Loft conversions….

I’m looking to get one of these done. I’ve had a range of quotes from 11K to 25K, but only one is talking about adding RSJ’s (steel), although one is talking about some modern I-beams that are wood instead of steel.

The carpenter last night was going on about building a web of strength and a roof joist to keep the height in the room.

I’m confused as I was always led to beleive that you need steel with a floating floor so that your walls don’t pop out and your ceilings don’t bow in.

Cost isn’t the issue, I want it done right.

There’s many ways to make a loft conversion work, to suit the existing roof structure and make best use of the space. Fitting the stairs in is often the trickiest bit, as you’ll have to find space at first floor level as well.
You’ll need building regs approval, which will cover means of escape, insulation and structure among other things. For the structural design, you’ll need structural engineer’s calculations, i.e. by someone appointed by either you, or possibly included in the builders quote.
Whatever you do you’ll be adding load – both to the floor and the roof, so usually additional structural elements i.e. beams, joists etc are required. Maximizing head room means limiting joist depth where possible.
Very often steel beams are put in at attic floor level, spanning between masonry walls, with joists running between, and timber framed bulkhead walls built off the beams to support the rafters.
Provided you budget for structural calcs, the appointed engineer will come up with a design to suit your property. So choose your builder with this in mind.

I fancy a loft conversion too. Would need a new roof cos the rafters are apparently all wrong, but we do have the advantage that it’s already a 3 storey house so there’s a stairwell that could just be extended for another floor hence fitting in nicely.

As mentioned above, speak to a good structural engineer.

There are many ways to design a loft conversion and avoiding the use of steel beams is quite common with a bit of careful thought.

molgrips – I think you’ll probably need an external fire escape if you add a 3rd storey above ground floor.
The building regs ‘means of escape’ requirements are fairly strict, for good reason. With a loft conversion above a two storey house, you need a a protected stairwell (all doors to be fire doors with self closers) and an external escape window, accessible by ladder from the ground, in the loft area.
With 3 storeys already, I think I’m correct in saying that there needs to be an alternative escape route – i.e external fire escape.

tim41 – if your ever in ireland I’ll give you a guided tour of the best the wicklow mtn’s have to offer. As it is have a good karma pint of guiness tomorrow.

Only guy talking about using an engineer is the wooden i-beams fella, who has done work for us in the past (but has never done a loft conversion before), he was my first choice but I’m being pressured by the missus to pick a friend of her family, the carpenter with the web of strength…

Cheers.

Tim, the self closers bit doesn’t apply any more. I’m in the middle of doing a loft conversion and just have fire doors with intumescent (sp?) strips

saccades – cheers, karma pint accepted 😀
Not sure what the building regs situation is in Ireland, perhaps not as stringent as UK? The regs stuff I mentioned above might not apply, but the principle of doing it right with the right local advice does.
As stated by leggyblonde above, an engineered timber solution may be perfectly viable, without the need for any steels. Good luck!

molgrips – I think you’ll probably need an external fire escape if you add a 3rd storey above ground floor

House is already three storeys and the loft would be a fourth! It’s three years old, and yes we just have fire doors with the strips and self closers. Although we disconnected them, I do shut all the doors at night.

And I really want to get some rope ladders or something for the windows – it bugs me that there’s no escape route.

We had the steel I beams in our last (new) house. These take the weight of the roof after all those modern trusses are cut out. For building regs you will need a door to close off the room, either as a small landing on the new floor, or at the foot of the stairs (our current Victorian house).

Your quote of 25K isn’t bad, ours was 40K, but we had two dormer windows and a new bathroom put in as well. Charles Grovesnor[/url] was the company we used. they also converted two neighboring properties on our recommendation. I’d get an independent plumber if you go down that way (heating?), as theirs was terrible!

This is a simple conversion, no plumbing except the moving of the water tank. 3 veelux with one as a escape hatch, door and smoke/heat sensor and 4x double sockets and tv point (which I have already wired). It also include moving some stud walls downstairs to equalise what will be the kids bedrooms (reminds me the chiipie wanted to use the stud walls for support), add another shower with a priority switch and plum the boiler ready to go properly combi.

Ave quote has been around 16K, the 25K one isn’t getting a look in tbh.

Chippie wanted to use the stud for support?

😯

We’ve been advised that the cost of a loft conversion rarely puts the same value on the house. Fine if you’re doing it to live in, but not so hot if its seen as an investment.

We have had ours done recently.

110 year old victorian terrace house, simple set of stairs and 1 bedroom with 3 velux.

Steel RSJs for the floor and steel ridge beam – to support extra load of insulation and plasterboard.

Think of how the stairs will go and effect the rest of the house. also where to put the door for the new room… top or bottom of stairs?

I suspect you can use glulam beams… but get a structural engineer to do the calcs. Building regs will want to see them to sign off anyway.

Tim41 – you don;’t need means of escape from loft room anymore either. 20 minute fire doors and 2 protected exits at ground floor level.

Loft conversions cost more than you think. But it’s not somewhere to skimp, think of the mess if it comes tumbling down?!

Really happy with ours.

Pics[/url]

Interesting to see the that regs have indeed changed in the last few years – just had a look online. I stand corrected re self closers and escape windows. In fact ignore everything I said about means of escape. Apologies for the duff info. 😳
*Note to self to keep up to date on buildings regs approved documents*

House I’m selling is a victorian terrace, and it is built with the loft as a room (as are all the matching houses in the area). It’s been an incredibly useful space, so it’s well worth doing.

House we’re buying – a bungalow – was built with one half of the room space converted, and the other half not. So, we’re lucky in that we have stairs and a landing already for when we want to convert the other half. We’ll be doing it to live in.

Yeah, that was another issue I had, using the stud walls for support. Now I know they can take a lot of weight, but even so.

The conversion is not as an investment, FFS I’m in Ireland – houses are far from an investment, but we are always have rellies and mates over and as we are all growning up with kids it’ll be good to have room spare instead of shuffling around trying to sort out beds etc, will also give me somewhere to store my beer brews.

I’m going to go with the engineer with 4 teams of builders working for him who has an architect on the job – peace of mind if nothing else.