According to a report by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, current home improvement trends include repurposing existing spaces in the home.
Are you on board with this new movement towards creating space? Have you run out of places to repurpose? Look up.
Your attic holds a mass of unused space that you could put to good use with a loft conversion.
Check out this loft conversion guide to see how you can benefit from this space-saving home upgrade.
What Is a Loft Conversion?
Loft conversions involve turning the unused space inside your roof into a usable feature. Some of the most common uses for these newly-created rooms include an extra bedroom, gym, office space, or storage area.
It’s a major construction project, requiring a team of contractors to pull it off successfully. If you’re an experienced home improvement enthusiast, you could DIY your loft conversion project. Yet, it’s a time-sapping, labor-intensive exercise.
Loft Conversion Types
Are you unsure about whether your home suits a loft conversion? According to Touchstone Lofts, you can use the loft space in any home for this purpose, whether it’s a bungalow or a modern semi-detached home.
These are the types of loft conversions available nowadays:
Room in the Roof Conversion
A basic conversion involving floor reinforcement, insulation, skylights, lighting, and heating. Fire safety measures and a staircase are legal requirements for all loft conversions.
Dormer Loft Extension
This type of conversion includes all the above, as well as the addition of a dormer. A dormer works well in instances where your roof doesn’t offer enough floor or overhead space.
Essentially, it involves extending the top of your roof outward to the edge of the building.
Mansard Extension
These extensions usually involve the back portion of a house. They’re like a dormer extension, except on a larger scale.
The new roof is flat, with a rear wall sloping inward at 72 degrees. You usually require planning permission to install this type of loft conversion.
Hip-to-Gable Extension
This type of extension extends the roof of your home on the sloping side. It replaces the sloping roof with a vertical wall at the edge of the building and extends the roof accordingly.
Ready-Made and Custom Loft Conversions
Contractors build all the components of a ready-made loft offsite and then put it in place with a crane. This is a quick and comparatively inexpensive way to extend the living area of your home.
On the other end of the scale, a custom conversion can involve replacing the entire roof and leads to expensive labor and material costs.
Benefits of a Loft Conversion
The style of loft conversion you choose will affect how you put this extra room to use. So, keep these loft conversion ideas and their corresponding benefits in mind before you plan your design.
An Affordable Way to Create Living Space
Building an extra room or adding a double story extension takes time and money. Since there are few structural changes involved, it’s much quicker and less expensive to undertake a loft conversion.
So, if you’re looking to add another bedroom, study, or gym to your home, it makes sense to take advantage of the space inside your roof. That way, you won’t encroach on your garden, and you’ll avoid the time and expense involved in arranging planning permission.
Add Value to Your Home
When you convert a loft, you’re increasing the living area of your home. In that sense, even a small loft conversion can increase your home’s value and appeal to potential buyers.
How much value it adds depends on a few factors, like:
- Your location
- The size of the new room
- Extra features like an en-suite bathroom
- Fittings like flooring
Adding an extra bedroom in this way can increase your home’s value by up to 20%.
A Loft Adds Convenience in So Many Ways
Adding an extra room with a loft conversion beats finding a larger home and moving by a long stretch.
It also adds storage to your home and can introduce extra light into the building with skylights and a stairwell.
Having flooring, furniture, and reinforced walls in your attic also helps decrease heat loss through your roof. In turn, this improves insulation and can reduce your heating and cooling bills.
When you implement a loft conversion, you’re essentially creating a room with a view. Whether your home overlooks a city skyline or country landscapes, you’re bound to have a better view from within your roof.
Is your home forever littered with children’s toys, games, and books? Building a playroom in your loft creates an area for them to play unhindered without creating a mess in your living areas.
Visiting friends and family, or returning children, needn’t cramp your style when you have a fully furnished loft. They can enjoy their own space and privacy, leading to a less crowded atmosphere in your main living areas.
You Can Make Money From Your Loft
If you install an exterior staircase, you can rent your loft out to a tenant, or even embrace the benefits of extra income via Airbnb.
You can also use rent the space out as a yoga or art studio, or start a yoga studio or art center of your own. If you’ve ever considered a freelance career, a loft creates the perfect space for working uninterrupted.
Home Improvements for the Future
There’s no doubt that as the housing shortage continues unabated across the USA, demand for extra living space will only increase. If you’ve got family or children looking for temporary accommodation, a loft will come in handy.
Likewise, now’s the time to secure tenants who are desperately looking for somewhere to stay.
Are you already the proud owner of a loft conversion? Explore our website for more home improvement options and ideas.