im looking for a good company in the north west to do me a 2 room loft conversion, without it costin me a few limbs ,

i dont mind paying for good people but the quotes ive had so far , these people are dreaming , before long im gonna start it myself ,

any recommendations ????

 

what prices have u been quoted so far m8?

 

They usualy start at about Ł24000, min.

 

good luck to ya then mate cos when you start looking at the implications of having a loft conversion and all the legislation that goes with it,you'll wish you never started at all,
IF you go the right way you will have to have fire routes out of the loft via a window (expensive i can tell you but cant think of the name now) when you come down the stairs you have to have an exit to the left AND the right,you have to have new stronger supporting joists in the loft wich will mean new ceilings in the bedrooms,
I had 2 quotes for my loft conversion which in the end i didnt have ,(i went and converted the garage in to another room ) both around the Ł20,000 mark and there wasnt too much between the quotes,
If you go your own way then you cant call it a bedroom (legaly anyway,because of the fire laws)but you can get away with just boarding up the floor and batoning up the trusses and plasterboarding the walls with insulation behind it,but beware of what the floor will carry in the way of weight, you do not want to put a wardrobe in the corner of the room and find your lower bedroom ceilings start to sag because of the weight in the loft,
I would think about this one carefully and if you dont get more quotes, i would get a builder in to at least advise you on what can be done with the minimum of cost,
hope you find this a help

 

there not cheap if you do it right i.e most people just floor on the joist that are there 4x2 new joist is a must be sure of that

if its a truss roof forget it

mark

 

i want to have two full width dormers on my bungalow (front and rear) , joisting, studding and flooring, stairs and upstairs hallway , nothing too major, i could do all but the dormers myself , but i thought , no , i would get the pro's in

yeh about that , just under,

yet i know people who have been quoted that for proper brick extensions to houses

i know the costs of materials, and i know that poeple need to make a living and a profit , but im not paying them 1/4 of there years earnings to have my job done !!

am i being unreasonable ???? i aint a builder , but i can do a lot of tradesmans work better than some tradesman!

 

Joists go over the top if the existing ceings steve.

Fire regs are right tho and is a right fooking ass to the conversions now.

If you been quoted under 20k then make sure ya see past jobs off the builders cos its cheap

 

Mark there is far more work involved in loft conversion than a brick extension mate.

 

(you have to have new stronger supporting joists in the loft wich will mean new ceilings in the bedrooms)

no you leave the old joist in place and slide the new bigger joist in, so you keep the ceilings (if the span lets you) but with I beams that should not be a prob

mark

 

i didnt go that way m8 i went the garage convertion with kitchen extention,full refitted, new top notch combi boiler ,radiators etc etc etc Ł19,500 i got a hell of alot more for my money than going for the loft convertion in the end and THE WIFE IS HAPPY......NO ITS TRUE I TELL THA,SHE IS HAPPY

 

lee i thought you were having a go at me then lol i was going to say im only a bloody CHIPPY

mark

 

i think what might have been is because i have a diagonal latice of joist and they would have had to remove some of the supports to actually make the room for a room if you follow

 

I didnt even see ur reply mate!



I/we take off a couple of rows of tiles, peel feltt back and slide the new SS joists in that way, as you say if cant get span then i beams are needed!

 

i know all bout fitting the joists etc , i dont need velux windows , and as its a dormer , on a bungalow , with 2 large double windows front and rear , that sorts external fire regs,

ive been reading the regs etc , on all the building work needed , ive no trusses ,


so you reckon that a loft is a bigger job than an external brick extension ???
im no pro builder , but can do enough , just not had a massive experiance in loft conversion


do they use any steel rsj's for the dormers ??

and about 20k is the norm then ???

 

Diagonal lattice of joists?

 

The last two idone, just for the insulation it was Ł1000 trade, and like it has been said the new fier regs just push up the price,To do right its not cheap
sorry, to do yourself withuot planning,building permission will save you thousands, but not in the longrun when you come to sell.

