Construction Labour Contractors

In-fill Garage Door
A traditional garage door designed for the easy access of automobiles is unlikely to be suitable for your garage conversion. It is neither practical in terms of insulation and light, nor aesthetically pleasing. To this end the old garage door will have to be filled in with a new wall to house a new door and possibly a window. The original foundation of the garage will most likely be a shallow slab and thus insufficient to support the new wall, in which case a deeper foundation needs to be dug. Soil type, adjacent buildings, nearby trees and the resulting drainage conditions need to be assessed in order to estimate what depth and type of foundations are necessary, especially if your house was built on a landfill site. It is likely that at least one completely new external wall will be needed for your garage conversion, such as in the case of the in-fill garage door. External walls constructed of timber and/ or masonry come in two types:
Solid wall - Just a single wall. Due to present day thermal insulation requirements, it is unlikely that such a wall will be suitable.
Cavity Wall - Two walls separated by an internal space, usually filled with thermal insulation.
Any external wall must be constructed in such a way as to repel and divert moisture coming from the ground (damp proofing) and stand up to the outside elements (weather resistance). Thermal resistance is the term given to how much heat the wall will retain and this is naturally affected by your construction materials. Fire resistance is crucial to stop the spread of fire in any eventuality, this is ascertained via minimum standards and affected by the proximity of any neighbouring structures. Lastly, the wall will have to bear its own weight, that of the other walls, the roof and any openings (doorways) as required.Flooring
The existing garage floor is unlikely to be suitable for regular domestic use. The solid concrete floor can either be upgraded in terms of strength, damp-proofing and thermal insulation or, alternatively, a new suspended timber floor can be built on top of the existing concrete one. The process of making your garage fit for habitation differs according to which floor you wish to install:
Solid Floor - This will need to be upgraded with a Damp Proof Membrane (DPM), which comes in solid and liquid form. Liquid DPM is often best suited for garage conversions. If required, thermal insulation should be placed on top of the membrane and a separation layer may be needed in between to see that the two layers do not react with each other. Finally, the floor is finished with what is known as a floating floor, a layer of wood or screed - depending on the insulation below. If screed is used, it should be around 75mm thick and safeguarded against cracking with a wire mesh.
Suspended Timber Floor - Unlike your garage, the floor of your house may be constructed fairly high above the ground and, if you wish, you can install a suspended timber floor in your garage conversion to match this. Timber joists are laid from wall to wall with a minimum gap of 150mm maintained between the original concrete floor and the new timber one. A Damp Proof Course (DPC) should be laid underneath the timber floor and an intermediate wall may be necessary for further ventilation.Garage Roof
Unless there is a room above it already, the existing garage roof - originally designed to keep the rain off your car - is most likely going to need to be upgraded in any garage conversion. Which type corresponds to your garage roof?
Flat Roof - This will need to be ventilated with a 50mm gap between the underside of the roof and any insulation as standard.
Pitch Roofs - Extra insulation can be placed between the ceiling and the roof, just as in a normal loft.
Ventilation
Any room in a house must have adequate ventilation and the level of ventilation required depends on the room type - bathrooms and kitchens obviously require more than bedrooms or studies. An opening window must be installed which equals one-twentieth the rooms total floor-area. Additional ventilation comes in the form of trickle ventilators and alternative means of ventilation may be discussed on a case-by-case basis with the Building Control Body. New kitchens, toilets, bathrooms, shower rooms and utility rooms must be fitted with a mechanical extractor fan with performance levels measured in litres per second.
Electrics
Any electrical work needs to be carried out in accordance with the British Safety Standards 7671

Depending on the roof structure and planning constraints, a loft conversion is one of the most straightforward ways of getting extra space. Almost all houses can benefit from this extension with a bit of basic planning. Is My Loft Suitable for Conversion?
Loft Conversion Assessment
The features that will decide the suitability of the roof space for a loft conversion are the available head height, the pitch and the type of structure, as well as any obstacles such as water tanks or chimney stacks. An inspection of the roof space will reveal its structure and physical dimensions.
Head Height
Take a measurement from the bottom of the ridge timber to the top of the ceiling joist; the useable part of the roof should be greater than 2.2m.
If you have appointed an architect or designer, invite them to illustrate clearly how much headroom there will be across the floor in the finished space. Some people are disappointed by how much standing space they actually have, and this isn’t always conveyed on plans.
The Building Regulations impose no minimum ceiling height for habitable rooms. The headroom standard for stairs of 2m applies, but this can be relaxed to 1.9m or 1.8m on the edge of a stair if necessary.
Water Tank
Without the roof space for water tanks and plumbing, the heating and hot water system may have to be replaced with a sealed system. Unvented hot water cylinders make a better choice than replacing the boiler with a combi (combination) boiler but they do take up a cupboard-sized room, which you will have to find space and budget for.
Pitch Angle
The higher the pitch angle, the higher the central head height is likely to be, and if dormers are used or the roof is redesigned, the floor area can be increased.
Type of Roof Structure
Two main structures are used for roof construction — namely traditional framed type and truss section type. The traditional framed type is typically found in pre-1960s houses where the rafters and ceiling joists, together with supporting timbers, are cut to size on site and assembled. This type of structure has more structural input, so is often the most suitable type for attic conversions. The space can be easily, and relatively inexpensively, opened up by strengthening the rafters and adding supports as specified by a structural engineer.
Post 1960s, the most popular form of construction used factory-made roof trusses. These utilise thinner – and therefore cheaper timbers – but have structural integrity by the addition of braced diagonal timbers. They allow a house roof to be erected and felted in a day. However, this type of truss suggests that there are no loadbearing structures beneath, and so opening up the space requires a greater added structural input.
This will normally involve the insertion of steel beams between loadbearing walls for the new floor joists to hang on and the rafter section to be supported on — together with a steel beam at the ridge. This added structural input requires skill, knowledge and equipment that would limit scope as far as DIY is concerned — and a far greater cash outlay. It is advisable to seek advice from specialist firms in this instance.

