Loft conversion first steps

[user1465146157]

I'm thinking of a loft conversion and have contacted a few builders / loft specialists for advice and no one is getting back to me.

I even had a guy visit the house and measure up - said he'd be in touch with a quote and 2 weeks later - nothing.

I'm. not sure where to start or if I'm just speaking to the wrong people?

Should I start with an architect first? I was hoping for one person / company to deal with everything start to finish.

any guidance for an early design / enquiry / quote stage would be so helpful, thank you

Builders probably aren’t interested as you are months away from needing their services, if planning is needed.

An architect is your first call. Then planning (if the loft is big enough to need planning) but a builder can’t quote if you don’t know the layout etc.

If you use a loft company they usually will be able to speak with you about what you'd like and go through the different options and give you a guide price.
They should be able to point you in the direction of an architect they use regularly and then give you an actual quote once you agreed and paid for drawings.

Go on checkatrade and local FB community pages and get recommendations for your local area. A loft conversion company will manage the whole thing for you - but obviously you will pay for their project management. You won’t however need to engage your own architect.

You should do your homework before you speak to a loft conversion company. Have you considered what rooms you’d like in your new loft? A bathroom adds a lot to the budget. Have you measured the head height at the highest point of the loft (assuming it is boarded now and you can stand up in there)? Have you thought about what windows you want? The Velux website is an interesting read. Have you got a reasonable budget in mind?

I am also doing a loft conversion and due to COVID many projects have been delayed so builders are busy, it had taken us 2 months to get 2 quotes and won’t be starting work until September.