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Original poster

Loft bedroom

14 replies

NC4Now · 13/04/2018 19:54

I’m buying a house with a large loft space, which is partially converted (boarded out floor, velux windows, radiator and decorated) but doesn’t have a proper staircase.
You can stand comfortably with head room in the centre of the room. Previous owners used it as an office.
Any idea how much stairs would cost (ballpark) and if it would then meet Building regs to be classed as a bedroom?
Obvs I’ll get a joiner to quote when I move in.

OP posts:
Original poster
NC4Now · 14/04/2018 13:37

Anyone?

OP posts:
PavlovaPrincess · 14/04/2018 13:46

Things may have changed since we did our loft, in 2009, but to meet building regs our loft had to have a route to an exterior door and all the doors on the route had to be fireproof. We also had to have our cellar and underneath the stairs boarded out with fireproof boarding as it was underneath the escape route.

I think a staircase costs around £200, but it's not as simple as that, obviously. You have to pay for the council to come out and pass it as well.

It was a ball ache tbh and not sure it was worth doing to building regs, although when we were selling, we had loads of investors asking for the certificate.

CatkinToadflax · 14/04/2018 14:32

We have just had plans done for a roof conversion and are hoping to start work on it in the next few months. Ours is currently empty attic space that’s boarded but otherwise not converted at all.

My understanding is that for an attic room that meets building regs the height from floor to highest part of the ceiling should be a minimum of 2.2 metres or thereabouts. From what you’ve said, I wonder if your ceiling would currently be a bit low to meet with building regs?

As the pp says, there’s also the expense of fire doors - this is required for every door on the first floor - and a clear escape route to an exterior door.

Chrys2017 · 14/04/2018 14:40

@CatkinToadflax are you raising your roof?

Marv1nGay3 · 14/04/2018 14:40

We bought a house with a ‘loft room’( sounds a bit like yours) and it was more expensive to convert than if we had been starting from scratch, as everything that had been done had to be removed to put in the proper required extra ceiling joists and support for the floor of the new bedroom. ( you can’t just board the floor it is not enough). Ours had a staircase but did not meet building regs so that had to be redone too. I would get it checked out carefully. Hopefully it will be more straightforward than ours was!

CatkinToadflax · 14/04/2018 14:43

@chrys2017 no we don’t need to because we’ve got enough roof height already, though we are putting in a dormer window to increase the useable floor space.

Original poster
NC4Now · 14/04/2018 20:15

Interesting, thanks. We can live without the loft being a proper bedroom - it would just be nice. Sounds like it’s not as straightforward as just having the stairs sorted then.

OP posts:
magicalmimi · 14/04/2018 21:50

We were in a similar situation we had stairs and head height but the floor wasn’t to current building control standards. It cost us the same as is we had nothing in the loft. We have just finished and very pleased with the results.

Original poster
NC4Now · 14/04/2018 22:04

@magicalmimi Do you mind me asking how much it cost to do?
I think the floor may be ok as they’ve laid laminate, but it’s possible that would need doing too.

OP posts:
magicalmimi · 14/04/2018 22:20

We are south east and 3 bed terraced c30k. We did think our floor was ok too but it’s about thickness and steels etc...

InTheRoseGarden · 15/04/2018 14:55

The big issues would probably be:

Floor - joists needing to be upgraded
Staircase
Insulation to current BRegs standard in walls and ceiling
Fire regulations - this will roll through the whole house unless you have fire doors throughout already

I believe the building regs only specify a minimum ceiling height over the stairs. There's a concession for loft conversions too. I can't remember the details but if you've got more than 2m you'll be fine there.

Overall it's probably fairly costly. You have to ask why it wasn't done properly in the first place and whether it makes sense in terms of the value it will add to the house / the benefits you would gain from doing it.

InTheRoseGarden · 15/04/2018 15:00

Joists almost certainly would need to be upgraded. Unless it was built for use as a room the joists would be sized only for use as a ceiling / storage in loft and not as a floor.

It's fairly easy to work out for yourself by measuring the span and looking up the joist requirements in a span table.

SaveFerris2016 · 20/09/2023 09:08

Thanks everyone. Do any of your attic rooms have ensuites? Our surveyor has said that even if the room was original and hence doesn't need Building Regs, the fact that someone has put an en suite in since means they should have got Building Regs Approval for this as it's a change of purpose. Hence this will have implications for insurance etc. I just read about an awful situation where there was a house fire and the insurance wouldn't pay out because the loft hasn't been signed off properly yet was being used as a living space.

TerfTalking · 20/09/2023 21:17

A loft conversion needs, probably amongst other things, proper staircase with right height and width, reinforced joists and boards, fire doors, mains connected smoke alarms, escape windows at the right height, correct insulation in the roof space for heat and cold.

no chance of getting building regs by just putting a staircase in.

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