Advice wanted on loft dormer conversion in a Victorian terrace

[BoomBoom70]

Loft conversion: I have a small 2 bedroom Victorian terrace and I want to convert the loft, dormer rather than velux. I’d be really grateful for any advice from those who have taken the plunge. I’m hoping to hear what you did that you wished you hadn’t, as well as what you didn’t get done at the time that you wished you had. And any other advice as I embark on this project such as how to choose the right builders etc. Thank you so much to anyone who can give me some advice.

Do others very similar houses in the street have loft conversions?
I was under the impression that loft conversions are so expensive now that they are no longer viable.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, lots do. I am going to get a quote to see if it is viable. And it is cheaper than moving I guess so I’ll have to weigh it up.

Make sure the flat roof % once it is done does not exceed 50%, very expensive and difficult for home insurance otherwise.

I’d consider some sort of aircon. I also wish I’d had some sort of window in the roof at the top of the stairs as it’s quite dark.

We had a dormer with en-suite and a smaller room at the front with velux about 5 years ago. Cost us about 60k I think (expensive part of SE) but that was just as the prices were shooting up.

We have to stay with our current insurer as they didn’t ask about flat roof percentage.

We had it done on a midsize terrace.

Put a small velux in front pitched roof and a Juliet balcony with guard at the back. Because buildings regs stipulate so much insulation, we had a ceiling fan wired in so that there was adequate airflow in hot weather. It worked very well.

We made it so the eaves could be accessible for storage.

We built into the l-shape at the back and put in a shower room. At the last minute we decided to not make it en-suite. We also put in a bubble skylight at the top of the new stairs )just outside the shower room. This lit up the whole area and sent light down the stairs to the first floor. I also ended up with a small landing at the top of the stairs. It became the ideal spot for my clothes horse.