Raising the roof of the attic

aaaaaaaahhhhhh · 21-02-2021 11:20pm #1

Hey All,
I'm looking at buying a semi detached house(built in 84ish) and its at a good price, good location etc. Its at the very end of a group of semis and is adjacent to a green.

In order to convert the attic to a bedroom/office etc I need to raise the roof.
Apart from having to get the planning permission, would this be a massive job for the people qualified to do it?

Snotty · 21-02-2021 11:22pm

The actual roof of the house, or some interior roof in the attic?

aaaaaaaahhhhhh · 21-02-2021 11:24pm

Roof of the house

Snotty · 21-02-2021 11:27pm

You want to extend up a semi detached house???

There's plenty of options to add extra living space, this isn't one of them.

copacetic · 21-02-2021 11:49pm

It’s not an option and you won’t get planning. What you can do is drop the ceilings in entire of downstairs and look to get planning for a dormer. If it’s a hipped rough, you could get permission to remove the hip, often been done leeway to similar houses in estates.

aaaaaaaahhhhhh · 21-02-2021 11:57pm

copacetic wrote: »

What you can do is drop the ceilings in entire of downstairs and look to get planning for a dormer.

Good idea, never even crossed my mind to get a Dormer TBH.
Would also work if planning was granted.

Calahonda52 · 22-02-2021 4:00pm

copacetic wrote: »

It’s not an option and you won’t get planning. What you can do is drop the ceilings in entire of downstairs and look to get planning for a dormer. If it’s a hipped rough, you could get permission to remove the hip, often been done leeway to similar houses in estates.

.
So when the ceiling gets dropped how are the rafters tied at the wall plate level ?

In a standard semi D dwelling it will diminish the value of the house and the fire reg compliance costs are not insignificant.

Snotty · 22-02-2021 5:16pm

Calahonda52 wrote: »

.
So when the ceiling gets dropped how are the rafters tied at the wall plate level ?

In a standard semi D dwelling it will diminish the value of the house and the fire reg compliance costs are not insignificant.

It's a completely ridiculous suggestion

bennyineire · 22-02-2021 5:18pm

Snotty wrote: »

It's a completely ridiculous suggestion

Agreed, I have no idea how this is even feasible

Calahonda52 · 22-02-2021 7:08pm

bennyineire wrote: »

Agreed, I have no idea how this is even feasible

Its feasible with a steel or concrete ring beam all round and then a welded or bolted steel framework to take the roof.
All available in row 13 in www.diy.com

aaaaaaaahhhhhh · 22-02-2021 8:53pm

Ahh lads relax, I saw it in the Simsons

:D:D
Kidding obvs.

But if Im going to buy this house it has to work for what I need it for i.e. three bedrooms, room to build downstairs bathroom and utility room, office in the attic etc.

Extending the roof does now sound like a bonkers idea after getting the dormer idea, but I never claimed to be bob the Builder.

copacetic · 23-02-2021 1:10am

Calahonda52 wrote: »

.
So when the ceiling gets dropped how are the rafters tied at the wall plate level ?

In a standard semi D dwelling it will diminish the value of the house and the fire reg compliance costs are not insignificant.

I didn’t say it was a great idea, just that it’s possible in this example unlike raising the roof. If you have high ceilings upstairs it wouldn’t overly affect value, but of course it’s a v expensive job. If you have a giant attic it might give good results.

Edit - Just seeing the other ‘expert’ posts above, jaysus lads do a quick google or ask an attic specialist before posting, it’s commonly done in the UK along with the large dormer conversions they do and there are becoming more widespread here now also. It’s not a complex job, just messy and adds about a week to the work.

Calahonda52 · 23-02-2021 8:27am

copacetic wrote: »

I didn’t say it was a great idea, just that it’s possible in this example unlike raising the roof. If you have high ceilings upstairs it wouldn’t overly affect value, but of course it’s a v expensive job. If you have a giant attic it might give good results.

Edit - Just seeing the other ‘expert’ posts above, jaysus lads do a quick google or ask an attic specialist before posting, it’s commonly done in the UK along with the large dormer conversions they do and there are becoming more widespread here now also. It’s not a complex job, just messy and adds about a week to the work.

A slow google might give you time to make sure all the bases are covered.
As for whats common in the UK, start with this
https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2021/0222/1198545-oliver-cromwell-ireland/

copacetic · 23-02-2021 8:48am

Calahonda52 wrote: »

A slow google might give you time to make sure all the bases are covered.
As for whats common in the UK, start with this
https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2021/0222/1198545-oliver-cromwell-ireland/

Ah, so you’ve googled now, understand it’s a standard approach but think I must only have realized this later after googling myself.? So your argument is I mustn’t have know this when I suggested it, but also that Cromwell was English and sure he didn’t know anything about attic conversions? I bet those bloody Germans didn’t either?!

Gumbo · 23-02-2021 10:00am

copacetic wrote: »

I didn’t say it was a great idea, just that it’s possible in this example unlike raising the roof. If you have high ceilings upstairs it wouldn’t overly affect value, but of course it’s a v expensive job. If you have a giant attic it might give good results.

