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1. Insulate: Most garages are not insulated. Drywall, if already installed, must be removed and insulation installed.

2. Floor height: Garages tend to be lower than the house. While not necessary, your home benefits if you match flooring heights by adding sleepers to elevate the floor covering above the concrete garage floor.

3. Floor covering: Also called a finish floor, this is the visible floor that you walk on.

4. New drywall or finish job: Garages are usually installed with non-finish-quality walls.

5. Garage door: Should you leave the garage door in place or replace it with a wall? This is one major question you will need to address before converting the garage into living space.

6. Box out unsightly areas:Non-load-bearing walls should be added around areas you don't want to have visible in a living area, such as the water heater, furnace, laundry area, etc.

Questionnaire:

1. Can you stand up in your loft?
A – Yes, there is plenty of head height right across most of the space
B – I can stand upright in the middle and for a step or two either side but then I have to stoop
C – No. I can’t stand anywhere in the loft

2. How much space is there between the purlins (these support the rafters) in your roof?
A – There seems to be a lot of space
B – Not a huge amount but I can imagine there’s enough space for a small room
C – Space is very tight

3. How was your roof made?
A – I think it has a standard timber frame
B – I’m not really sure
C – I think it’s a trussed roof. It looks like there might be some steel up there

4. Is there a space on the landing below, where you can imagine stairs rising up from?
A – Yes, there’s lots of space on the landing
B – There are places that could potentially work but we’ll need an expert to do some calculations
C – At the moment I can’t imagine where any stairs might be situated

5. Is there a space in the loft where you can imagine stairs emerging
...and does it have head height when you stand up there?
A – Yes, I think so
B – It’s hard to tell
C – No I don’t think so

6. Do any of your neighbours have loft conversions?
A – Yes
B – Not sure
C – No

Answers
Total the number of times you've answered A, B or C and check out what your score means below.

Mostly As
Well from your answers it is certainly looking positive. It sounds as if you have enough space and head height, and that bringing stairs up from the lower level might not be a problem. If this is a plan you wish to pursue then it could well be worth bringing in an expert to have a look and getting a quote from two or three contractors.

Mostly Bs
You certainly have some positives here so you may well find that carrying out a loft conversion is a possibility. You may end up having to have a fairly small room up there and it may be that your architect or builder has to come up with a clever solution for your stairs – but hold on to the positives and see what a little creativity can do.

Mostly Cs
OK at this stage it’s not sounding great – but don’t give up! If you are determined to pursue this option then do still call the experts in but also prepare yourself for the worst. It may be that your loft is just too low and unsuitable for conversion. Having said that, it may also come down to just how much you are prepared to spend. Dormer windows can sometimes overcome issues of height and space, as can roof lifts. There are also solutions for stairs even when at first glance you can’t necessarily see where to situate them. But you may find the planning issues and greater costs you are facing are just too weighty to make this worth your while.

1. Building Regulations
When converting a loft, you will need Building Regulations approval. A building control surveyor will inspect your conversion at various stages and will be responsible for issuing a completion certificate upon final inspection.

2. Can You Convert Your Loft?
Assessing your loft space’s suitability for conversion involves considering numerous factors, including:
Available Head Height
Roof Pitch
Roof Structure
Obstacles such as water tanks or chimney stacks

3. Do You Have Enough Head Height?
When you measure from the bottom of the ridge timber to the top of the ceiling joist, you need to have at least 7.2 feet of usable space for a conversion to be suitable.

While the Building Regs impose no minimum ceiling height for habitable rooms, you will need to factor in the 6.6 feet headroom required for stairs (although you could relax this to 6 feet on the edge of the stair if needs be).

If the initial roof space inspection reveals a head height of less than 7.2 feet, there are two available – but costly – solutions that will require professional input.

Solution 1: Raise the Roof
This is structurally feasible, but the major problems are the high cost and getting planning permission approval. If the whole roof area needs removing, a covered scaffold structure, to protect the house from the weather during the works, would also be required.

Solution 2: Lower the Ceiling in the Room Below
This will require all the existing ceilings in question to be removed, causing much mess. With this method a plate will need to be bolted to the wall using shield anchors or rawlbolts, for the new floor joists to hang from. There is also a need for a suitable tie between the roof structure and the dwarf wall formed, to prevent the roof spreading.

