Costs to board out a loft and fit new hatch?

[Fleurchamp]

Hi there

We are having a baby this year and, in an effort to create some decent storage space in our victorian townhouse we have obtained an estimate for the following:

Fitting a loft hatch with built in steps (this will mean creating a bigger hole)
Boarding the loft floor and ceiling with plasterboard
Insulating

Now we are in London and so I do expect prices to be higher but the estimate has come in at
12 days of work £4,200
Materials £2,000
Plus VAT

So almost £7,500 to create a storage room!! I would have thought half that at most, am I being completely unrealistic?

Also - 12 days work seems very high and I would expect 4 men at least on the job at that rate.

It's about 200 sq ft

Thanks

We had our loft area boarded over and had light installed so was £900 (house in London approx 2 years ago) so that does seem excessive even with larger hatch and stairs. We have a pull down ladder which is very easy - could you have a bigger hatch with one of these? Might be the cost of the stairs (if having wooden, materials, carpentry and so on) that are pushing up yours costs so much.

Blimey - we paid about £550 for ours in our old house. But this was about 10 years ago. Included insulation, step ladder and a large hatch.

Have just remembered the company owner was a friend of our neighbour so probably gave us a very good deal.

Get another quote before you commit!

Four years ago - Paid £900 for larger than average hatch with pull-down ladder and for existing one to be infilled. Then £400 for loft and garage to be insulated and about 7.5 x 7.5 m area to be boarded. SW London / Surrey

Hmmm thanks! I will definitely shop around.

Thanks again.

Why are you putting plasterboard on the slope?

You are not having a loft conversion to a habitable room. Storage crates do not appreciate a painted ceiling.

A non-compliant loft room adds negative value to a house, because anybody who wants a habitable room has the extra expense of pulling it all out before they start again and doing it properly.

If you truly want a storage area, all you need is some lighting, a loft ladder, and boards in the central area where it is high enough to stand. Upgrade the loft insulation and the pipe insulation at the same time.

We did it ourselves but it took about two days to fit the loft hatch, insulation and boards (we didn't do the roof as there really is no point and it interferes with the ventilation) and the hatch cost £150, the boards cost about £300 and the insulation was £100. Our loft is about 3m by 8m as our loft is partially converted.

Thanks all, have taken your advice and have now got new estimates for fitting the hatch and boarding only. Far more reasonable (£2,500 inc. the hatch and wooden ladder).

I just wanted it to look nice

Holy crap. I am getting quotes for ours just now (just risers and boarding)and thought the only one that's come back so far was a bit steep at £600!

Guess he's got the job

We're not in London, though.

£500 in Manchester 6 years ago

I've recently been quoted £1350 to fit pull down ladder and board the loft, the guy said because our insulation is so thick the boards have to go on stilts.
I really want it doing for the extra storage but we don't have that much spare money right now.

We may have just squished our insulation down . I know it isn't optimal but that room is pretty warm and the loft is freezing and I really really could not be fucked with loft legs.

Teddy I didn't know you could squish it down, this has just made me happy. It might be that we could cover and get a ladder and do it ourselves for a much more reasonable cost

you can't

If you have 100mm of insulation and you squash it down to 50mm, you now have 50mm of insulation (it works by thickness) and pressure on the plaster ceiling which might make it bow or crack.

You should have mineral wool quilt up to the level of the timbers, then lay the next layer of insulation across the first, so it covers the timbers and the first layer.

If you want to board the loft, and have a proper layer of insulation, you can either cross-batten with new timbers at right angles to the old, and lay quilt between them (this used to be my preferred method, if screwed down, and the deck screwed down as well, it adds rigidity, but also adds weight, and the screwing is a bit arduous), or you can use a rigid insulating foam slab on top of the timbers, and put your deck on top of that.

For example although this Knauf product may have been discontinued.

Not keen on the stilts, as they are quite expensive and do not spread the load.

installation guide

brochure here

The method should be the same with other brands.

We insulated ourself as our charming builder failed to do it. So our insulation was only slightly above the level of the joists. If yours is massively above, you probably wouldn't be able to squish it. We haven't noticed a temperature difference in that room compared to our other rooms however.

I should also add there will be a light installed and a smoke alarm. If that makes any difference!