The kids are taking over the house. Rather than moving we wanted to extend up into the loft of our three bed semi. Nothing flash, it just needs to do the job.

The question is should I go to loft-conversions-are-us or should I employ an architect to get the job drawn up and through building control. If I went to loft-conversions-are-us how do you compare what you are getting without employing them?

Anyway, all comments gratefully received.

im in middle of doing mine myself, only for a bit of an office space
Had electrics and a proper decent loft ladder put up there professionally when we did extension. Rest has been down to me
Piece of piss really, just need to be careful with eaves ventilation to prevent damp
Of course it wont have building reg approval so could never be classed as a habitable room as such

ask friends in the local area for builder recommendations, talk to builder about what you want, they will give you an idea of price.

Then speak to an architect, again on recommendation if possible, get them to draw up plans, many will also handle the building regs stuff too, but it's not that difficult.

Then get a proper quote from builder.

I would certainly go for a local builder and see some of his previous jobs if i could.

We're getting ours done at the mo by a local company.

Enlarged hatch with ladder, reinforced joists, flooring, plastered walls, insulation, lighting, four plug points, Ethernet, two velux windows, replacement for existing skylight. Done in a week. Total cost: £3000.

That's just for storage though. To make it into a bedroom involved a permanent staircase, fireproofing, better insulation, removing and relaying the roof, so would have required an architect and would have been ~20k.

Lots of freinds have done this recently and none have used the services of an architect. Specialist loft conversion co.s are all over the shop now and know what is going on re planning / design etc.

Only place i would employ a profesional would be party wall agreement if applicable.

Good luck.

Specialist loft conversion co.s are all over the shop now and know what is going on re planning / design etc.

Our 'plans' were literally a sheet of A4 with a sketch in biro 😀

Whatever you do, get it done to meet building regs – that way you can class it as a room and it improves resale value.

Thanks for the replies. Will let you know how it goes.

Whatever you do, get it done to meet building regs – that way you can class it as a room and it improves resale value.

that very much depends. In some (alot) cases like GrahamS highlights that can be prohibitly expensive and would not recoup the level of expenditure in resale value
Mine for example we would have had to loose half of 2 bedrooms to put in a staircase – to gain what – another very small bedroom, so 4 small beds instead of 3 larger beds

Whereabout in the "North East" are you jockstrap?

If you're near Newcastle then drop me a mail and I'll send you details of our builder.

so 4 small beds instead of 3 larger beds

Possibly some instances may buck the trend but in most cases a house with 4 small beds will outprice one with 3 beds (unless it doesn't have the other facilities expected of a modern 4 bed such as downstairs cloakroom, en-suite master bedroom etc).