UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions.

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6
Default How much to strengthen loft floor, but not full conversion?

I'd love to get my loft converted into a habitable room, but have been
told by friends that it'd cost from £8k-£12k to get done properly,
which makes it out of bounds at the moment. Therefore, I was just
going to board it myself and use it for storage, as I'd like to make
some use of the space.

However, I was wondering, how much do you think it'd cost to just get
the loft floor strengthened, as if it were getting converted, but
nothing else?

I could then use it for storage (albeit, with a stronger floor for
peace of mind), but be able to do work on it bit by bit over the next
few years, doing one step of the conversion at a time (DIY where
possible, and getting professionals in where necessary).

My house is a 1950's semi. I just wondered if anyone knew a ball-park
figure to get this done before I start calling around and getting
quotes. I don't want to call people out if it's still going to cost a
fortune. I'd also be interested to know if anyone thinks that this is
a bad idea for whatever reason.

Thanks,

Steve


  #2   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 25,191
Default How much to strengthen loft floor, but not full conversion?

Steve wrote:

I'd love to get my loft converted into a habitable room, but have been
told by friends that it'd cost from £8k-£12k to get done properly, which


Depends on what sort of conversion you are attempting to do. Something
that you DIY, and keeps within the bounds of the roof (i.e. no changes
to the roof like additions of dormers), could be cheaper to do £4 - £5k
perhaps.

However, I was wondering, how much do you think it'd cost to just get
the loft floor strengthened, as if it were getting converted, but
nothing else?


How does your loft compare to mine:

http://www.internode.co.uk/loft/floor.htm

If you need to get an engineer to design it, then allow say £300 - £500.
The steel, wood, and fixings, plus floor boarding probably cost about
£1200. Total time to do the floor would be about 14 man days. So if you
are paying a builder, then anything from £2.5k and up for the labour.
Depending on the circumstances you may also need scaffolding to get the
new joists etc into the loft.

I could then use it for storage (albeit, with a stronger floor for peace
of mind), but be able to do work on it bit by bit over the next few
years, doing one step of the conversion at a time (DIY where possible,
and getting professionals in where necessary).


While it is just for storage you could probably save the costs of a
submission to building control. Obviously once you start turning the
floor into a conversion proper then they need to be involved.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/
  #3   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 9,560
Default How much to strengthen loft floor, but not full conversion?

On 18 May, 03:02, Steve wrote:

I'd love to get my loft converted into a habitable room, but have been
told by friends that it'd cost from £8k-£12k to get done properly,
which makes it out of bounds at the moment. Therefore, I was just
going to board it myself and use it for storage, as I'd like to make
some use of the space.

However, I was wondering, how much do you think it'd cost to just get
the loft floor strengthened, as if it were getting converted, but
nothing else?

I could then use it for storage (albeit, with a stronger floor for
peace of mind), but be able to do work on it bit by bit over the next
few years, doing one step of the conversion at a time (DIY where
possible, and getting professionals in where necessary).

My house is a 1950's semi. I just wondered if anyone knew a ball-park
figure to get this done before I start calling around and getting
quotes. I don't want to call people out if it's still going to cost a
fortune. I'd also be interested to know if anyone thinks that this is
a bad idea for whatever reason.

Thanks,

Steve


Once you know what steps the process involves its not hard to DIY it,
and usually not expensive, nothing like the figures you mentioned.

This may help clarify one step of the process some mo
http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...n_a_Wood_Floor

Once you've got your design you can look up what the materials would
cost.


NT

  #4   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6
Default How much to strengthen loft floor, but not full conversion?

On 2007-05-18 03:18:33 +0100, John Rumm said:

Steve wrote:

I'd love to get my loft converted into a habitable room, but have been
told by friends that it'd cost from £8k-£12k to get done properly, which


Depends on what sort of conversion you are attempting to do. Something
that you DIY, and keeps within the bounds of the roof (i.e. no changes
to the roof like additions of dormers), could be cheaper to do £4 - £5k
perhaps.


Okay, well I definitely need to get someone in then to give me some prices.


However, I was wondering, how much do you think it'd cost to just get
the loft floor strengthened, as if it were getting converted, but
nothing else?


How does your loft compare to mine:

http://www.internode.co.uk/loft/floor.htm


Thanks for the link. Without going and taking a photo of my loft to
compare, it does look pretty similar. Your house (the front of it)
also looks very similar to the houses in the adcajcent streets to mine,
so although my house is a smaller 3 bed semi, I'd imaging that it'd be
pretty similar in the loft anyway if I hadn't have seen your loft
pictures.


If you need to get an engineer to design it, then allow say £300 -
£500. The steel, wood, and fixings, plus floor boarding probably cost
about £1200. Total time to do the floor would be about 14 man days. So
if you are paying a builder, then anything from £2.5k and up for the
labour.
Depending on the circumstances you may also need scaffolding to get the
new joists etc into the loft.


I assume that these figures are for the full conversion as they come to
around £4,200. How would you say the materials for just stranghtening
the floor came to, and how many days labour would you estimate that
took?



