Loft Conversions

You can create anything, as long as you have the space and budget...

Ok, so you’ve got some room between your ceiling and your roof, as most people do – so what can you do with it?

There are two simple strategies, one is to convert this space into a storage area, and the other is to convert the space into a usable, habitable room such as an additional bedroom, studio, office, home theatre, or maybe even a teenager, or parent retreat.

This article is about the basic steps you need to take to convert usable space within your roof to a habitable, additional room. At Attix, we have a checklist, which we have developed for performing successful loft conversions.

The first thing to consider is the height between the ceiling joists and the inside of your roof line. Our rule of thumb is that you’ll need a minimum of 2.8 metres for loft conversions. The reason for this is simple – when we build up and reinforce your existing ceiling joists, and frame up the roof for plasterboard ceilings, you still need to be able to stand upright, so we are probably going to want 2.3-2.4 metres for the room height.

If you haven’t got close to this height within your new proposed loft, there are other options like lifting your roof height, but that’s where you start to talk megabucks and structural work that will cost more than you’d want to pay. The other option is to convert the space into storage area only so that you can still get some mileage from your space.

If you do have enough height for a loft conversion, how much usable (and stand-upppable) space do you have? My advice is, you’d want a minimum of 25 sq metres for an office or studio, 30 sq metres for a decent bedroom and 50-60 sq metres for a home theatre or retreat.

Yes the room can be smaller than these measurements, but not much smaller because you’re going to be spending around $2,000 per square metre for a professionally finished job by licensed specialist builders like Attix.

OK, so you’ve got enough room. The next step is to get an engineer in to survey your loft area, he will take into account the supporting walls around your proposed loft conversion, and he will product some structural drawings as to where to change and support the floor areas. This will cost you around $2000-$3,000.

At this point, it’s advisable to apply to your local Council for a building permit. You’ll have to apply, produce engineer’s drawings, supply your licensed builders name and registration number, along with a whole heap of other information. They may also require designers or draftsman’s drawings showing all structural and relocated roof supports. (Of course, if we do the job for you, we’ll arrange for all the permits you’ll need).

Eventually, they will give you approval to proceed, or not. If not you’ll have to change the specifications to suit the local planning authorities, so let’s assume you’ll eventually get approval.

The thing that comes is to decide what sort of roof ladder or staircase you will want. Attic Ladders vary in design and cost, and usually fold-away when not being used. Staircases can be wood/steel/spiral etc and your budget will determine the choice you make.

Now we have concept drawings, council approval, and a quote and scope of works, which outlines what you want and where you want it. You’re now ready to get started on converting your loft into something special.

The time taken to complete a loft conversion will vary according to the size, and function, like bathrooms, toilets, showers etc. Something to remember here, if you have the construction done in the height of Summer, when the temperature can well exceed 50ºC the job will take longer (unless you want to find dead tradesmen in your roof).

A simple idea can be complex and unless you’re really skilled at DIY carpentry, roof engineering, electrical etc, you’re probably going to be better off using a professional loft installer. Of course, it can be done in stages where you may want the flooring and framework done for you, and you complete the gyprock and finishing work yourself. The most important thing is to ensure the flooring is structured for heavy use, and your ceiling won’t collapse when fat Aunty Margaret just ‘has’ to see what you’ve done up there.

Visit our Attix Living page to get an idea of what you can do with your loft conversion.

Tony Walton
General Manager
www.attix.com.au

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 11:25 pm and is filed under Attix Guides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.