SKB Building Maintenance

Existing Garage Walls
It is most likely that your existing garage walls are of the solid wall (single) variety as detailed above. As such, they will probably fall short of Building Regulation minimums across a variety of categories such as Fire Resistance, Insulation, Weather Resistance and Damp Proofing. Furthermore, they may not be able to safely support any new roof you have planned. Therefore, they will need to be upgraded with a new internal skin and carefully assessed in terms of Damp-Proofing.

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, you can find out more at the website of the British Standards Institution (BSI)

Loft Conversion Assessment
When it comes to assessing the feasibility of a loft conversion project, there are a number of factors that will need to be considered. These factors include the available head height, the roof’s pitch and the roof structure, as well as any obstacles such as water tanks or chimney stacks.

Head Height
Measure 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, ask 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 easily conveyed on plans.

The Building Regulations impose no minimum ceiling height for habitable rooms. But don’t forget to consider the stair entry to the loft space. 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.

Pitch Angle
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.

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.

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

Suitability(does the roof conversion allow for conversion of the loft space?) Planning Permission & Building Regulations through to design options & Cost. Lofts with low head height, ceiling joists, loft insulation, staircase, windows, fire safety all have to be calculated in.

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