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Bungalow extension & loft conversion

13 replies

Lmb85 · 18/10/2019 23:42

Has anyone else here has had a hip-to-gable loft conversion done on a semi-detached bungalow, along with a rear (or front & rear dormers).
May I ask how much you paid inc VAT and whether it was to a decorated finish or not?
It might also be useful to know where in the country you are.

We are looking at adding 2 bedrooms & a bathroom to the loft area and would like to get an idea of what to expect so I can prepare myself when we begin to get quotes!

We’re also thinking about a ground floor extension and aren’t sure whether to do that first or at the same time. It would be useful to spread the cost, do it first and enjoy it while we save a bit more and wait for the upstairs to be done, but if it works out miles cheaper to do them both at the same time it might be worth waiting for. If anyone can also share their experience of this it would be a bonus!

TIA

OP posts:
Titsywoo · 18/10/2019 23:47

Yes I've done exactly this! Going to bed now so will reply more fully in the morning but we got planning and building control approval for it all upfront then just did the downstairs extension (making the kitchen 3 times larger and the lounge 2 times larger). 2 years later we did the loft. Cost wise it's hard to work out but I'll try and give you numbers tomorrow when my brain is in gear! We're based in Surrey.

Titsywoo · 18/10/2019 23:50

Loft is hip to gable on semi bungalow with a full length back dormer. We have two bedrooms and a shower room up there.

Lmb85 · 18/10/2019 23:54

Oh lovely, thankyou!
I look forward to hearing more tomorrow. We’re in Kent so the experience probably wouldn’t be too different.

OP posts:
Lmb85 · 19/10/2019 13:19

Bumping - would be lovely to hear any experiences on something similar.

This morning we discussed another option based on an architects suggestion:
There is a lean-to garage to the side of the property which we want to remove to provide off road parking for 2+ cars. The suggestion is to make that a load-bearing car port instead, with a flying first floor extension to make the 1st floor big enough for 3 beds, which in turn removes the need for a ground floor rear extension.
The biggest negative I can see is that we wouldn’t be able to stage the project and spread the cost as per my first message, but the end result might be more worth the wait.
Does anyone know if one option would be cheaper than the other on the whole? That could well be the only deciding factor.

OP posts:
Titsywoo · 19/10/2019 18:55

Sorry I've been busy all day just having a look at the costs now

Titsywoo · 19/10/2019 19:03

So it was £51000 plus VAT for the loft conversion to an unpainted finish (that does include a whole new and tiled roof as the old one was awful but doesn't include the cost of the tiles as we supplied them and doesn't include the cost of the bathroom as we also supplied that). The dormer is full length and we have hung tiles on that.

As I said we did the extension first but that was just a shell build so we put in the plumbing, electrics, plastering ourselves with other contractors. I'd say that cost 60k but it is a very big extension which added about 30sq metres to the house.

I don't honestly think the cost will change too much if you do it at the same time or seperately. It just depends if you can handle living in it. It is hard!

Titsywoo · 19/10/2019 19:05

Another thing to note is that spending that £135k (we also had a porch added and a new boiler etc put in on top of the costs above) has added £250k to the price of our house (valued for our remortgage) so it's not so painful when I look at it like that!

ploeb · 19/10/2019 20:56

yes we did a loft conversion and large dormer (about 11m wide) with 2 beds + bathroom on a bungalow, built out over the old garage and extension to make the upstairs big as poss. Quite a few changes downstairs as well, but no extension. Cost started at 70k + vat but went up during the build

Lmb85 · 19/10/2019 21:51

Wow thanks both of you!
I don’t think we need quite the same level of work done so it’s good to know how much similar but higher end projects have come in at.
There is already one large converted loft room (5x4m) with two small dormers but no stair access.
It could be modestly converted further to 8x5m inc. bigger dormers, then a ground floor extension would be perhaps 20-25m2. It’s good to know we could do that as two separate projects without one being too detrimental to the other.

The other option would result in the first floor being around 9x6m but we wouldn’t necessarily need the ground floor extension as we’d get all 3 bedrooms upstairs and be left with 3 receptions downstairs. The only down side to that is it’s one lump of a project!

Maybe we’ll see how quickly we can get the funds together vs how impatient we are...

OP posts:
Titsywoo · 19/10/2019 22:29

Good luck! It's taken us 4.5 years so far and we're nearly done with our refurb (we've changed more than just the extensions but they were the big jobs). We begged, borrowed and stole to do the first extension then remortgaged and borrowed more to pay off what we owed on credit cards and to family! The loft was paid for by a large payout from DHs work after a company sale plus another small add on to the mortgage. It's been worth it though as we now have the perfect home for us.

Lmb85 · 19/10/2019 23:16

Financing it is half the battle isn’t it! If we did it in stages we know we can get a 4 year loan to do the ground floor, then we can concentrate on remortgaging to do the upstairs in yr 5. That’s not taking into account any bonuses DH gets from work, so there’s a chance we can shift things forward or budget for more. I can for see a fair bit of money shuffling though, much like yourselves! I guess that’s all part of the ‘fun’ of renovation.
We have an opportunity to spend a little more on another property that just needs some minor alteration, but we both feel as though we’d prefer to do more on this one and really make it our own. Maybe we’re just asking for trouble 😆

OP posts:
Ernest1 · 19/10/2019 23:38

Hi. I been doing loft conversion for many years and I am able to assist

Ernest1 · 19/10/2019 23:48

Today 23:38Ernest1

Hi. I been doing loft conversion for many years and I am able to assist

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