DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hello Everyone,

My partner and I live in a circa 1900's end terrace and we're soon to be having new insulation put down in the loft. The loft has been crudely boarded by the previous owner and it's my wonderful task of removing the boards and old insulation. "It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it"

I'm currently halfway through the process and have discovered that our slate tiled roof is not lined, but merely mortared from the back. As you can imagine the mortar has perished over the years and the roof does leek in places during heavy rain.

I have thought that the tiles really need to be lined, but then I got to thinking that we could install a Velux™ window at the same time. And after that I just thought about a full loft conversion, as the space is a good size and we have sufficient space for a staircase.

I suppose the reason for this posting is to try and get some advice from more experienced people about attempting to do a loft conversion yourself.

What I'd like to do is start with the roof and then do the rest of the project step by step over a no-specific amount of time.

I'm not really sure if this would be cost effective?

Would people advise that we install the roof lining/window first, or the staircase?

Any suggestions or questions would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks

W.

Would need to add lager joists to take the load of a new room, Then fit the Velux window.

wanlebrisc wrote:I'm not really sure if this would be cost effective?

See if you can obtain a price from an estate agent or similar to see if it's worthwhile.

Then look at whether or not the loft conversion will require planning and/or building regulation approval...

Planning...
Google "planningportal.gov.uk/england/public/buildingwork/projects/workcommonloftconversion/"

Building Regulations...
Google "planningportal.gov.uk/england/public/buildingwork/projects/workcommonloftconversion/workmorebrloftcon/"

You can put in a velux with no need for planning and if you are not changing the roof shape at all, again no planning needed.

In terms of value, if you intend to just board it out and make it look nice, then you can do that yourself, but it will still just be classed as a loft.

If you want to put stairs up to it and use it as a room and add it officially to the room numbers on your house, you will need planning and building regulations and drawings which will require a suspended floor from steels, insulation in the rafters, foam backed plasterboard and firedoors and/or mains wired firealarms.