Planning a Loft Conversion? Here's What You Need to Do
Depending on the structure of your roof and whether or not you have any constraints regarding planning, carrying out a loft conversion is one of the most straightforward ways to add extra room and space to your home. With a bit of basic planning, almost any home can benefit from this extension. If you’re thinking of ways to add more room to your home whether you’re planning to sell or simply want to upgrade your home so that it’s bigger, a loft conversion is a great way to do so. We’ve put together a list of everything that you’ll need to consider when planning to convert your loft.
Make Sure the Loft is Suitable
Before you begin work on converting your loft into an extra room, you’ll need to ensure first of all that it is a suitable space for a loft conversion. Features that will determine the suitability of your loft space include the available head height, the pitch of the roof and the type of structure. You will also need to take into account any obstructions such as a chimney stack or water tanks. You will need to have a professional fully inspect your loft space before you start to make plans for a loft conversion.
Low Head Height Solutions
If your loft space has quite a low head height, you may be able to make some alterations in order for it to be more suitable to convert the loft into a room. One solution would be to raise the roof, however this can be quite a costly procedure which involves removing part or whole of your existing roof and rebuilding it in order to achieve the desired height. If you have an older property, the ceiling in the room below may be high enough in order for you to lower the ceiling and create a larger head height in your loft.
New Ceiling Joists
The existing ceiling joists in your loft are unlikely to be strong enough to take the weight of a room, therefore you will need to replace or reinforce them in order to comply with building regulations. A structural engineer will take into account the span and separation distance for a given loading in order to work out the required size and grade for the new joists. For steel joists, steel reinforcement or steel fabrication London, visit Cannon Steels Ltd.
Insulation
Even if your loft space is currently insulated, you will most likely need to add extra insulation when converting the space into a room. Your building inspector will be able to specify exactly which type of insulation is needed, and whether or not you should use a ‘cold roof’ or ‘warm roof’ method. Proper insulation will make your room more energy efficient and ensure that hot and cold air is trapped inside when needed.
Have you converted your loft into a room? If so, how straightforward was the process? If you’d like to offer any advice for fellow homeowners looking to carry out a loft conversion, we’d love to hear from you in the comments.