Your Building Control inspector will specify exactly what you require. The roof structure can be insulated in one of two main ways:
Cold Roof Loft Insulation
The most straightforward is to use a ‘cold roof’ method. This involves filling the space between the rafters with 70mm-thick slab foam insulation such as Celotex, ensuring that there is 50mm spacing between the roofing felt and the insulation (for ventilation via the roof and soffit vents).
In addition, 30mm slab insulation is attached to the inside of the rafters, giving a total of 100mm of insulation. The rafter thickness is often less than 120mm, so a batten may be required along each rafter to allow the 50mm spacing and the 70mm insulation. The roof section requires 300mm of mineral wool insulation (e.g. Rockwool), or 150mm of slab foam insulation, such as Celotex. This method can be undertaken by the DIYer.
Warm Roof Loft Insulation
The other main method is ‘warm roof’. This method uses 100mm Celotex insulation or similar over the rafters, and a covering capping, followed by the tile battens and tiles. This is not really a practical option unless the roof coverings have been stripped off. It could be used with a dormer, especially if it has a flat roof.
Continuity of insulation between walls and roof is required to avoid any cold bridging. The dormer walls can be insulated with 100mm Celotex between the studwork. The internal partition walls use a 100mm quilt that will provide sound insulation. Plasterboard is attached to one side of the wall then the quilt inserted, followed by plasterboard on the other side. Insulation is also placed between floor joists, and this is typically 100mm-thick Rockwool fibre or similar — mainly for its sound-reduction properties.
Insulating the Floor
Insulating the floor can be achieved by a mineral fibre quilt laid between the joists. Use the heavier, denser sound insulation quilt.
Insulating Party Walls
Staircase to Your Loft Extension
The ideal location for a staircase to land is in line with the roof ridge: this will make best use of the available height above the staircase.
The minimum height requirement above the pitch line is 2m, although this could be reduced to 1.9m in the centre, and 1.8m to the side of a stair. In practice, the actual position will depend upon the layout of the floor below, and where necessary the available height can be achieved using a dormer or adding a rooflight above the staircase or, if appropriate, converting a hip roof end to a gable.
Maximum Number of Steps: The Building Regulations specify that the maximum number of steps in a straight line is 16. This is not normally a problem, as a typical installation usually only requires 13 steps.
Step Size: The maximum step rise is 220mm, whereas the step depth or ‘going’ is a minimum of 220mm; these measurements are taken from the pitch point. The step normally has a nose that projects 16-20mm in front of the pitch line. However, the ratio of size must not exceed the maximum angle of pitch requirement of 42°. Any winders must have a minimum of 50mm at the narrowest point. The width of steps is unregulated, but in practice the winders are likely to limit the reduction in width.
Balustrading: The height minimum is 900mm above the pitch line, and any spindles must have a separation distance that a 100mm sphere cannot pass through.Windows and Dormer Windows for Loft Conversions
The loft room will require a means of getting natural light and ventilation.
Rooflights for Loft conversions
Typically this does not involve much structural alteration. The most straightforward method is to use rooflights that follow the pitch line of the roof. This type is fitted by removing the tiles and battens where the rooflight will be fitted. The rafters are cut to make way for the rooflight after suitably reinforcing the remaining rafters.The rooflight frame is then fitted and flashings added before making good the surrounding tiling.
This type of window is the most economic, and more likely to be allowed without planning permission, under your Permitted Development rights. Conservation rooflights, which are slightly more flush to the roofline and are made of metal, can also be specified.
Dormer Windows
Dormers not only give natural light but can add space to a loft extension; they can be at the ends or sides. They are particularly effective where the pitch angle is high, as the useful floor area can be increased. The mansard type will give maximum conversion roof space because it projects the maximum available head height, thus giving a greater usable floor area. A hip to gable conversion has a similar effect.

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