Loft conversion - how many rooms

[Wantarest]

Hi

I'm curious about how many bedrooms you can get in a typical loft conversion for a semi-detached house with a double side extension. It seems that some people get 2 or 3 rooms into that space (including the new loft space created above the double-side extension).

How spacious do these rooms tend to be? We've only done one bedroom with an ensuite but wondering whether we missed a trick and should have created another bedroom in the roof space above the double side extension.

Interested in your views and experience of rooms in this space.

Ours is sort of like that as it’s a larger house.

we have 3 rooms
we have one large master that runs from front to back of house (full height at back going into eaves at the front).
An en suite at in one back corner (full height)
and one small dressing room/office it literally fits a dressing table, chair and 2 sets of drawers.

we saw other houses that did 2 bedrooms with an en-suite or shared bathroom and they were crap in comparison… they didn’t have the same sense of space.

A friend with a similar house footprint did a good sized double with a bathroom next door (not en-suite) which has a generous airing cupboard for bedding etc then an additional room which is compromised by being in the eaves but they only really use it for visiting family so it's still really useful.

Tbh id just do 1 room and a large ensuite

We converted the loft of a 3 bedroom semi and got two bedrooms - one a double - a box room and a shower room. It used to be a guest suite but our daughter lives up there. If we had wanted to move up there we would have had one large bedroom instead of two

Has the extension been built with good enough foundations to support another floor?
I've seen two beds/one bath loft conversions which are ok for kids but the bedrooms are too small for two adults to occupy happily. But building over an extension I guess it could be two beds and bathroom, or a nice bed sitting area (great for teens)!
My DD has our loft/en suite. It's definitely the largest bedroom. But she's just turned 19 and spends a lot of time working in her room - I just sleep in mine. Plus I don't want to have to go up two flights of stars all the time!

Thanks.

@TemuSpecialBuy I do wonder at what can be fitted in the room above the extension given the eaves.

@Rocknrollstar did you get that space without a side extension? How much use does the box room get and how big is it?

@mondaytosunday it's the roof space above the double storey extension (not the rooms in the double storey extension. We did a loft conversion at the same time as the double storey extension but chose not to put a room in the loft space created above the double storey extension. So the loft covers the roof space above the original part of the house. I wonder whether we should have built a room in that space. I've seen floor plans where people build rooms in that eaves space but not sure what that feels like and how useable it is. Just curious to know if we may have missed a trick and could have created another bedroom or useable room.

I hope that makes sense.

With the side extension (and a rear extension) we had to be very careful about the 50cm3 rule, so could only have the dormer over the original house.

We have one bedroom and. a decent sized bathroom.. Could have had 2 much smaller bedrooms, The dual aspect / space feels quite luxurious.

@Wantarest

It depends on height available and access. If you cannot stand up, what's the point? It's a storage area. Some people will pay for a bigger house that's not shoehorned in. Larger rooms don't feel hemmed in and give a feeling of space. Lots of smaller rooms don't. If you wanted a second usable floor, why didn't you get pp for such an extension?

Downstairs was originally a two bed bungalow with lounge, bathroom, kitchen so the footprint isn't as large as some. We've got a double bed around 11'x11', single room around 8'x8', not massive but a proper size family bathroom and two storage areas, one is crawling space about 11' long, the other you can walk into, it's about 5'x6' with sloping ceiling. We often have a nose at agents particulars when one is up for sale that's been done, and I have to say I think ours is the best, we didn't lose a room to get staircase in and have three rooms out of it, as well as storage.

Our roof is going to cost £10,750 - we had three quotes in roughly the same within £1,000.

I don't know how much difference it makes to price, but we're in the south so that could add to price, but in a converted bungalow with extension so don't need scaffolding around the whole building and too high, so that could lower. Roof lining, battens, new tiles, new ridge system, valleys, and filling in under the chimney where cement is breaking down.

@TizerorFizz I'm probably not explaining myself very well. We have planning permission for all that we could possibly do with the space. It is a question of design choice - how to use the loft space above the double storey extension. For instance, it could be used as a room as @TemuSpecialBuy did or it could be used to have double height ceiling in the first floor rooms of the double storey extension. We chose the latter but I wonder whether we missed a trick and -should have just use that space as a small room. It is a semi-detached house. We are just completing the double storey extension and loft conversion. We did not use the "loft" space created in the double storey extension but I know that some people do use it to create a bedroom. I've never seen how spacious or useful they are.

I'm still not keen on tiny rooms. I would not see the addition of a very small room, over a feeling of space, is better.

Sorry: I just mean - I like the idea you have about double height. If you need another room, or two, that's different. Have you looked at cost of loft conversion vs building it as you wish?

I'm a carpenter and have worked on a number of loft conversions over the years. The best end results are those that don't try to cram too much in IMO. For a 3 bed semi, this equates to a really good sized bedroom with en suite and plenty of storage along the eaves. For bigger houses, an additional small room to create a dressing room or home office works well.
My SIL crammed their bedroom leading to a dressing room, a box room and a second family bathroom into their 3 bed semi. It is a horrible, cramped, dark space where no room manages to fully function as it is just too small. The 'master' bedroom only has room for their bed, the dressing room offers no more storage than a good-sized wardrobe, and the toilet is practically on top of the bath. They have a home office downstairs, so the box room is now unused since their youngest DC outgrew it and moved into the bigger single room on the 1st floor. I would be knocking out walls to reopen the space into one bedroom plus en suite and sticking a door at the top of the stairs, but they believe their set up increases the value of the house based in total number of bedrooms, regardless of how useful those rooms are.

We actually made two bedrooms into one on our first floor. It's double aspect with a storage and seating area as well as a bedroom end. There's a decent en suite too. It feels spacious and luxurious .