Create space in loft

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ARION said:
Thanks for that eviled, looks relatively straight forward.
Click to expand...
It might be straight forward but it's not cheap. The cost of materials alone (steel beams and larger joists) is going to run well into the thousands.

Also, you can't have a livable area in the loft accessed by a ladder - it needs stairs. I'm not sure what exactly the definition of "livable area" is, but I'd guess that if you insulate, board and install windows, you're getting pretty close to that.
 

MassiveJim

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So I am about a week away from doing this conversion myself.

engineers drawings cost me £180 (extremely cheap) but the design was pretty simple.
Trusses removed and replaced with a large wooden purlin either side (9 x 3 in my case), My roof span was relatively short at 3.5ish metres though.

I paid £350 for this work to be carried out by a joiner.

I paid a certified Velux fitter about a grand to fit a SK06 velux.

then I did the rest of the work. the joists weren't strong enough in places to support regular "people" weight so I installed new 8 x 2 joists (additional cost of this was £250) on half of the floor.
I insulated and boarded it myself anf floored it myself as well.
I had a spark do the electrics so that it was able to be signed off correctly, and I have never plastered so I paid a plasterer for that also.

haven't fully calculated it all yet But I think we are probably talking £6 - 7k all in including fittinggs and decorating.

This included creating eaves storage cupboards
 

ARION

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MassiveJim said:
So I am about a week away from doing this conversion myself.

engineers drawings cost me £180 (extremely cheap) but the design was pretty simple.
Trusses removed and replaced with a large wooden purlin either side (9 x 3 in my case), My roof span was relatively short at 3.5ish metres though.

I paid £350 for this work to be carried out by a joiner.

I paid a certified Velux fitter about a grand to fit a SK06 velux.

then I did the rest of the work. the joists weren't strong enough in places to support regular "people" weight so I installed new 8 x 2 joists (additional cost of this was £250) on half of the floor.
I insulated and boarded it myself anf floored it myself as well.
I had a spark do the electrics so that it was able to be signed off correctly, and I have never plastered so I paid a plasterer for that also.

haven't fully calculated it all yet But I think we are probably talking £6 - 7k all in including fittinggs and decorating.

This included creating eaves storage cupboards
Click to expand...

Cheers for that very helpful.

So you didnt have steel RSJs installed? How come? Everything I have read use steel. Do you have any progress pictures by any chance?
 

ARION

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That does seem pricey. I think using a loft conversion place is a no go. They seem to be extortionate and quote based on the increase in value to your property. I plan to do a lot of the work myself and get someone in (joiner or builder) for the bits I cant do. I think this will be the most cost effective way.
 

eviled

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I didn't use steel in mine either. I used a combo of 6x4s ,(I think) to support 4 different suspended floors of different levels between external walls and internal load bearing walls. There was an existing attic room but it was tiny, new floor space is around 25sqm.

cost about £13k so far, but did it the same time as a whole new re-roofing which kept costs down a bit, oh and didn't do anything myself except project manage.

IMG1610.jpg


IMG1609.jpg
 
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koolpc

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I know someone who used Telebeams . They did the work all themselves too. The Telebeam company worked out the beams needed and supplied drawings. The person doing the job was a very competent DIYer. I think the cost was much cheaper than other methods they looked into.
 

MassiveJim

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ARION said:
Cheers for that very helpful.

So you didnt have steel RSJs installed? How come? Everything I have read use steel. Do you have any progress pictures by any chance?
Click to expand...
The engineer did the calcs and they werent needed, wooden purlins were used instead.
possibly due to it being a smaller span ? Get an engineer in, they will tell you what is needed.
Not sure where I got my £350 figure from though, maybe I was tired, I paid the joiner £580 all in for the alterations.

I have taken some pictures, but really wish I would have taken more so I could have done a decent project thread on here.
 

ARION

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MassiveJim said:
The engineer did the calcs and they werent needed, wooden purlins were used instead.
possibly due to it being a smaller span ? Get an engineer in, they will tell you what is needed.
Not sure where I got my £350 figure from though, maybe I was tired, I paid the joiner £580 all in for the alterations.

I have taken some pictures, but really wish I would have taken more so I could have done a decent project thread on here.
Click to expand...

Have already had one in, just waiting for him to get back to me but as its mates rates its not top of his list.

Out of interest, how had this cost you 6 grand if the structural work only cost 850 quid? What is the end result?
 

Jez

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eviled said:
I didn't use steel in mine either. I used a combo of 6x4s ,(I think) to support 4 different suspended floors of different levels between external walls and internal load bearing walls. There was an existing attic room but it was tiny, new floor space is around 25sqm.
IMG1609.jpg
Click to expand...
This is pretty interesting to me, i have a flat with a large loft space. It would be fantastic to convert this as i think the return would be around a +50% return (Its let) if it was a duplex. I didnt like the idea of steels as it would probably be too major to get past the other leaseholders, but if i could do it in timber that would be ideal. I'll get an engineer out.
 

MassiveJim

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ARION said:
Have already had one in, just waiting for him to get back to me but as its mates rates its not top of his list.

Out of interest, how had this cost you 6 grand if the structural work only cost 850 quid? What is the end result?
Click to expand...
not 100% sure of final cost as haven't added it all up yet to be honest
calcs - £180
timber adjustments - £580
Electrics - £380
Plasterer - £300
Timber - £200
Flooring - £200
Additional timber for floor joists + joist hangers/bolts/chemfix - £250
velux window - £1100
Insulation - £750
sound insulation for floor - £300
Electric fittings (lights sockets etc) - £150
Paint - £120
Plasterboard - £100

That brings this to £4610

Some of the above are rough guesses as Im sat in my front room atm trying to do this from memory.
There are LOADS of little bits and bobs that i have bought along the way that have added up, expanding foam has probably cost me £50.
Some small tools I have purchased
I used plywood for the cupboard doors and I needed 3 full sheets for that.
I needed lots of drywall screws, timber screws etc.
100m of cat 6, 5m of copex and wall clips
EDIT - Loft ladder was £330, as I am about 20 stone so needed one that was strong
 

eviled

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for what its worth (and for my own assurance) here is my costing

wood £1500
3x velux £1200
insulation £1800 (125mm PIR on roof and 75mm PIR on walls)
electrics £800
plumbing £400
new gable window £1000
Floors, board, door casings ect. £750
labour (so far) £5000
plastering (so far) £300
 
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