Loft conversions: worth the bother?

[frecklyspeckly]

This may have been asked before but please if you have had one would you talk me through what happens and how long it took and if you think it was worth it - thank you! Other wise we shall have to move as dd has room which is 5.5 by 6ft.

IT WAS SOOO WORTH IT. But we decided we would have the loft room, and our own lovely bathroom added too.

The children are on the next floor down (!) and we managed to squeeze a bathroom for them in there too. (we only ever had a downstairs bathroom before)

It took about 12 weeks from start to finish. There was lots of mess, but the end result made up for that.

DEFINITELY worth it. We have the new(ish) loft room. It's the biggest room in the house, we have a study/craft room that has all the plumbing under the floor should we want a bath/shower room up there.

It took 8 weeks-ish. We got a bargain because we had ours done in winter, and just before Christmas. It was REALLY cold, but, the guy was grateful for the work and to be able to keep his team of builders on the books too.

It probably would have cost that much to move, when we worked it out.

definitely worth it. we were not as fortunate as others whose took 8-12 weeks. Ours took more like 4-5 months bcos we fell out with builder who was taking the p*.
We held him down to specifics though and he ended up completing job to reasonable standard. We've just had built in cupboards which give us lots of space. Ensuite bathroom is great too.
Just try to get good recommendations before choosing builder and do not make decision solely on cost.

We had our loft converted into a en-suite bedroom ... really worth the effort.. took about 6-8 weeks and, although it was tough having builders et al about, it is so worth it..

I just suggest that you spend some time finding the right people and getting their ideas as to how it will work and ensure that you won't be overcapitalised on your house (see what similar properties with lofts go for in your area - if you can trust agents) ..

Yes, worth it. We turned our loft into 2 double bedrooms for 2 of our children. The existing 3rd bedroom (small) is now a large landing/office from which my husband now works from home. So we went from a house with 2 good and one rubbish bedrooms to one with 4 big bedrooms. So cost-effective.

Took about 6 weeks.

We'd really like to have our loft converted as is a huge space, but due to the location of our stairs it would mean having them, and the cellar stairs, turned around. Has anyone had this done too?

If you have a loft conversion, really consider having a proper stair case and unless your rooms on the second floor are huge and can allow for a staircase to take up part of the space, then consider having the staircase in part of the hallway etc.

We lost a lot of money due to our conversion, we didn't think about the size of a bedroom that took up part of the corridor and staircase. We didn't make totally use of the space up in the loft and therefore lost out a bit.

Get good plans drawn up or ask a loft company to do the plans for you and give you a price. If you can try and include a dormer window in the loft as this helps improve the space.

Definitely worth it, I think if you have the space, why wouldn't you? Almost guaranteed to make the outlay and one of the few major building jobs that isn't too disrupting as builders will use roof for access and not cut through to rest of house until last possible moment.

BbEWARE OF ABSOLUTE LOFTS. Our job was shambolic and six months on still have minor snagging.....

Since it is so stressful to sell and buy, and costs so much money to move house, (professional fees, removal, stamp duty, estate agents cut etc etc)I would think it much better to spend your money on a loft conversion if your house is big enough and suitable for a good usable conversion. Have you seen any in houses similiar to yours?

We have a big bedroom and a 2nd bathroom in our loft conversion (done by the previous owners)

Thank you for all your experiences. We have decided that taking all things into consideration we will take the plunge and sell eventually as we have been told there is not going to be much gained in terms of adding an extra room on above - dimensions will still be really cramped up there, plus tricky to know where stairs will go according to builder. But clearly in some instances it can be a really good thing to do. Its my own fault for being sentimental we should have got out years ago really!

We recently used Absolute Lofts, i was very nervous before they started,the work was completed in 6 weeks, the foreman Mario was a delight and i would be happy to recommend them to my friends

We have just had one finished and I'm sure in time I will say it was worth it! Just a bit exhausted at the moment as they started the first week in July, a couple of days after I found out I was pregnant! My husband is working overseas so it was hard work for me living in a building site when I felt like dying (bad morning sickness!) it was also a lot of hassle having to keep phoning people and arranging for them to come and having to stay in and wait for them! Having said that, it does look good. We've gone for one double bedroom and a study area at the top of the galleried landing and looks great. Building inspector came about 2 hours ago and signed it all off! The company we used were called econoloft who have a London and Lancashire office. Their admin/customer care not brilliant but their workmen are which is what really matters!
Just waiting for it to be carpeted which to be honest was the most stessful part as carpetright (please don't use, they are rubbish!) They 'promised' fitting within 7 to 10 DAYS of order! It is now 28 days, they were supposed to fit today and guess what? they phoned last night and said they thought they had the carpet, but they don't! I'm going back to the middle east in 1 week so starting to panic! aaaghh! to sum up (sorry for mini rant!) it is worth doing as cost less than the moving costs/stamp duty etc. cost around 25K (excluding decorating/carpet etc) for a big room and study and lovely stairs! good luck!

I bloody well hope so! It's been going on since May but not yet insulated or weatherproof. Still, the builder promises it will be done before my baby - which meant he was terrified when we told him yesterday that Squirmy was engaged, right way round, and ready to go! A full crew is on site as I type!

We're having one large bedroom with a balcony, a small room, and a decent bathroom with walk-in shower as well as a bath, so we're really looking forward to the space. The stairs will simply continue above the existing ones, and we'll still have about 1/3 the floor space under the eaves for storage. The architect was great and suggested lots of things we hadn't thought of, like the balcony, and how to fit an extra room in rather than just a large landing.

It's costing a lot (but actually we have a very good deal, so as long as work progresses we're sticking with the current builders), but includes necessary re-roofing of the whole house (original tiles, last around 80 years. House built in 1905...), and insulating it to modern standards, which will save some cash on gas bills (bill halved previously when we got a new boiler that wasn't outside...)

I find I can sleep on the sofa even when they're banging away. The main annoyance is that the TV aerial keeps getting knocked, but luckily MrNC is happy to go up there and phone me as he tweaks it to get it back in position!

Check how much headroom you would have and how the staircase would be positioned.

It was one of the major reasons we moved from our old house. We could have shoved a loft up there- and people on our street with similar houses do- but DH would have only just been able to stand upright, and the hallway would have looked dark and potentially cramped. I thought it could possibly even detract from the value of our home in the end, if people thought it was ugly and couldn't stand in it w/o feeling like Gulliver. But that was our style house. Friends have a 1930s and theirs looks FANTASTIC. If we had been able to achieve that we would not have moved. OUr new house has a loft conversion and it also looks great.

It would really be excellent if people on your street have done it (in a similar style house) and you could have a look. Any chance of that?