First steps for a loft conversion?

R-evans

R-evans

R-evans

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There's a lot of guides online and they all seem to contradict each other, so has anyone had one done that can share their schedule?

We have our finances worked out, so now I think what we need is a survey to check the suitability of the loft, then an architect to draw up plans and finally a builder to do the work? Or is there more to it that that?

Any info appreciated.
 
That's pretty much it. You can get builders round to have a look and give you a ballpark price, but you're better off getting a price from plans. However sometimes it is useful to get a builders view on what way it should be configured before going to the architect. Once you have plans you can check them against your local planning guidelines to determine whether or not it comes under permitted development.
 
Builder may well already have an architect or existing plans, which may save you, especially if they have lots of experience with loft conversions.

We live in a pretty standard Victorian terrace and our builder just reused some plans from a previous job, with a few tweaks to suit our own designs. Structural calcs were all done by his architect.
 
WillyNelson said:
Builder may well already have an architect or existing plans, which may save you, especially if they have lots of experience with loft conversions.

We live in a pretty standard Victorian terrace and our builder just reused some plans from a previous job, with a few tweaks to suit our own designs. Structural calcs were all done by his architect.
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Good shout, I never thought of that. I had a word with a builder working on a conversion on the next street over from us, their house is identical to ours and are having similar work to what we want. He got our details and said he'd ask the owners if we can have a look around next week once the stairs are in, if we like it I hope we can use him and their plans.
 
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dlockers said:
I think I may ask a specialist loft conversion firm. They seem to knock them out outrageously quick
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You mean like More Space? They’re glorified project managers and just have bands of merry men (cheap crew) to get in and out and into the next one. Multiple crews means they do a lot more jobs. Wouldn’t recommend.

We were knocking down walls and reconfiguring downstairs in our Victorian terrace so there was a bit more to it (as well as the loft I mean), but we essentially spoke to a few builders, got a few round to quite, did endless research on them and then chose carefully. We chose well.. who knows if that was luck or all the work we did. He had an architect he used, one crew across 2-3 jobs max and we didnt need planning permission. He also recommended a party wall surveyor and got all building regs done and signed off too.

If you have a straightforward design in your head get some builders round and talk them through it. They can probably ballpark from that, and likely have an architect to work with anyway. Loft conversions are not like being on Grand Designs :)

Edit: See who’s doing work in your area (as you have done), trawl local FB groups and make sure the recommendations are from legit people. DM them, ask for more info, maybe a chat/look. See if the company is listed on Companies House etc, how many employees (gives an idea if they outsource - ask them that!)
 
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Scam said:
You mean like More Space? They’re glorified project managers and just have bands of merry men (cheap crew) to get in and out and into the next one. Multiple crews means they do a lot more jobs. Wouldn’t recommend.

We were knocking down walls and reconfiguring downstairs in our Victorian terrace so there was a bit more to it (as well as the loft I mean), but we essentially spoke to a few builders, got a few round to quite, did endless research on them and then chose carefully. We chose well.. who knows if that was luck or all the work we did. He had an architect he used, one crew across 2-3 jobs max and we didnt need planning permission. He also recommended a party wall surveyor and got all building regs done and signed off too.

If you have a straightforward design in your head get some builders round and talk them through it. They can probably ballpark from that, and likely have an architect to work with anyway. Loft conversions are not like being on Grand Designs :)

Edit: See who’s doing work in your area (as you have done), trawl local FB groups and make sure the recommendations are from legit people. DM them, ask for more info, maybe a chat/look. See if the company is listed on Companies House etc, how many employees (gives an idea if they outsource - ask them that!)
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This reminded me of a comment a woman made on the radio yesterday. She said tradesmen were like a pet cat. You think they are yours but find out they've been going around the other houses on the estate getting fed lol.
 
Hedge said:
This reminded me of a comment a woman made on the radio yesterday. She said tradesmen were like a pet cat. You think they are yours but find out they've been going around the other houses on the estate getting fed lol.
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Heh yeah. I really would try to find out about the builders setup though. Eg is it one crew, how many jobs do they do at once. We had the same 3-4 guys for I dunno 6-7 months and got to know them. Clearly the boss man picked well, they were all friendly, clean and tidy (as much as possible) and actually seemed to care about what they were doing. We still say hi to them as we see them on other jobs or driving around.
 
Scam said:
You mean like More Space? They’re glorified project managers and just have bands of merry men (cheap crew) to get in and out and into the next one. Multiple crews means they do a lot more jobs. Wouldn’t recommend.

We were knocking down walls and reconfiguring downstairs in our Victorian terrace so there was a bit more to it (as well as the loft I mean), but we essentially spoke to a few builders, got a few round to quite, did endless research on them and then chose carefully. We chose well.. who knows if that was luck or all the work we did. He had an architect he used, one crew across 2-3 jobs max and we didnt need planning permission. He also recommended a party wall surveyor and got all building regs done and signed off too.

If you have a straightforward design in your head get some builders round and talk them through it. They can probably ballpark from that, and likely have an architect to work with anyway. Loft conversions are not like being on Grand Designs :)

Edit: See who’s doing work in your area (as you have done), trawl local FB groups and make sure the recommendations are from legit people. DM them, ask for more info, maybe a chat/look. See if the company is listed on Companies House etc, how many employees (gives an idea if they outsource - ask them that!)
Click to expand...
Never heard of those so no, not specifically. I know around here I see vans marked up specifically for loft conversions - all local from what I can tell though.
 
