With the ever increasing expense of purchasing a home presently, not everybody can even get together the funds to move to a bigger home in order to gain that extra bit of living space. There are more costs than merely the buying price of a new property to keep in mind, the act of physically moving home costs plenty and there are many supplemental expenditure to look at. If your home is not large enough to comfortably accommodate your ever growing family, physically moving home isn’t the only real solution.
You might put an extension onto your current home to generate extra room but even this may be expensive and might depend on your ability to get planning permission. You could do a garage conversion, as long as you have a garage and aren’t currently using it for your car. Another solution is to have a loft conversion, which could not just be affordable, but may also add to the value to your property without the need to increase its footprint.
Loft conversions have gotten really popular in the 21st century, generally for all the reasons mentioned previously. It is necessary, before making up your mind, that you verify whether your property is actually suited to a loft conversion. Numerous more modern properties with roofs made with trusses are not generally suitable. Older homes which were constructed prior to the seventies are often good for loft conversions because they were created with solid wood rafters and there tended to be lots of headroom.
To make sure your particular loft space is acceptable, you’ll want to speak to a conversion specialist to look it over. The builder will give you a quote for the project when he’s confirmed that your loft is okay for conversion. Get some more estimates from different loft conversion specialists, so that you have a good selection of tradesmen. When deciding on the ideal person for the project you need to use your intuition and not simply go with the lowest quotation.
Loft conversions rarely require planning permission, so it’s extremely unlikely that your conversion will. Seek advice from your planning office or chat with your loft specialist about whether planning permission is needed.
While for householders, a loft conversion may be a sensible choice, it does require a substantial financial investment. It’s not likely that many householders will have that sort of cash handy, and so it could be that they need to ask the bank for a loan or a second mortgage. As a guide you may assume a loft conversion to cost you about the same as a good sized brick built ground level extension and the likelihood is that you will achieve more extra space with a loft conversion whilst not expanding your property’s footprint.
Which kind of conversion you end up with will probably be based upon the layout and style of your house. There are several different forms of loft conversion available in including: dormer conversions, roof light conversions, mansard conversions, roof lift conversions, hip-to-gable conversions, velux loft conversions and loft pods. Speak to your builder or loft specialist to ascertain which sort is the most suitable for your circumstances and which is the most cost effective to suit your allowed budget.
Dormer Conversions
One of the most popular kinds of loft conversion these days is the dormer pattern, a design which provides decent affordability, yet still yields the most extra space. This is a popular option with home-owners since it is both eye-catching and effective and offers every little thing which is required. With this pattern it could even be possible to add in a little balcony, which means that you’re generating supplemental exterior space too. You will discover there are several sorts of dormers including Velux window dormers, shed dormers, gabled dormers and flat roofed dormers. Consult a specialist to ascertain which one is actually the best choice for your specific property.
Velux Conversions
Surely one one of the foremost names in roof windows, Velux, have now been around for in excess of sixty years and they can be depended on to provide you with a loft window that is both dependable and prime quality. Velux windows are supposed to fit flush with the angle of the roof and thereby don’t change the look of the roof structure, they do not ordinarily need planning permission plus they are pretty economical to fit. They let in a good amount of light and in fact might even require window blinds during the warm months. If your attic has a decent amount of headroom, Velux windows might be just the thing for you, in particular if you have limited funds.
How Long Will it Take?
The length of time that it will take to carry out a conversion is determined by various factors which include the capability of the contractors, the kind of conversion, the weather conditions, the availability of required materials and the level of planning that is undertaken. As a rough guide a rear dormer conversion carried out on a terraced dwelling should take about four to five weeks, a hip to gable dormer on a semi-detached house should take about 5 to 6 weeks.
You just need to determine what to use all that extra space for after your loft conversion is completed. You can use it as a man cave, a new downstairs bathroom or an extra bedroom. Nonetheless there are numerous uses to which a good conversion can be put, constrained merely by your imagination!
Author Bio: Steve Locke is a 63 year old carpenter and joiner from England he started out producing home improvement and home repair articles in 2008 at which time he also developed several helpful and instructive websites on the subject of home maintenance. His project currently is a loft conversion website which has the aim of offering all the vital information for property owners seeking to have a loft conversion done on their home to generate valuable added living space and a garage conversion website to make useful space out of an unused garage.
