DIY Loft Conversion

[SleepyHibernating]

My DH and I are thinking of converting our loft into a bedroom and bathroom. We have got quotes for this and this is turning out to be very expensive! Do you think it's possible for us to some or the majority of this ourselves? Would it be possible to get an actual plumber / electrician to do their bits, and the building to be done ourselves? Any tips or advice?

In terms of DIY experience we don't really have much, just a bit of carpentry and garden work.

As you’ve little DIY experience then no, don’t DIY!!!

We had the roof, stairs, joists, electrics etc finished to bare plaster then painted etc ourselves? But honestly I'm not messing with floor joists and the roof!

You need to make sure all works are done to meet building standards.

We ended up doing a lot of ours ourselves but my husband has decent DIY skills. I wouldn't suggest attempting unless you're confident you know what you're doing.
It all needs to be done to building regs.

I come at it from the other direction. The house we bought was generally in good nick, but the previous owner obviously had a thing for DIY plumbing. We ended up spending money to replace much of the plumbing (leaking) and also redesigning it as you couldn't get to any of the flipping stuff for access. Don't DIY if you don't have DIY skills.

and the building to be done ourselves?

Which is going to involve what?

I mean I absolutely wouldn't but you know your own capabilities and your DHs, do you think with enough YouTube videos etc (😬) you could definitely do it to a building regs standard?

You'd need to consider structural steels (presumably - if you're doing a dormer as part of the conversion), roofing, all electrics, plumbing. It's a big job, it will need to be signed off for building regs and it's certainly not something I'd do on a DIY basis.

What @DappledOliveGroves said

Plus the existing joists support the current ceiling and will likely need to be strengthened to support a floor.

Stairs and headroom for stairs need to be considered too, and meet building regulations.

We are in the middle of a loft conversion at the minute, we have fairly good diy skills and can tackle most things but I wouldn't have dreamed of taking this on, it's fairly major work with a lot of structural elements! We will do a lot of the finishing stuff ourselves but actually building it, no way!

And there are all sorts of fire safety implications when it comes to bedrooms in loft conversions, so the building regs and sign-off by building control is really important. If you don't have it you'll have difficulty selling the house (quite apart from the risk you'd be exposing people to). Could also present problems with insurance, I guess?

You could do an unofficial one if you don’t ever neee to sell the house again I guess 😅

Thanks all - looks like going with the professionals is the right option!