4. Does Your Roof Have the Right Pitch?
The higher the angle of the roof pitch, the higher the central head height is likely to be, and if dormers are used or the roof is redesigned, the floor area, and potential for comfortable headroom, can be increased.

5. Does Your Roof Structure Allow for Conversion?
Traditional frame type roof structures are often the most suitable type for loft conversions, allowing the space to be opened up relatively easily and inexpensively. The rafters may need to be strengthened or additional supports added (your structural engineer will advise on what is required).

Trussed roofs require greater structural input, normally involving the insertion of steel beams between load bearing 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.

6. Will You Need to Move the 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 combo boiler, but they do take up a cupboard-sized room, which you will have to find space and budget for.

7. Loft Conversion Stairs
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 6.5 feet, although this could be reduced to 6.2 feet in the center, and 5.9 feet 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 roof light above the staircase or, if appropriate, converting a hip roof end to a gable.

Maximum number of steps: the maximum number of steps in a straight line is 16 (typical installation usually only requires 13 steps)
Step size: the maximum step rise is 8.6 inch, whereas the step depth or ‘going’ is a minimum of 8.6 inch; 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 1.9 inch 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 35 inch above the pitch line, and any spindles must have a separation distance that a 3.9 inch sphere cannot pass through.

8. Will You Need New Ceiling Joists?
In most cases, additional new joists will be required to comply with the Building Regulations as existing ceiling joists are unlikely to be able to take a conversion floor.

Your structural engineer will specify the size and grade required.

The new joists span between load-bearing walls, and are normally raised slightly above the existing ceiling plasterwork by using spacers below the joist ends. This spacing must be sufficient to prevent any new floor joist deflection from touching the ceiling plaster below.

The new joists run alongside the existing joists. Above window and door openings, thicker timbers are used to bridge the opening, so that pressure is not put on the existing opening lintel.

Rolled steel joists (known as RSJs) are also specified to distribute the load, and in some installations are used to carry the ends of the new joists. If head height is limited, then thicker joists, more closely spaced, can be specified.

9. Bringing Natural Light into the Converted Loft
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.

10. Lighting
As in any successful interior scheme, different light sources should be combined, including ambient (substituting for daylight), task (reading, working) and accent (to add atmosphere) lighting.

Lighting options on sloping ceilings include downlights and track lighting. A section of flat ceiling beneath the ridge or within a dormer window is the ideal surface for downlights. Where the ridge is higher, it may be possible to suspend pendants or a track lighting system.

Ambient lighting can also be provided using floor and table lamps, providing they are on a switched lighting circuit so that they can be controlled, and ideally dimmed from the main wall switches.

11. Heating
Extensions normally increase the heat load requirement of the house and so the boiler has to be upgraded, but a loft conversion may require little extra capacity as the space will be well insulated and can improve the overall energy efficiency of the house.

Options for heat emitters in attic rooms include radiators, underfloor heating, or a combination of both, perhaps with electric underfloor heating mats in bathrooms.

However, if a bathroom is added, a boiler upgrade may be necessary. It is a good idea to switch to an unvented system that does not require header tanks but relies on mains pressure

12. Insulating
Roof Insulation
Floor Insulation
Insulating Party Walls

13. Ventilation in a Loft Conversion
To maximise energy efficiency, the roof space should be made as airtight as possible, and to counter this it is essential to introduce controlled ventilation to prevent the risk of condensation and maintain good air quality.

This means including background ventilation (airbricks and trickle vents) and rapid ventilation (via windows), plus extract ventilation in wet areas, such as bathrooms or a kitchen.

Attic bathrooms are not required to have a window providing the extract fan can provide rapid ventilation.

14. Plumbing
If you are adding a bathroom you’ll need to think about the location of existing services. Adding hot and cold water supplies is straightforward, branched off the existing plumbing system either at the boiler or from the floor below. Flexible plastic plumbing is easy to thread through the joists.

Existing soil pipes are likely to be vented above roof level and it may be possible to boss a connection into this, or into another soil pipe on the floor below. Where there is no existing soil stack you may be able to add one; otherwise, a smallbore flexible waste pipe can be used to connect to the drains.