Ando Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 Within our 60’s / 70’s build is a converted loft space on the 3rd Floor. It was converted a long time ago and no planning permission / building regs were followed. To get to it is via a narrow wooden staircase from one of our main bedrooms. Leads to small storage area with bedroom to left and attic (uninsulated) to the right where HW cylinder is. When it’s cold in winter, with the staircase coming into one of our bedrooms it makes that room pretty much unusable it gets so cold - not to mention the heat loss etc. we will be suffering. My initial idea was to remove this staircase and add one above our main staircase in hallway to access the area - add fire doors etc and get all insulation up to scratch. Obviously be quite expensive for extra space we don’t really need - but would add value etc. I have just gone into the eaves through the hatches in each room and the insulation currently there is in a bad way. It’s very patchy with a lot of it black in colour which can’t be good. I’m now thinking that striping everything out and returning it all to a large cold roof space with proper insulation is the way to go - thinking if we ever wanted to make use of space in future we could start from scratch and do it properly. Am I mad to be thinking of doing this or should I be trying to keep it in place and sort the insulation out? My family have placed a large seed of doubt in my head! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 I think you are right, pull it out and insulate properly if you don’t need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardL Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 I'd insulate the door today - for winter, and not rip anything out until you're ready for the full refurb project. Unless theres some safety issue or direct damage to the roof itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 1 hour ago, Ando said: Within our 60’s / 70’s build is a converted loft space on the 3rd Floor. It was converted a long time ago and no planning permission / building regs were followed. To get to it is via a narrow wooden staircase from one of our main bedrooms. Leads to small storage area with bedroom to left and attic (uninsulated) to the right where HW cylinder is. When it’s cold in winter, with the staircase coming into one of our bedrooms it makes that room pretty much unusable it gets so cold - not to mention the heat loss etc. we will be suffering. My initial idea was to remove this staircase and add one above our main staircase in hallway to access the area - add fire doors etc and get all insulation up to scratch. Obviously be quite expensive for extra space we don’t really need - but would add value etc. I have just gone into the eaves through the hatches in each room and the insulation currently there is in a bad way. It’s very patchy with a lot of it black in colour which can’t be good. I’m now thinking that striping everything out and returning it all to a large cold roof space with proper insulation is the way to go - thinking if we ever wanted to make use of space in future we could start from scratch and do it properly. Am I mad to be thinking of doing this or should I be trying to keep it in place and sort the insulation out? My family have placed a large seed of doubt in my head! Talk to your local insulation chariy or council to see if you can get insulation in the roof space bit. Often they will require there be minimal there at the start (so you check what their conditions are and remove to use somewhere else before the survey). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 Ok so you have something legacy that could be deemed as part of the building and your regs issue isn’t an issue, neither is planning if it’s been there for more than 10 years. As soon as you start messing around with major elements such as the stairs or roof space insulation you will trip into building regs approvals. What that means is you need to do it all to current regs and that can be onerous and also costly. I would potentially look at a piecemeal delivery of changing the various bits - start with the big disruption which is the staircase and then work back from that. You can insulate as you go, and then ensure that it’s done properly and makes the room above usable. That allows you to remove the old stairs and tidy up the currently unusable room. One question is does the upstairs have proper means of escape for fire regs ..? That is key to making this a usable space that has value as currently its just a storage space until you get the MoE in place. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ando Posted October 31, 2022 Author Share Posted October 31, 2022 @PeterW It has a Velux window (seal has gone and needs replaced) and another smaller window in it - I think from that point of view it meets regs. I think I’m still swinging towards ripping it all out - a lot of the crawl space has been floored (no idea why) wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some nasty surprises under there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 24 minutes ago, Ando said: It has a Velux window (seal has gone and needs replaced) and another smaller window in it - I think from that point of view it meets regs. Needs to be a certain size and within 1100mm of the floor so worth bearing in mind for when you re-do anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Potter Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 9 hours ago, Ando said: Am I mad to be thinking of doing this or should I be trying to keep it in place and sort the insulation out? My family have placed a large seed of doubt in my head! No not mad as asking good questions. I would try and insulate as best you / seal up drafty areas for the winter at least cost. Keep it all (stair) in place for now until you make up your mind if you want to convert the attic or not. You could spend £1000+ mucking about.. that could go towards the extra heating cost anyway.. pragmatically look at in the round? 8 hours ago, PeterW said: Ok so you have something legacy What Peter says can be really important, you could indavertantly blow it and regret later. Take plenty photographs and record. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ando Posted November 3, 2022 Author Share Posted November 3, 2022 Have taken your comments on board - very helpful. Going to take some time on this decision. This is photo of one side of the room in question- the other side with staircase coming through is in a similar state. Do you think it would be worthwhile in the meantime to strip floor area and re insulate until I make final decision? The other side is almost fully floored - which I find a bit strange - also concerned as to what mess is lurking underneath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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