New attic conversion Part 2

This blog is part 2 on the options available to extend your house with an attic conversion

Of course, one of the main things needed to create attic space which can be used for bedrooms is to be able to form a new staircase.

It is sometimes obvious where the staircase should be, ie the hallway, but with a little though a stair can be fitted elsewhere.

When the house has got a hallway which is wide enough, the staircase can be fitted in that space. Otherwise space has to be taken off part of the ground floor to form the stair. It is important to check where the staircase is going to finish in the roof space, as you have to have a minimum of 2 m headroom at the top of the stairs and on the stair itself. The width of the stairs would usually be in the region of 750 to 800 mm wide.

Where are the staircase finishes is important. If you’re going to have more than one room at that level you need to be able to feed off from the landing area created.

To create the upstairs rooms in your new attic conversion it is normal to form dormers across the back of the property.

If this extension is being done under permitted development you are allowed to build within 200 mm of the existing gutter line, usually building off the inner leaf of the back wall.

The rear dormer face and side cheeks need to be built in a cladding material to match the colour of the existing roof tiles. I.e. if the roof is of a grey slate or tile finish then the cladding would be of a grey finish.

The height of the dormer, and the top of the roof built off this, should be no higher than the existing house roof ridge.

The layout of this new level should be a series of rooms leading off the landing at the top of the stairs.

You cannot have rooms within rooms other than ensuites for bedrooms. This is because, to conform with the building regs, all doors from bedrooms onto a stair lobby need to be fire doors.

As you can see it can be quite complicated to form the rooms within this roof area especially in the areas of the roof which are not going to be a dormers, as these will have less of a height due to the slope of the existing roof.

The existing attic ceiling joists will not be strong enough to take floor loading.

So new floor joists will have to be fitted alongside the existing ceiling joists of a size to span between the supporting walls below.

These are the basic principles of forming an attic floor level, as all building materials need to be chosen to meet the building regs. Also smoke detectors and fire doors need to be fitted in the relevant places.

I trust this has been helpful in giving you the lowdown on what is involved in forming your new attic bedrooms.

If you need any further advice or help to get your project started please ring me to discuss using my contact details below.

After this discussion I can arrange to visit your property and advise on some design ideas and what permissions you will need to undertake the work.

i can usually arrange a visit within 2 to 3 days

Regards

Chris Sinkinson
Homeplan Designs
Dragons Lair
49 East Beach
Lytham
FY8 5EY

T. 01253 737724
M. 07971 293182

Email chris@homeplan-designs.com
Email cnsinkinson@gmail.com
website : www.homeplan-designs.com