I could then use it for storage (albeit, with a stronger floor for
peace of mind), but be able to do work on it bit by bit over the next
few years, doing one step of the conversion at a time (DIY where
possible, and getting professionals in where necessary).


While it is just for storage you could probably save the costs of a
submission to building control. Obviously once you start turning the
floor into a conversion proper then they need to be involved.


Yes. By the way, since my post, I read that you no longer (or will no
longer) need to get planning permission for loft conversions, though
I'm sure there are certain limits/rules you still have to fit in with.

Thanks,

Steve

  #5   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6
Default How much to strengthen loft floor, but not full conversion?

On 2007-05-18 09:20:23 +0100, said:

On 18 May, 03:02, Steve wrote:

I'd love to get my loft converted into a habitable room, but have been
told by friends that it'd cost from £8k-£12k to get done properly,
which makes it out of bounds at the moment. Therefore, I was just
going to board it myself and use it for storage, as I'd like to make
some use of the space.

However, I was wondering, how much do you think it'd cost to just get
the loft floor strengthened, as if it were getting converted, but
nothing else?

I could then use it for storage (albeit, with a stronger floor for
peace of mind), but be able to do work on it bit by bit over the next
few years, doing one step of the conversion at a time (DIY where
possible, and getting professionals in where necessary).

My house is a 1950's semi. I just wondered if anyone knew a ball-park
figure to get this done before I start calling around and getting
quotes. I don't want to call people out if it's still going to cost a
fortune. I'd also be interested to know if anyone thinks that this is
a bad idea for whatever reason.

Thanks,

Steve


Once you know what steps the process involves its not hard to DIY it,
and usually not expensive, nothing like the figures you mentioned.

This may help clarify one step of the process some mo
http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...n_a_Wood_Floor

Once you've got your design you can look up what the materials would
cost.


NT


Thanks for the link, I'll check that out.

Steve



  #6   Report Post  
Posted to uk.d-i-y
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 25,191
Default How much to strengthen loft floor, but not full conversion?

Steve wrote:

If you need to get an engineer to design it, then allow say £300 -
£500. The steel, wood, and fixings, plus floor boarding probably cost
about £1200. Total time to do the floor would be about 14 man days. So
if you are paying a builder, then anything from £2.5k and up for the
labour.
Depending on the circumstances you may also need scaffolding to get
the new joists etc into the loft.


I assume that these figures are for the full conversion as they come to
around £4,200. How would you say the materials for just stranghtening
the floor came to, and how many days labour would you estimate that took?


That *was* the figure for just doing the floor. It took two of us about
6 days elapsed for the main floor structure, and then I was allowing
another couple of days for boarding it out and other bits that need
doing. If you are going on to fully convert it would also pay you to lay
in pipework and wiring at the same time to save making the job harder
later.

With the simplest loft conversions, the floor is the biggest job. Roof
windows can be installed from inside the loft. Those will be the next
most expensive bits (probably £500 for a couple of largish ones). Next
comes insulation and boarding for the underside of the rafters. If you
produce your own drawings and structural calcs then you could save the
engineers fee. If you want something more elaborate with changes to the
roof structure and dormers etc then you will spend significantly more on
the later stages after the floor is done.

If you ignore labour, the the costs of my full conversion cam to about
£2.2K in fees (arechitect, building control, skips, scaffolding, and
having the flat roof felted (the bit I did not DIY). Materials were
£10.5K (that included all fittings and fixtures, carpets, paint etc).

To have a builder produce something similar I would expect to pay £35K ish.

I could then use it for storage (albeit, with a stronger floor for
peace of mind), but be able to do work on it bit by bit over the next
few years, doing one step of the conversion at a time (DIY where
possible, and getting professionals in where necessary).


While it is just for storage you could probably save the costs of a
submission to building control. Obviously once you start turning the
floor into a conversion proper then they need to be involved.


Yes. By the way, since my post, I read that you no longer (or will no
longer) need to get planning permission for loft conversions, though I'm
sure there are certain limits/rules you still have to fit in with.


In general you never did need planning permission, unless you were in a
conservation area / listed building, or you wanted to alter the front
aspect of the roof.

However the work must comply with building regulations (for obvious
reasons, they stop you building a death trap) and it must be supervised
and ultimately signed off by building control. Note that Building
regulations and building control are not related to or in anyway the
same thing as planning permission and planners.

Without a completion certificate you may at best have difficulty selling
the place in future, at worst you could be required to take down the
work if it is not to a suitable standard.

(this is covered under the Planning and Building Regulations" section on
my main page)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/
Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
loft conversion Thomarse UK diy 2 April 30th 07 03:13 PM
Loft conversion - reinforcing floor joists Rytis Sileika Home Repair 1 August 7th 06 04:10 PM
first floor loft conversion [email protected] UK diy 8 April 15th 06 10:25 PM
Board Loft or Loft Conversion Justin Hughes UK diy 8 August 18th 04 02:42 PM
Loft Conversion Chris UK diy 5 June 14th 04 10:15 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 11:16 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 DIYbanter.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about DIY & home improvement"