Edit - Just seeing the other ‘expert’ posts above, jaysus lads do a quick google or ask an attic specialist before posting, it’s commonly done in the UK along with the large dormer conversions they do and there are becoming more widespread here now also. It’s not a complex job, just messy and adds about a week to the work.

In all my years, I’ve never, not once seen the first floor ceilings being dropped to facilitate an attic conversion here. Not saying it can’t be done, but it would be extremely rare base on my experience.

Fine Cheers · 23-02-2021 11:26am

Is it assumed that this can only happen if upstairs ceilings are well above the standard 2.4m high ? That in itself would not be common unless a fairly old building ?

Wabbit Ears · 23-02-2021 11:38am

While not a semi D this chap on [snip] clearly has friends in the right places to achieve this eyesore.

Gumbo · 23-02-2021 1:30pm

I’ve seen that many times. Cant believe they ever got planning for that!

RandRuns · 23-02-2021 1:33pm

Of all the crazy-ass things I've done to houses over the years, I have to say dropping the ceilings to make more room in the attic is one that never even occurred to me.

T'would nearly be easier to jack up the house and add a bit to the bottom of the walls........

TheBoyConor · 23-02-2021 1:33pm

Dropping the ceiling, apart from being an engineering nightmare and the massive cost, would totally destroy the house.

IF there is one thing that makes a place look dreadful and kills the sense of space - it is low ceilings. It really gives a horrible crappy feel to a place.

seamus · 23-02-2021 1:39pm

If the next door neighbour was open to jointly raising the roof by 500mm, is there any reason you wouldn't get PP for it?

Not exactly the same thing, but there's a well-known row of houses on Old Bawn Road that all got PP to replace a flat roof with a terrace of 2.5m high pitched ones.

TheBoyConor · 23-02-2021 1:43pm

The house could be out of sync with the others nearby.

Anyway, it is highly unlikely the neighbour would be open to such an idea, unless the OP was willing to pay for the work on the neighbour's side too as compensation for the disturbance - the top half of the house has to substantially demolished and a new roof put on. And you would want to be very, very sure of who has designed the work and who will build it. Neighbour would want their own engineer appointed, paid for by OP to look after neighbour's interests.

All in all. It is mad.

You'd be better off putting your money into finding a house that suits your needs rather than embarking on some hair brained project like this.

Gumbo · 23-02-2021 2:31pm

seamus wrote: »

If the next door neighbour was open to jointly raising the roof by 500mm, is there any reason you wouldn't get PP for it?

Not exactly the same thing, but there's a well-known row of houses on Old Bawn Road that all got PP to replace a flat roof with a terrace of 2.5m high pitched ones.

It would help. But it depends then on how it would effect the streetscape and the adjoining row of houses.

I’ve done it before on many detached properties.

Snotty · 23-02-2021 3:17pm

This thread is like someone asking what to do with a flat wheel on their car and a bunch of people suggest adding a third axel to the car to take the weight off the flat wheel

Fine Cheers · 23-02-2021 6:06pm

#justsayin

:D:D:D:D

previous photo called brown envelope, that made me laugh !!

quietsailor · 26-02-2021 11:14am

aaaaaaaahhhhhh wrote: »

Hey All,
I'm looking at buying a semi detached house(built in 84ish) and its at a good price, good location etc. Its at the very end of a group of semis and is adjacent to a green.

In order to convert the attic to a bedroom/office etc I need to raise the roof.
Apart from having to get the planning permission, would this be a massive job for the people qualified to do it?

Are you caught for head height everywhere ie the roof is simply too low or are you caught on the X% of floor area must be above Ymetres head height rule (sorry, I don't know the technical names for those rules)
If you extended the floor area out the back of the house would you have sufficent head room - there is a UK company called Eco Truss that supply steel for such a job. There has to be an Irish equilavent. There is a good YouTube channel called Build it with Rob and they have used this system on semi-ds

Gumbo · 26-02-2021 12:27pm

quietsailor wrote: »

Are you caught for head height everywhere ie the roof is simply too low or are you caught on the X% of floor area must be above Ymetres head height rule (sorry, I don't know the technical names for those rules)
If you extended the floor area out the back of the house would you have sufficent head room - there is a UK company called Eco Truss that supply steel for such a job. There has to be an Irish equilavent. There is a good YouTube channel called Build it with Rob and they have used this system on semi-ds

That's a Dormer Roof/Window.
Yes its been discussed but I believe they don't have the head height as it currently stands, so even with a dormer, it will be less as the dormer height will be conditioned to match the height of the existing ridge or in many cases, 100mm below it.

aaaaaaaahhhhhh · 27-02-2021 9:39pm

quietsailor wrote: »

Are you caught for head height everywhere ie the roof is simply too low or are you caught on the X% of floor area must be above Ymetres head height rule (sorry, I don't know the technical names for those rules)
If you extended the floor area out the back of the house would you have sufficent head room - there is a UK company called Eco Truss that supply steel for such a job. There has to be an Irish equilavent. There is a good YouTube channel called Build it with Rob and they have used this system on semi-ds

Sorry for the delay in response, we're cought for headspace outside of the middle 40%-60% of the attic i.e. the diagnal angle of the attic are in section 0%-40% and 60%-100%(I think that makes sence). Hence why I thought i'd have to raise the roof, but like the lads said, planning would never be given.

Raising the roof of the attic

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