Loft conversions can cost an arm and a leg, and when spending a large amount of money, you can’t afford any mistakes. Therefore, converting any loft requires extensive planning and organisation to make sure that everything goes ahead to plan, on time and, most importantly, that the job gets done properly.
Similarly, bad planning can lead to regretful mistakes. A lack of forward thinking can end up costing the homeowner more money to rectify these issues than if the job was properly planned out from the beginning.
We’ve have highlighted some of the most common loft design mistakes that can happen, so hopefully you won’t fall victim to them when converting your loft.
Loft Room Height
Before you do anything, you must first find out if the room is suitable for conversion in terms of the height. There must be a minimum height of 2.3 metres that covers at least half the area of the floor. This way you can take full advantage of your new loft space.
Heating and Electrics
You need to make sure that new circuits attached to old ones are not too much for the system to cope with. Overloading these systems can result in blown out fuses or, worst case scenario, fires could break out if the circuit board overheats.
Plumbing
If the plumbing is not carried out and fitted correctly, leaks can occur and cause further damage to your new loft conversion. You should pay particular attention to the plumbing, especially if your new loft room will be used as a bathroom, as you need to make sure you have adequate water pressure for all the fittings and make sure everything is fitted securely. A bathroom carries the most potential for things to wrong with the plumbing.
Aesthetics & Cosmetics
As well as functioning properly, you also want your new loft conversion to be free from any mishaps and defects! Some classic examples are the plasterboards and flooring. The plasterboards will most probably cover the roof, but if not fitted properly, you can be left with gaps that you will never be able to properly cover up. Also, new flooring needs to be firmly attached to the current joints in the house, to avoid being left with annoying creaky or wobbly floorboards.
Practicalities
Lofts are often rather awkwardly shaped rooms due to the location of the space in the house. Considering this, you need to carefully plan the space you will have and consider things such as storage, where the best place to have the electrical points fitted are and how many Velux Windows will be fitted to allow natural light into the room to brighten the space up and make it feel larger. Another thing to consider, especially with the windows is when it comes to their cleaning. You’ll want easy access to clean them yourselves or you’ll want a talented window cleaner who’s used to cleaner Velux windows.
When it comes to loft conversions, the biggest tip of all is to not cut corners. It can be tempting to do this in order to save money, but the reality is that you will be left with something that you either have to make do with, or it will actually end up costing you more money to rectify it then if you’d have paid to have the job done by professionals in the field.
Your brand new loft conversion is the chance to create the room of your dreams and you shouldn’t have to compromise on quality in order to achieve this. You’ll want to a specialist Loft Installation Company whose knowledge, skills and equipment allow them to perform high level loft conversions, professionally designing and planning the structure of your new room whether it’s an extra bedroom or simply loft storage space. They’ll know everything you need to know, like which loft ladders are best or whether you should get windows too.