Any advice for possible loft conversion for work room.

[anancy]

Hi,
I am hoping to complete a loft conversion for a work room. Half my loft is already boarded out *badly* but I would like to make it fit for humans to be walking about. I am on my own with two kids and I've found contractors tend to see me as an easy target. So I just wanted some advice so I can go into this armed with at least some info. I have been reading that older houses are better for conversions which mine most definitely is. I understand that it may be possible to sister the existing joists? I have all the measurements and what not but I have attached some pics just incase anyone can give me any advice at all of what the best way/cheapest way to go about it will be. I also have some 3d mock ups of what I would be aiming for. I just need as much info as possible really from anyone who has done anything similar! Main part being anything about the joists! I can manage the insulation and walls myself it's the actual strengthening. Anything would be awesome!

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[marsaday]

your head height looks pretty ltd from pics.

is this project just to make a storage area or a proper living area. do you want to get building regs. you dont need BR's but you cannot class the new room a habitable room unless it complies with the regs.

i have converted my loft in the last yr. If you intend on putting new joists in you will need to use the correct depth of joist for the span involved. i used 175mm joists on a 3m wide span and 195mm joists on a 3.56m span.

Adding a new floor will reduce your head height even more so you will want to try and lay the joists between the current ceiling joists. You can do this no probs if the span is not too big. If it is big then you will have to halve the span by introducing some steel.

 

[anancy]

your head height looks pretty ltd from pics.

is this project just to make a storage area or a proper living area. do you want to get building regs. you dont need BR's but you cannot class the new room a habitable room unless it complies with the regs.

i have converted my loft in the last yr. If you intend on putting new joists in you will need to use the correct depth of joist for the span involved. i used 175mm joists on a 3m wide span and 195mm joists on a 3.56m span.

Adding a new floor will reduce your head height even more so you will want to try and lay the joists between the current ceiling joists. You can do this no probs if the span is not too big. If it is big then you will have to halve the span by introducing some steel.

Thank you very much for the reply! The head height on top of current boards is about 220cm. I'm not concerned about the regs as I'm not bothered about it getting classed as an inhabitable room. It's just for storage and work really I just want it not collapse! The span is about 5m. The pics are a tad deceptive as they are stitched together to get a full view.

 

[marsaday]

ok so what size ceiling joists do you have now. measure their depth and width.

These will be ok to store stuff on, but if you intend on walking up their regulary then you may need to think about adding bigger joists.

 

[Alastairreid]

Do you plan in installing a fixed staircase? headroom looks to be an issue here, you may need a dormer window or 2.

 

[anancy]

ok so what size ceiling joists do you have now. measure their depth and width.

These will be ok to store stuff on, but if you intend on walking up their regulary then you may need to think about adding bigger joists.

I have the width, I'm currently at work so will get the depth when I get home. The width is 3.5cm and they are spaced around 37cm apart.

I will want to strengthen that. It's fine for storage at the mo but I would like to walk around up there. the span is 5m would I need steel do you know?

 

[anancy]

Do you plan in installing a fixed staircase? headroom looks to be an issue here, you may need a dormer window or 2.

No staircase just the pull down ladder. I think it's about 2.2m headroom from the current boards.

 

[marsaday]

a 5m span can often mean steel. but if you google joist span tables you will see what size joist you need to create a floor which will span 5m. I think you will need a 220mm x 75mm joist at 400mm centres.

This is basically 9" x 3" joist. So you will be loosing 20cm odd of head height i reckon (even if you can fit them in between the current ceiling joists).