Our loft, in a 1930s semi cost £50k.

It was a permitted development.

We’ve had a huge dormer put on.

This included everything apart from the fire doors to the rest of the house and the bathroom.

We also had the roof replaced and new rainwater goods.

We hired a local loft conversion specialist who employed an architect, structural engineer and took 4 weeks to complete.

We managed two decent double bedrooms and a bathroom that is bigger than our main bathroom.

First step was the boss coming round and measuring the loft.

We told him what we wanted and he came up with a price.

The architect came round and drew up plans.

We mucked about with them and came to a final price.

Work started 12 months later.

The foreman suggested we make better use of the space and so the floor plan was pretty fluid.

At various points building control (one of these companies on behalf of the council) came out and assessed the work.

You’ll need to think about getting power up there? We had the mains fuse upgraded and a new consumer unit and the easiest route was to run armoured cable up the gable wall.

Best thing we’ve ever done house wise.

Just bear in mind that pretty much every other existing internal door (except bathrooms and toilets) will need to be changed for fire doors - and you’ll need suitable smoke alarms - just buy AICO - ignore everything else.

Happy to share plans of what we did if that helps?
 
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itsallaboutyou said:
Our loft, in a 1930s semi cost £50k.

It was a permitted development.

We’ve had a huge dormer put on.

This included everything apart from the fire doors to the rest of the house and the bathroom.

We also had the roof replaced and new rainwater goods.

We hired a local loft conversion specialist who employed an architect, structural engineer and took 4 weeks to complete.

We managed two decent double bedrooms and a bathroom that is bigger than our main bathroom.

First step was the boss coming round and measuring the loft.

We told him what we wanted and he came up with a price.

The architect came round and drew up plans.

We mucked about with them and came to a final price.

Work started 12 months later.

The foreman suggested we make better use of the space and so the floor plan was pretty fluid.

At various points building control (one of these companies on behalf of the council) came out and assessed the work.

You’ll need to think about getting power up there? We had the mains fuse upgraded and a new consumer unit and the easiest route was to run armoured cable up the gable wall.

Best thing we’ve ever done house wise.

Just bear in mind that pretty much every other existing internal door (except bathrooms and toilets) will need to be changed for fire doors - and you’ll need suitable smoke alarms - just buy AICO - ignore everything else.

Happy to share plans of what we did if that helps?
Click to expand...
Was that from a hip to gable? Could you share plans please?
 
itsallaboutyou said:
Our loft, in a 1930s semi cost £50k.

It was a permitted development.

We’ve had a huge dormer put on.

This included everything apart from the fire doors to the rest of the house and the bathroom.

We also had the roof replaced and new rainwater goods.

We hired a local loft conversion specialist who employed an architect, structural engineer and took 4 weeks to complete.

We managed two decent double bedrooms and a bathroom that is bigger than our main bathroom.

First step was the boss coming round and measuring the loft.

We told him what we wanted and he came up with a price.

The architect came round and drew up plans.

We mucked about with them and came to a final price.

Work started 12 months later.

The foreman suggested we make better use of the space and so the floor plan was pretty fluid.

At various points building control (one of these companies on behalf of the council) came out and assessed the work.

You’ll need to think about getting power up there? We had the mains fuse upgraded and a new consumer unit and the easiest route was to run armoured cable up the gable wall.

Best thing we’ve ever done house wise.

Just bear in mind that pretty much every other existing internal door (except bathrooms and toilets) will need to be changed for fire doors - and you’ll need suitable smoke alarms - just buy AICO - ignore everything else.

Happy to share plans of what we did if that helps?
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the info. I'd be interested to see the plans if you don't mind.
 
I've designed a few loft conversions before, as a structural engineer.

First thing to do is decide what you want and what you'd like. Go ask neighbours with similar house types who've had loft conversions done to have a look round. You can also check your local planning portal as any approved plans will be publicly available.

Afterwards you can either go to a specialist company for the whole job, or appoint separate consultants/tradesmen as you wish.

My designs have been for the latter procurement route.

Finally whoever you appoint first, make sure you have a contract in writing and that they act as Principal Designer under CDM Regulations and Building Safety Act.
 
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DB_SamX said:
I've designed a few loft conversions before, as a structural engineer.

First thing to do is decide what you want and what you'd like. Go ask neighbours with similar house types who've had loft conversions done to have a look round. You can also check your local planning portal as any approved plans will be publicly available.

Afterwards you can either go to a specialist company for the whole job, or appoint separate consultants/tradesmen as you wish.

My designs have been for the latter procurement route.

Finally whoever you appoint first, make sure you have a contract in writing and that they act as Principal Designer under CDM Regulations and Building Safety Act.
Click to expand...
Interesting to see someone who has actually designed them here.

Looking at doing one in our place, the main issue I see is that it's brick clad timber frame, so as I understand will need more structural considerations (although there is definitely a chuffing great concrete central wall up the middle of the house!), and that the stairs come down in to the living room, so it'll need turning around to make the "fireproof corridor" or a sprinkler system :eek:
 
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