Anyone know how much a loft conversion would cost?

la gran siete

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I live in a Victorian semi with four bedrooms upstairs and 3 reception rooms downstairs . Its narrow at the front but goes back a long way and there is a lot of hallway.The loft is big too but its divided in two sections with the back section lower than the front ( about 2-3 ft). I was thinking of turning the front section into cinema /hobies room and the back just boarded and used as a storage area. The one problem that I can see is situating a staircase. it would seem I would need to cut off a big section of our front bedroom which is about 17ft wide to accomodate it. I wouldnt want to devalue the house - quite the opposite.
 
The loft was converted in my home before we moved in, however the building regs acceptance and cost of the project were left as part of a file in case of repqirs warranty etc.

The loft conversion cost £8,000ish but it sounds around half the size of yours so maybe your's (without plastering etc.) would be pushing 15-20k.

However if a good job is done it should put more than this on your property. Make sure the stair way is to building regs so it can be classed as a bedroom if need be.

Also fire escapes should be catered for, ie a low velux window so the fire brigade can get a ladder to you. Linked smoke alarms are good too, as if you kip in the loft you may not hear the alarms downstairs.
 
hmmm, thats a lot more than twice ours!!! maybe 30-40k then!!!! And stick a bathroom up there too - its a long walk downstairs. :)
 
Yeah thought so .You'd be amased how big these house are. Dont look much from the front but they have high ceilings and go a long way back. Lot of wasted space really Hallway alone is 50ft long approx:( Wife calls it a character house. Our energy bills show a lot of character as well:(
 
Average price is about £35,000 and would include a bathroom. :)
 
I had mine done. The room is 23 by 10 and I have an ensuite in there also.

Cost 15k
 
One thing to factor in is strengthening the rafters. You're more than likely going to have to install RSJs as the rafters that are there aren't designed for taking much weight.

Richie.
 
I'd like to do a loft conversion in my bungalow but unfortunately the pitch of the roof is very shallow and so the lof is only about 6 feet high at the centre, I think they would have to take the roof off completely and do a new one if I were to do that. I'm also unsure if the foundations of a bungalow can take another floor ?
Sorry if I've hijacked your thread LGS !
 
The missus and I were talking about moving house biut I reckoned that would cost about £12000 +just for the moving which would be dead money. The ethere would be xtra invloved in finding a house of her choice - another £30000 give or take. So I thought why not a loft conversion not that we need the extra room but as an investment. Currently our house is worth about £280000 . Now I have been looking at ( on the net that is) at some 5 bedroom Victorian semis, ie with a third floor, and they are going for between £325000 and £350000 so for an outlay of about £30000 there woiuld appear to be a reasonable profit to be had there. O f course location plays a big part so I would need to check wiuth an estate agent as toi valuation. antoher thing would be the boiler . We have a combi which works well but may need to be upgraded and I dont know if there is one powerful enough to warm a 5 bedroom house on 3 floors????
 
JohnG said:
I'd like to do a loft conversion in my bungalow but unfortunately the pitch of the roof is very shallow and so the lof is only about 6 feet high at the centre, I think they would have to take the roof off completely and do a new one if I were to do that. I'm also unsure if the foundations of a bungalow can take another floor ?
Sorry if I've hijacked your thread LGS !
No probs John:thumbsup:
 
John

You will need to employ a structrual engineer for your project. A trial pit will be made to see if your foundations will take the extra load Approx £300. The enginner will then design the layout of the new roof and what steels are needed to take the new works. £500 approx

I run a refurb company and we have in house Structural Engineers and party wall surveyors.

I hope this helps. :)
 
la gran siete said:
The missus and I were talking about moving house biut I reckoned that would cost about £12000 +just for the moving which would be dead money. The ethere would be xtra invloved in finding a house of her choice - another £30000 give or take. So I thought why not a loft conversion not that we need the extra room but as an investment. Currently our house is worth about £280000 . Now I have been looking at ( on the net that is) at some 5 bedroom Victorian semis, ie with a third floor, and they are going for between £325000 and £350000 so for an outlay of about £30000 there woiuld appear to be a reasonable profit to be had there. O f course location plays a big part so I would need to check wiuth an estate agent as toi valuation. antoher thing would be the boiler . We have a combi which works well but may need to be upgraded and I dont know if there is one powerful enough to warm a 5 bedroom house on 3 floors????


You could always get the permision and sell it with plans. This will increase the value and no works will have to be done. The profit margin is not a big as if you had carried out the works, but you could be opening a can of worms by doing so (un-expected costs)
 
Razor,
Thanks for that :thumbsup: I wonder if the building company will know as it's only about 15 years old maximum ? Mind you it's probably best to be safe and get an expert in to look at it !
 
JohnG said:
Razor,
Thanks for that :thumbsup: I wonder if the building company will know as it's only about 15 years old maximum ? Mind you it's probably best to be safe and get an expert in to look at it !


The council should have all the details on your property (might not need to do a trial pit), you will still need a structural enginer to obtain buiding regs. :)
 
JohnG said:
I'd like to do a loft conversion in my bungalow but unfortunately the pitch of the roof is very shallow and so the lof is only about 6 feet high at the centre, I think they would have to take the roof off completely and do a new one if I were to do that. I'm also unsure if the foundations of a bungalow can take another floor ?
Sorry if I've hijacked your thread LGS !

John,

Some Councils can get arsey about raising the roof line of a property. If it makes it stand out from the rest of the houses, they may reject the idea. The only other way to go in to your loft space then would be to lower the ceiling to create more space.

Richie.
 
The houses here are a mixture of single and 2 storey dwellings, so I think they may be OK with it, but I suppose it's worth checking first before spending any money :)
 

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