bobbert

We're not necessarily going to match the stone work as we go up. We will be trying to maintain the character. Within the local area we've seen some lovely complementary styles that enhance this look rather than try to hide the change. A few ideas we're looking at are a light colour brick like old London stocks, a brick and stone blend where brick would enhance the symmetrical lines and corners and stone in between. Slate on the dormers is not something we've looked at yet but sounds like it's worth some research. The roof finish is a whole other conversation. The tiles will be replaced but not like for like.

Thank you for the hugely detailed response, I've been digging into the details over the weekend. On the dormer front, I think 2 and a skylight instead of the third dormer would be just as good if it's a cost and complexity saver. The particular style of dormer we're keen on is a wall dormer. The picture of the wall dormer below is a guide to what we'd like to achieve. You're point of the symmetry of the house is spot on. The house itself is not square, more of a parallelogram floor plan. I like the suggestion of a timber flitch beam or glulam ridge beam. Feel closer to how we'd like the space to be. I need to do my research on this as it's not something I've any familiarity with. Were intending to get an energy simulation done that should give us a total energy performance once we've come up with a design. This will hopefully help us size windows and select where we get the biggest bang for buck on insulation, triple glazing Vs double etc.

I've started my first thread on the roof.

Another pic from the outside for some context.

Hi all, So plan is to creat a new liviing space in the loft. Already have about 3.3m to the apex. We would like more head height at the front and back though (means we can have 2 extra rooms due to improved access). So the plan: 1 Remove existing roof, 2 Raise the walls (2 options here) Option 1 - raise front and back and reduce the roof angle Option 2 - raise all walls and chimney and keep current roof angle. 3 Install three dormer windows at the front and three skylights at the back (north facing) 4 New trusses either scissors or raised tie across 5m span of the house. That's it in brief - I'm looking for thoughts and experiences on trusses, type, angles, and any other considerations anyone had to make. Just to note, everything removed will be used in a future part of this project. There is some really nice wood coming out of the roof.

Finger crossed we never have to find out. From what I understand though, we would be covered even if the company went into administration.

Maybe a few bottles of Scottish or Irish whiskey and a Cotswolds gin might oil that and many more gears.

Yeah,it's surprisingly different. We have made contact with a relatively local building project manager who is giving us guidance on the ins and outs of planning and formalities. We're modelling the house on a close neighbour from the outside at least. This will hopefully head off any problems with it not fitting with local designs. In terms of regs, I'm aware that there is a broad spectrum of standards. If we get a registered builder in we'll get a 10 year state underwritten guarantee, if we do it ourselves then that could have its own consequences. Our plan is to do as much are we can but anything structural, electric or plumbing to use a registered tradie. We're planning a visit to the mayor on our next trip to the house to give him a run down of what our plans are for the house and property. My hope is there will be some positives from our desire to bring this vacant house back to life and also get the land back into some production.

At a guess I'd say it's of the region. The house was built in 1879 and is very much a workers house of its time. The stone work is similar to most houses in the wider area.

Hi all thanks for the responses. So the roof does look good yes but in short it's not in great condition(not terrible either). A lot of the tiles are broken, brittle or have holes in them. So of the wood work underneath is beyond repair from water damage. Lead flashing has worn through in many places too. The houses last update was in 1989. The roof is older though. All that said, the leaks were managed so damage is localised. Roof could be repaired but my wife and I are looking to gut and redesign it into our family home so repairs are only to get us to that point. We do plan to stay in keeping with the area. The tiles are not asbestos. We've had an asbestos survey done so all clear there. We do have asbestos on another building but that will be another story in this saga. The plan is to completly remove the roof, add 1m to the walls and install 3 dormer windows on the front with us south facing. This is so we can put in 2.5 bedrooms upstairs. Roof will either be raised in its entirety or opt for a lower truss angle(hence higher walls). It will be an new roof going back on in both cases. I'll perhaps be making a few posts with pictures soon enough. Looking for some opinions on some of the more granular aspects. Cheers all.

Hi all, Just found this forum and had to join. Got a small renovation project in Normandy we picked up during lockdown. A 150 year old cottage we want to raise the roof on. Attached a picture below. My background , many years in excavators and groundworks, changed direction a few years back and studies engineering so more software based now. Really keen to pick up peoples knowledge and experience on roofing and loft conversions as I've not too much experience that far above ground.