Hi
We have a small 2 bed 1920's semi. When we bought it 7 years ago we did not plan on staying here to raise a family. However we now need more space and are reluctant to move as we love the street and also due to the face that we bought at the peak of house prices, there is little equity in the house.
Anyway we have decided to look at a loft conversion to add an extra (small!) bedroom. 2 houses in our road have had fairy extensive dormer conversions done but they are ugly and will cost us too much. The roof slopes on 3 sides - which I believe is called a hip roof)
We don't want to spend a fortune as we also want to add a small extension or conservatory onto the kitchen next year and are worried that the outlay might not be worth it in terms of the value it adds to the house.
My dad is a very competent DIYer, he has his own restoration business but has never done a loft conversion (although worked a long time ago installing dormer windows) and isn't familiar with planning/building regs. So it is up to me (a microbiologist = total building novice) to sort out that side of it!
I have done some research and think we should be fine to do this ourselves (well my dad and his electrician and joiner friends). I know I need to get someone in to draw up plans so that I can submit to the council - but who?? An architect, civil engineer??? What is the difference?
I was thinking of a velux window on the front of the house and a medium sized dormer window (not a big dormer conversion) on the back of the house above where i think the stairs would go up to create extra head space as you come up the stairs.
Couple of questions:
- I know we will probably need the floor strengthening but if just installing a dormer window and not a dormer extension would you also need the roof strengthened?
- I have seen prefabricated fibreglass dormer windows which don't seem to be very common. Is this because they are expensive or because they are rubbish?
- I know we need 30 mins fire proofing on the doors and on the stairs going up to the loft room and wired in smoke alarms through the house but apart from this is there anything else major to consider?
- What needs to be included in the plans I get drawn up for submission to the council. I don't think I need planning permission but do I opt for full plans submission or just submit a building notice. I'm a very by the book person so will want to do everything correctly but worry that submitting full plans and having various stages inspected will slow the project immensely. I want to have it done for Christmas.
Sorry for the long winded intro, hope someone can help me.
We have a small 2 bed 1920's semi. When we bought it 7 years ago we did not plan on staying here to raise a family. However we now need more space and are reluctant to move as we love the street and also due to the face that we bought at the peak of house prices, there is little equity in the house.
Anyway we have decided to look at a loft conversion to add an extra (small!) bedroom. 2 houses in our road have had fairy extensive dormer conversions done but they are ugly and will cost us too much. The roof slopes on 3 sides - which I believe is called a hip roof)
We don't want to spend a fortune as we also want to add a small extension or conservatory onto the kitchen next year and are worried that the outlay might not be worth it in terms of the value it adds to the house.
My dad is a very competent DIYer, he has his own restoration business but has never done a loft conversion (although worked a long time ago installing dormer windows) and isn't familiar with planning/building regs. So it is up to me (a microbiologist = total building novice) to sort out that side of it!
I have done some research and think we should be fine to do this ourselves (well my dad and his electrician and joiner friends). I know I need to get someone in to draw up plans so that I can submit to the council - but who?? An architect, civil engineer??? What is the difference?
I was thinking of a velux window on the front of the house and a medium sized dormer window (not a big dormer conversion) on the back of the house above where i think the stairs would go up to create extra head space as you come up the stairs.
Couple of questions:
- I know we will probably need the floor strengthening but if just installing a dormer window and not a dormer extension would you also need the roof strengthened?
- I have seen prefabricated fibreglass dormer windows which don't seem to be very common. Is this because they are expensive or because they are rubbish?
- I know we need 30 mins fire proofing on the doors and on the stairs going up to the loft room and wired in smoke alarms through the house but apart from this is there anything else major to consider?
- What needs to be included in the plans I get drawn up for submission to the council. I don't think I need planning permission but do I opt for full plans submission or just submit a building notice. I'm a very by the book person so will want to do everything correctly but worry that submitting full plans and having various stages inspected will slow the project immensely. I want to have it done for Christmas.
Sorry for the long winded intro, hope someone can help me.