Re Loft Conversion Project - what sort of company would you choose?

[soberton]

Hi

We've been considering more and more the likelihood of having a proper loft conversion on our house within the next year, in order to create a main bedroom, en-suite (WC, hand basin and shower enclosure) and hopefully smaller room at the rear too for use as small home office/study.
We first spoke about this last summer when a local loft conversion company came round, after I spoke to them when they had been working on a property a couple of streets away. Their opinion was that they'd need to lower ceilings on part of the first floor in order to create more head space in the loft, to create an L shaped dormer. The job in their opinion was "a little bit challenging, but certainly not impossible" I have seen several examples of this on local properties which is encouraging.
The house is late victorian mid-terraced. This particular company is a specialist loft conversion firm and several different people (three sets of customers and the architectural surveyors have spoken highly of them) and I've seen one example of their work in a customer's home.
On the other hand, following on from all the storms we've had over Christmas/New Year our existing roof had some quite bad leaks (mainly in the region of an old obsolete chimney breast in the loft and the chimney stack on the roof, together with some dilapidated flashing which has come down. We had a builder round to quote for remedial repairs and he thinks that the roof in question is about 35 years old. He'd take off all the tiles, replace flashing, remove chimney and chimney breast and make good everything for 2.5K. When we explained that we were planning loft conversion and he said that his firm do loft conversions as well and could also carry out the work. He knows the other guy and spoke highly of him (they sometimes drink together!). Now the builder (Building and Roofing Company) has been used by us several times over the last 15 years and we've always been pleased with his work (he did the original loft room/study with pull down ladder with power and velux windows which we now want to create into 'proper rooms'. So my question is whether you would go for a specialist loft conversion company or a building firm (both equally well rated by several customers).
Would love your opinions and experiences, pros/cons?
For those of you who have read this far - thank you.

I would say the specialists, but if the building firm has experience of lofts then the fact that you know and trust them might swing it.
Can the builder show you other examples of his work? When we had ours done, we were shown one by a very satisfied client, and we were happy enough with ours that we told him we would be only too pleased to let him bring other prospective clients round.

I think converting lofts IS a very specialised thing, and experience is important, but it's possible your building firm has that experience. If they haven't I'd go with the specialists (as we did).

If you go for a specialist firm, get another quote as well.

We had our loft converted last year (on our late victorian terrace) and went with a builder. We initially spoke to a specialist company as well but just felt more comfortable with the builder - he just seemed a lot more up front and down to earth when we chatted to him and was happy for us to go and look at work he had done in the area on similar properties to ours. We had all our plans drawn up by an architect which I would definitely recommend as it gave us a real sense of how things were going to look. Ours was quite a tricky conversion too as we had two ceilings lowered to get more head-space. All in all a very positive experience and we have a fantastic new room. The builder pretty much stuck to the budget too so no shocks there. Incidently, the quote we were given from the specialist firm was quite a bit higher. I would say try and get a few quotes and definitely try and look at work that both firms have done on similar properties. Good luck!

Wow - that is a dilemma ! Maybe ask each for a comprehensive quote and a timeline guide of how long it will take - you may find that one will be quicker than the other - and, unless you are out all day - you might consider that pretty important too ! Also ask what checks need to be made - or permissions applied for - they both should know, but if they don't match up - at least you will know !!

You've known the builder longer - so the specialist shouldn't be too put out if you choose him instead - and you didn't know the builder could offer this service - so he shouldn't be put out if you choose the specialist !
Good luck ! :-)

I would go for somebody I knew and trusted every time.

Look at the quality of the work. A builder can certainly do a loft as long as they have experience of it. The most important factor is looking at previous work. If the quality is the same then go for the builder as you know him and he's cheaper.

We've just had one done. We got five quotes and only two we trusted to do a good job. We went with a specialist company. The benefit we have noticed is that they have done it so often that the process runs very smoothly and they have anticipated things we would never have thought of (and perhaps someone who doesn't do them regularly wouldn't either).

That said, if the builder can provide you with references for his previous loft work then he might be the right choice. Ultimately they are going to be in your home for five or six weeks so you need someone who is going to do a good job but who you also feel comfortable sharing your home with for a while! It is worth checking how big the specialist company are and whether they use sub-contractors or if it just one team.

We had ours done 3 years ago and went with a specialist company. The good thing was it was incredibly quick (6 weeks) and the same 2 builders were there all day every day as they have separate teams working on each job. You never know what other things builders are juggling- though if you know the builder that might not be an issue. It was very easy and also they gave us a price which they absolutely stuck to and even did a few extra bits which I wouldn't really have expected (eg they had to deal with some plumbing/drainage issues they weren't expecting) but there was no talk of charging us any more.
The only negative was that some of the finish wasn't great- skirting boards /door frames not all that neat etc. but if I had been pushier they probably would of sorted it. They finished a few days before christmas and I was just desperate for them to leave! I would ask them both about timescales as I know this can be an issue with builders who are juggling a few jobs at once and may over stretch themselves.

Thank you for all your replies. Great 'food for thought', I think so far that we might be more inclined to look more into the specialist firms from the point of view that the team they use will be working solidly on the project for the first 4 out of 6 weeks (or so one of their previous clients told me) only branching off elsewhere when it was just down to plumbing fixtures and wiring sockets/lights etc when they didn't need to all be there. I know that the building company do juggle jobs, although their work is to a high standard, it can be frustrating when they're not there consistently.
DH and I have looked at a property locally with a lovely, practical loft conversion good sized bedroom and bathroom with good use of storage space all done about 8 years ago. Unfortunately, their builder isn't around anymore (passed away) but they did use (and recommend) the same company of architectural surveyors that have been suggested to us so it gives us a good benchmark idea of what can be achieved. So do we get in touch with them first and following their feasibility visit have plans etc drawn up, then present them to a builder/loft company or the other way around.
TIA

We didn't use an architect. The conversion company just got on with it. The builder who suggested using an architect also quoted £10,000 higher than anyone else. We felt confident once we had met with the specialist company a couple of times that they would do a good job without the need for an architect. We were on a budget though and I guess it depends on how complex the layout of your house is. I would choose the people you want to do it and find out how they prefer to work.