Loft conversions and extensions

Loft conversions

A loft is the cheapest extra bedroom a London house can have, and usually the one that adds most value. Which type suits yours depends on the roof shape, the head height at the ridge and where the stair can land.

Rooflight (Velux) conversion

Keeps the roof as it is and adds windows in the slope. The simplest and quickest, where there is already enough head height.

Rear dormer

A box dormer across the back gives full head height and a bathroom alongside the bedroom. The standard London terrace loft, often under permitted development.

L-shaped dormer

Where the house has a rear addition, a second dormer over it joins the first and makes room for two bedrooms or a bedroom and a large bathroom.

Hip-to-gable and mansard

For semi-detached and end-of-terrace houses, or where planning requires a mansard profile. More structure, more space.

• Drawings, planning or permitted-development checks and building control with our architect partners
• Structural engineer's calculations, steel beams, new floor joists, stair with the right headroom
• Dormer structure, roof, windows and rooflights, insulation to current regulations
• First fix electrics and plumbing, en-suite if there is one, boarding and plastering
• Fire doors and detection to regulations, flooring, decoration, certificates and sign-off

Extensions

Single-storey rear and side-return extensions for kitchen-dining rooms, two-storey rear extensions for a kitchen below and a bedroom or bathroom above, and wraparounds that do both. We take the project from drawings to decoration, and most clients add the loft at the same time so the scaffold and the disruption happen once.

How it runs

1. Quick quote and survey. An indicative price, then a visit to check the roof, head height and stair position, or the garden and drainage for an extension.
2. Design and consents. Our architect partners prepare the drawings and handle planning or permitted development, party wall notices and building control.
3. Tender and contract. A priced breakdown, a programme of works with the payment plan, and an FMB contract.
4. On site. One team from scaffold to decoration, a project manager, a WhatsApp group and progress reports every week or two.
5. Completion. Building control sign-off, certificates, snagging and handover.

We also quote shell-only lofts and extensions for clients who want to fit out themselves. Ask at the survey.