How much mess/upheaval does a simple (not dormer) loft conversion make?

[flashbac]

Seen a house but its small. Bar a full two storey extension which I don't really want the hassle of it would need the garage converting and a room made in the loft (would lose the tiny box room for stairs).
Are we talking rooms upstairs being gutted? Is it livable in while work is completed?

Anyone?

We had one done, but stairs were already there. We didn't have any plumbing put up there so that helped with keeping the mess contained. There was a lot of dust but is was all fairly contained. TBH it wasn't that disruptive. We lived in it while it was being done.

Different house having an extension built at the moment - again a lot of dust but it's all fairly contained at the moment.

Next stage is they are going to move round some stairs into the attic, they have already warned us that that will be more disruptive as will involve getting into the eaves....We'll probably move out for a few days while the worst of that is happening.

I did one a few years ago. To be honest the big upheaval was the stairs. The dust was unbelievable. We couldn't sleep upstairs and decamped to the living room. The former was installed before the stairs so that didn't cause us any problems, it was as soon as the hole was made and the stairs installed that it became intrusive. But it wasn't for long!

Did you have to get beams put in to reinforce the floor?

We had to install a lintel to support the door and beams for the dormer and roof support.

We were able to sleep in the bedrooms on the first floor but the landing carpet got ruined with dust and some of the plaster in the bedrooms came off the ceiling. They refilled the holes but I had to repaint the ceilings. Also I had old doors that didn't meet fire regulations so a lot of the doors had to be replaced and the door frames altered to accommodate thicker doors. That was a pain.

This is interesting. Thanks for the replies.
Did you have any issues with party wall stuff?

We had a proper dormer style loft extension done, the full works and the disruption was surprisingly minimal. I was expecting it to be hellish and it really wasn't. Some days you barely saw them.

We had proper old school builders in though who hoovered up every day and left the place absolutely immaculate.

We did it a couple of years ago and needed to move out for the majority of the job, the dust was unbelievable and the builders materials and tools seemed to take over the entire house! We never had any issues with Party Wall stuff and have just sold without having that, the council were very picky and inconsistent with the building regs which was the most frustrating part of it to be honest

I know you e said not a dormer, but I cannot recommend enough having a dormer put in at the same time. We have a huge loft conversion, but it's such a difficult space. A double bed can only go in the centre, and even then there is reduced head height either side as you try to get out of bed. You need to really think about useable head height, not just floor space.

I'm thinking path of least resistance as a dormer will need planning permission and I need it done quickly. We are both shorties so may get away with it!
Party wall stuff might delay things. I don't want to upset the new neighbours. I might have a hard time with them already given the stuff they display in the window (won't say anymore as my thread on this was deleted as it turned into a bun fight!)

It might not need planning permission, they're often permitted development