t actually particularly disruptive during this part of the build as we’re working in your loft space, not the rest of the house.
The messiest part of the project is usually putting in the staircase, if you can arrange to be away during this period you may find it less disruptive than trying to live with the amount of dust that cutting a hole for the staircase creates (we’ll clean up afterwards of course!).
Can the team have access to electricity, water, toilets?
This is where a portable toilet cubicle can be handy. Construction is a messy job and, while we do try to be a clean as possible, you may not want us trudging through the clean bit of your house to use the toilet.
Electricity and water are essential for our work, we’ll need to know how we can access these and if there’s anything we need to consider when we do.
Do you have pets or children who need to be considered during the building work?
Most builds can be done around family life but if you have a cat that must not be let outside or a baby who needs to nap, let us know so we can build those things into our plans.
Do you work from home?
It can be advisable to find an office to work from for some of the build, or at least during the loudest bits (noone needs drilling in the background of a Teams call!).
Structural Work
Once the plans are approved and construction is ready to start, the first stage of the structural work will be erecting scaffolding and a “tin hat”, which is a corrugated metal temporary roof, that allows us to work in almost any weather.
If you’re having a traditional dorma extension, next, we’ll remove the rear part of the roof. At this point we may need to add a steel beam to keep the structural integrity of the building as we’ll also be removing the original beams. The steel beam will be winched into place by a crane, this may take up part or all of the road, if your house is close the to pavement and doesn’t have a large enough driveway, we may need to apply for parking suspensions.
Changing your mind about the layout
When we have installed the beams, new brick walls, and roof structure, we’ll then add insulation, utilities and dividing walls.
It’s at this point that we’ll go back to the original plans and ask if you still want the agreed layout, it’s now that you can change your mind about what goes into your loft. Maybe you’ve realised you don’t need such a big bathroom after all, or maybe you’ve decided to add a small office room to the front, we can make changes right up until the internal walls are in. Once they are in we’ll plaster over them and install doorframes.
Staircase. This is the last part of the structural work and usually the most disruptive and messy. We’ll cut out part of the ceiling from the floor below to allow for headroom above the stairs. This means cutting through plaster which is a very dusty process, we’ll cover you carpets and seal doors so that the dust is contained, but as we mentioned above, we’d recommend you go away for this stage, by the time you return you’ll have a working staircase and the majority of the project will be finished.
Finishing Touches
Now the walls, floors, windows and bathroom suite (if you’re having one) and staircase are in, it’s time for the finishing touches. That’s the carpet or flooring of your choice, tiles, paint, whatever you are looking for to make it your own. We can decorate your loft for you but some people prefer to paint and add wallpaper themselves and that’s fine with us too!
NB If you have low height clearance, we might have to remove and lower the ceilings on the floor below, which means vacating that floor altogether. This is extremely messy so we try to avoid it, but if your loft dream requires it, we’ll recommend you vacate for as much of the build as possible and absolutely during the removal and refitting of the ceilings. Most houses can now have their roof line raised to increase headroom, which means fewer celings being lowered, in general.
Want to know more about home improvements and renovations? Check out our handy blog for information about some of our most common projects and your frequently asked questions.
If you have a project in mind, drop us a line, we’d love to chat to you about it!
