Possible Loft Extension

8 replies

lee12345 · 16/07/2021 19:25

Hi,

I am going to contact a builder/company soon, however I was just wondering if anyone had done similar or had any advice.
We live in 2 bed mid terraced house. It's not overly big, but perfect size for us, minus it's only a 2 bedroom & we have another child on the way.

We have been thinking about looking into a loft conversion, however the upstairs is quite small, in the way there is only a small hallway. You walk up the stairs, bedroom one on the left, bathroom in front & bedroom 2 on the right. Loft entrance is in bedroom 2 currently our sons bedroom. I was wondering if it is even possible
To do a loft conversion in these circumstances, as where would we put a stairs case etc?

Any advice would be welcome
Many thanks

OP posts:

BananaPie · 16/07/2021 20:27

The stairs would sit over your existing stairs, but you might have to slice a bit off one of your 2 bedrooms to provide a wider landing / corridor to access them.

onceivepostedidontcomeback · 16/07/2021 20:32

Likely to lose your other bedroom to facilitate your staircase. Loft extension could house two small rooms but will probably cost c£30k to do this.

I'd hang off to see if you're having the same sex kid (if you're stopping at 2). Kids don't need to have their own rooms :)

Livingintheclouds · 16/07/2021 21:18

Look at the back of your row and see if anyone has converted their loft. You can then look up on your local planning portal for their application which will have drawings. Also have a look at sold prices on rightmove for your and neighbouring streets. Then look at any houses that have converted the loft (so listed as three beds, say) and see how they've done it.

CellophaneFlower · 17/07/2021 09:32

@onceivepostedidontcomeback

Likely to lose your other bedroom to facilitate your staircase. Loft extension could house two small rooms but will probably cost c£30k to do this.

I'd hang off to see if you're having the same sex kid (if you're stopping at 2). Kids don't need to have their own rooms :)

Kids also don't need their own rooms just because their underwear contains differing parts

I think the size of the 2nd bedroom makes a big difference. Can you lose some of it (if need be) to stairs and still be able to use it as a bedroom? Or will there be enough space in the loft for 2 rooms? If answer is yes to this then it's definitely worth considering. Also if the converted loft room would be a lot bigger than 2nd bedroom, even if you were to lose use of it, it may make sharing more feasible.

timtam23 · 17/07/2021 10:49

Some of the 2-bed terraces around me have done this, they had to have the first floor ceilings lowered first and then there was a slice taken out of the bigger bedroom in order to fit in the staircase to the loft. It seemed a lot of work, and they all had to move out while ceilings were lowered, but I think it worked out cheaper than moving to a bigger house, prices in our area have gone up so much for a 3-bed

united4ever · 17/07/2021 12:53

In a similar situation (but 3 bed 2 doubles and a box) looking for 4th bedroom/Office.

Had 3 builders round and the consensus was there just isn't space on the landing for stairs. Would have to lose the box room for the staircase. Quote was 37k but would end up with three doubles. Would be ok but I think I would rather put it towards an extension. But the prices of those are going up faster than I can save. So it's all on hold really.

Maybe if there is a housing crash/dip at some stage I could get what I want for 2018/19 prices and it would be doable but if not I may just live in my house, chip away at the mortgage and make do.

BananaPie · 17/07/2021 17:58

@united4ever

In a similar situation (but 3 bed 2 doubles and a box) looking for 4th bedroom/Office.

Maybe if there is a housing crash/dip at some stage I could get what I want for 2018/19 prices and it would be doable but if not I may just live in my house, chip away at the mortgage and make do.

Would you lose the whole of the box room? I know a few people who have just had to make the box room a bit smaller by demolishing the wall and rebuilding it a foot or two into the original room.. Might be ok for a home Office.

united4ever · 17/07/2021 20:46

Got slightly different answers. First of all it is really a small room. One builder said you could have an office with a small desk but the other one said, you could do it but you wouldn't want to spend all day there with desk under stairs. He suggested to put desk in sizable loft bedroom but still you're working in your bedroom and haven't gained an extra room.

The forced WFH I am about to begin was the compelling factor so I want a decent office rather than a nook under the stairs.

Flip