Loft Conversions

Loft conversions can be another excellent solution where more space is needed in the home. They can provide the extra bedrooms and bathrooms that would add value to your property. Often, where only sky-lights are being installed, there is no need for planning permission, provided certain volume limits are not exceeded. For a terraced house, you are permitted 30 cubic meters; for one that is detached or semi-detached, 40 cubic meters. See www.planningportal.gov.uk for information on whether your proposed loft conversion needs planning permission. Whether you require planning permission or not, you will need to submit detailed plans to your local building control department for their approval. They will also want to carry out site visits at various stages to ensure that all is in accordance with the approved design. Again, you could use Simply Extend Planning Services and for a fixed price we'll manage this for you too. 1. If your extension does need planning permission, you could use Simply Extend Planning Services and we would help turn your ideas into a design that we’d see through the planning process on your behalf, all for a fixed price - Simple!  2. All loft conversions require some form of structural design. Depending on the existing roof structure this can be quite complex. A chartered civil engineer with back-up calculations would need to prove to building control that the proposed conversion would be fit for purpose and structurally sound. Simply Extend has approved chartered civil engineers that can carry out all structural design work for you. All you need do is use our Simply Extend Structural Services and we'll give you a fixed price to do this for you.

Once you have planning, building control and structural design approval, you are ready to start on construction. At this point you could you use Simply Extend Building Services. We'd give you a fixed price for the work, draw up a contract clearly detailing what we shall be delivering, an estimated timescale, and when payments will be due. All you need do is make sure you’re happy with the project’s scope, sign the contract and follow the payment schedule. Simply Extend will mobilise the construction team and manage the work to completion - as we say, simple!

Insufficient ridge height? - don’t worry! Some properties do not have enough head height to create a usable space for a loft conversion. You typically require about 2.15 meters of minimum height from the floor of the loft to the ridge beam (highest point in the loft). If you have less than this, you need to look into ways of creating more height. Simply Extend can help you with this by looking at other options. One option, if planning permits, is to increase the front elevation of the roof (see figure 1). This pushes the ridge beam back but allows you to gain some height.

Figure 1: Diagram showing how front elevation increase can gain ridge height. Another option is to lower the floor between the loft space and the top floor. This sounds like an arduous job but can actually be done with relative ease. See figure 2.

Figure 2: Diagram showing how lowering loft floor can increase ridge height.

There’s no need to worry about lowering your ceiling as Simply Extend can manage to make a feature of this. Below is a before and after picture of an example of how this was successfully achieved.

Figure 3: Photo showing steel beam used to support lowered loft floor.

Figure 4: Photo showing completed floor lowering.

Loft Dormer Roofing – 20 year guarantee Simply Extend is one of the few building companies that will offer as default a Glass Reinforced Plastic system for all flat loft dormer roofs. The advantage of this system is it can last for up to 20 years with minimal maintenance. Therefore if you would like this type of roof installed, we will offer you a 20 year roof guarantee instead of the traditional 10 year guarantee for felt / tiled type roofs. Please see our supplier’s website: www.matrix-roofing.co.uk Some of the advantages of this system are: •  No additional cost – we charge the same for a more traditional roof finish •  Tough and hard wearing •  Lasts at least 20 years •  Can easily be repaired if damaged •  Can be extended or refurbished •  Can be tiled or used as a garden platform