Loft Conversion

loft conversion with attic trusses

Anonymous user 15/03/2024 - 2.45 PM

Our house was built in 1994 and when we bought it a few years ago we noted that the attic space ~ 10m x 3.5 (accessed via Loft ladder for storage ) was fully boarded out with 2 Velux windows and fibre loft insulation in the gaps between the roof trusses against the felt and kept there with plastic sheeting. I would like to explore the options for converting to a habitable space but would like to understand the process for doing so. looking here most conversions are for conventional roof spaces so I would appreciate any advice that can be offered. Trusses - I believe they are called attic trusses, they seem more substantial than normal trusses have a room shape in them and at the highest point they are ~2m above floor level although only 40cm wide before they start to slope down they rise from the corner of the floor to ~1m before sloping to apex . Is this big enough for a habitable space? Staircase, there is room for another flight of stairs into the loft from the first floor landing (however 1 truss would need to be cut ~3M?) Flooring the whole floor has been laid with interlocked chipboard and nailed down, there is no insulation between this floor and the roof below. would this have to be removed to insulate / fire proof? would my first point of call be to an architect or structural engineer to look at the trusses as if I need beams there would not be enough height and as I would need to cut a truss to install a staircase will that affect structural integrity? Can a dormer be installed into attic trusses as it doesn't had a ridge support? There is a water tank on a platform and I had considered replacing my gravity system to a pressurised one but putting the tank in the attic, which job should be done first or at the same time? appreciate any thoughts whether this would be do-able at a reasonable cost and if so where to start?