 

like a wwww all inside the loft, i cant think of the names i had a few beers now

 

i dont plan on doing it without PP , its just not worth it like you say in the long run

 

Mark the roof has to be strengthened for dormers, to take the weight. If you have a non trus roof then its a traditional with probably 3x2 rafters and purlins. Purlins are prob in way of dormers so have to be removed...the roof is then weak, so has to be strengthend usually by new rafters being placed under existing.....obviously they are cut where dormers are and again more strengthening is required. Hard to explain on here.

Deffo more work than in a simple extension.

 

i think that may be what i meant

 

Steve you mean roof trusses. All diagonally braced. In those cases its easier to replace the whole roof with dormer trusses

 

after the dormers are fit there wont be much roof left , poss 6 rows at the bottom and the same at the top , as the dormers are to be full width , its supporting the dormers that bothers me ? what do the sit on ? my house id built with breeze block , is this strong enough to support shit on ??




this is realy cool !!!

cheers for the help !! sorting my building probs on a car forum !!!

 

You would need to get drawings done to see wats called for, depends on
several things pitch, span, local regs, unfortunatley not all areas are the same. and imho Ł20.000 is cheap.

 

If theyre full length(missed that bit ive had plenty o beer), then its likey to have I beams running the full width to carry the windows/studwork/roof.

 

 

dromers are really just made form a stud work frame with a beam as the head, if the window is 1.2 or less two 4x2 on edge is ok for the head then your ceiling joist sit on that

you just need to work out the hight of the dormers i.e 4" head the the hight of the window then your up stand for lead out side remember the tiles and batten, you need about 4" above the tile

mark

 

ok plan of action then , up to now , i had people round who do the lot , drawing planning , plumbing , wiring , good idea or not ?? sort of 'all in one companies'

or do i pay a separate architect to draw it 1st then TRY and get a builder, plumber , electrician

what would work out cheaper ??

 

that was just for the roof and floor work and stairs ...i think then i do the internal walls etc but in the end i didnt bother so i lost the idea,thats why im strugling to bring back to memory what was said

 

it will be cheaper for you to get separate prices, this way the blokes will be on a price and get it done, a comany wont to made money out of each trade and you do find chaps working for a company dont seem to give a shit how long there taking

mark

 

Mark, if you can get the drawings done, then get a builder to do the main structural work, then get your own wiring, plumbing, plastering, 2nd fix joinery done it will be cheaper....but its finding good craftsmen thats the hardest. If you get a reputable company u know ya in. Saving now might not save ya later.

 

get an architect then ?

 

Aye. Architect. Even if ya get a campany to do the lot, id get an independant Architect anyway, then submit drawings to various builders for a quote.

 

yeh cool , i think ill do that , so , if i say 20k out of the bank account should get me very close to right then ?

 

Deffo pay a arcitech of your own pref , then get several quotes from different builders, to do either the whole job, or the bits you want them to do, most small firms use outside contractors, ie sparks plumbers, where as
the bigger firms, there all employes full time .

 

For ya plasterers, sparks etc go to the boozer and ask...pay cash in hand

20k imo may be a little ambitious, but could be about right.

Just to make you a bit more pissed with the price, recently i priced our loft conversion up as we are considering it, and it came to 4k. Similar to yours, but full length dormer one side and velux on the other....and that included converting the small bedroom into a en suite to the master

 

cheers - cash aint a problem , so basically 20 k is too much - simple as !!

 

I wouldnt recomend getting people out the pub, cash in hand, how would you know the standard of there work, what if thers a problem with there
work, how will you get them to rectify it, you better of going with someone
or firm whos work is good, reputable, that could even show you some of there previous work.

 

i meant people who he knows in pub.

Markk no 20 k is ambitous as in may be more

 

so what is it , pub peeps , cash in hand , or big reputable companies and pay top dollar ??

 

Its up to you, remeber your the one with the money, get drawings done then get some quotes, for as mutch or as little work as you want done, the
bigger companies wont be interested in just doing bits an peices, but if you
get all independant quotes (tredes) you will end up a contracts manager
trying to sort every thing out from labour to materials, all in the right order,