Building An Extra Room In Your Roof

Supposing you would like more living or bedroom space and therefore considering an attic conversion, the first thing you should do is to find out your local council's regulations.

Supposing there won't be such concerns, bring a torch, a ladder and a measuring tape, squeeze through the manhole and check out the roof space.

If you can't stand up in the middle of the space, you'll have problems. The ideal roof pitch for the attic is from 32 to 38 degrees. But if your roof isn't steep enough you can include headroom therefore increase the expense by raising the roof, or you should think about the alternative of adding another storey. check flat roof Liverpool for more info .

A top-storey addition would give you about a third more room than an attic conversion but would cost a great deal more.

Privided you can stand up in the roof space, so far so good. Measure for height, then, taking care to step only within the joists to avoid crashing through the ceiling, measure the floor area. If half the area has headroom of 2.3 metres or even more, it likely meets most councils' guidelines for an attic family room or bedroom.

If flashing the torch around reveals a forest of trusses, don't lose hope. Modern trussed roofs, with rows of triangular frames, are much more tough to convert than older roof styles, but it's still doable.

Some trusses must be removed to make space for a room, and also other timbers strengthened. Just remember that the old chippies' saying, ``It's the roof that holds the house up", and find expert advice.

Similar applies to the ceiling timbers. They weren't made to carry a floor and needs to be reinforced.

In case you intend doing it yourself instead of hiring a builder or attic conversion specialist, play it safe and first get a building inspection by a designer or engineer.

The task involved including structural changes would depend on the purpose of the room.

If you need an unpartitioned living space or bedroom, complications must be minimal. If you want to turn a large attic into two separate rooms, you'll need to consider where to place separating walls and doors to provide separate access. And if you must add a bathroom or toilet, linking into existing plumbing limits your layout options but could save a packet.

Whatever the planned use for your attic, light and air are prime factors to consider. Attics are famously cosy but there's such a thing being too cosy dark, stuffy and claustrophobic. To take advantage of natural light and ventilation and views, if you're lucky aspect in standard windows, dormer windows, skylights or etc.

Standing in the roof space, you should be reminded that heat rises. It might be 20 degrees hotter up there than below, so effective insulation is necessary.And to reduce noise, plan to insulate the floor, too.

The space in between your ceiling and the new attic floor can be useful for concealing pipes and wiring.

Lastly, come up with best places to put the staircase. Typical staircases take up a surprising amount of place and so the ideal site for an attic stair will be an existing dead space such as a a part of corridor or a cupboard. For houses with small or no space to spare, you might find options to the conventional staircase. A spiral staircase occupies much less place, or, if even that might be too cramped, you may choose for a fold-down ladder.

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