Roof dilemma - what shall I do?

[JP_]

Not sure why I am asking, but i cannot decide what to do!

Quote from builder to install an attic truss roof instead of standard is about £4000 more - main costs other than thicker bits of wood with more engineering is the cost of the crane that will be needed to hoist them over the house to the rear extension.

Benefits - instant large storage space, with possibility to turn into a 6.5m long attic room at a later date. Good height on the roof already.
Cons- already at max budget, will need to borrow more money. But, £4000 on the term of the mortgage (if I can borrow on the mortgage....) would be about £25 a month.

If i need a loan, then it's going to be a lot more per month.

Decisions decisions ......

There is no immediate need to make a room in the loft. But, if I decide to do so in 5 years then I'd spend a lot more than £4000 rebuilding the loft space, won't I? Engineer drawings will be £750 ish alone....

 

[garyo]

Have you considered a simple cut roof and then no need for a crane either? Maybe it's down to the skills/labour that your builder has available?

 

[JP_]

The reason for trusses was to save on engineering drawings - the only part that needed calcing up was the roof, and the truss company provide that (local architect advised me that).
So, it was done to save money to start with!

 

[bernardgreen]

Build the trusses in situ. Extra work on site involved but avoids the need for a crane ( provided there is access for the timbers to be hand carried to the site )

and the truss company

may be able to provide the trusses as factory manufactured kits of parts to be assembled on site

 

[JP_]

good thinking, I'll ask the builder.

 

[bobasd]

i dont know what your idea of an attic trussed roof is but trussed roofs are often far more difficult if not impossible to convert to a room or loft conversion than trad cut roofs.

your question is strange and so is the £4000 price difference. cut roofs typicaly use heavier section mmaterial ie the thicker bits than trusses.and the timber costs a bit more, so does the work involvedbut not £4000 worth.
have you actualy built anything for an attic or is your house rear roof being opened up?youd do better to post any drawings done by a competent person

 

[JP_]

i dont know what your idea of an attic trussed roof is but trussed roofs are often far more difficult if not impossible to convert to a room or loft conversion than trad cut roofs.

Attic truss:

Using truss to avoid getting separate drawings done. The truss company do the calcs for building control.

The £4000 difference does seem steep tbh. Part of it is more wood in the trusses of course, and generally engineered for domestic use, plus the cost of craning them in.

After a long chat with my wife we've decided not to bother though. If we ever need the extra space, we'll have a log cabin instead. Unless the builder can find a way to do it cheaper, like Bernard suggested!

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

i dont know what your idea of an attic trussed roof is but trussed roofs are often far more difficult if not impossible to convert to a room or loft conversion than trad cut roofs

More fiddly no doubt, certainly not impossible though.

 

[wessex101]

That must be a pretty sizeable extension if the roof void is big enough to take loft trusses to form a room. As a proportion of the overall build cost £4k is probably quite a small percentage.

 

[JP_]

it's about 7m square.

 

[wessex101]

You would have to have quite a steep pitch to the roof to get a worthwhile size room with only a 7m span. I would double check the headroom to the useable floor area to make sure it is worth it.

 

[JP_]

Yeah, we've decided not to bother. We'd have to lose some height in the rooms below.

 

[bobasd]

not just more fiddly but flatout refusals by BCO or SE to allow any messing with whats existing

 

[JP_]

Well, having already converted one truss loft I know that isnt true.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

not just more fiddly but flatout refusals by BCO or SE to allow any messing with whats existing

Nope, you must be using crap or lazy engineers and BCO's don't have a choice if a solution is presented. Done a couple myself. A few on the forum too.