Loft conversions in Leeds and West Yorkshire
Dormer, hip-to-gable and rooflight loft conversions across Leeds and West Yorkshire, including the structural work, staircase and building control sign-off.
A loft conversion is the cheapest square metre most houses can add, because the roof and the walls already exist. What it needs is the structural work done properly: the floor has to carry a habitable load, the staircase has to comply, and the fire escape route has to satisfy building control.
We build dormer, hip-to-gable and rooflight conversions across Leeds and West Yorkshire, and we take on the whole thing — structure, staircase, insulation, electrics, plumbing and finishes — rather than leaving you to co-ordinate trades.
How it runs
Stage by stage
Every job follows the same sequence, so you always know what has happened and what comes next.
Survey and feasibility
Head height, roof structure, where the stairs can land, and whether the existing floor and walls can take it. Some lofts genuinely will not convert, and we will say so.
Drawings and approvals
Structural design for the new floor and any steels, plus building control. Permitted development covers many conversions; dormers to the front usually do not.
Structural work
New floor joists on steels, the dormer or gable formed, roof made good and watertight.
Staircase and fire strategy
Staircase installed, protected escape route formed, fire doors and interlinked alarms fitted to current regulations.
Fit-out
Insulation, plasterboard and skim, electrics, heating, any en-suite, joinery and decoration.
Sign-off and handover
Building control final certificate, snagging cleared, and the guarantees handed over.
Scope
What is included, and what is not
Stated up front rather than discovered later. Your written quotation says the same thing, itemised for your job.
Included as standard
- Structural floor, steels and any dormer or gable structure
- Roof alterations, covering and weathering
- Staircase, balustrade and the protected escape route
- Fire doors and interlinked alarm system to current regulations
- Insulation to current thermal standards
- Electrics, heating and any en-suite plumbing
- Plastering, joinery, decoration and building control sign-off
Not included unless specified
- Structural engineer's calculations, quoted separately if not already held
- Planning application fees where permission is required
- Sanitaryware and fitted furniture, unless specified
- Redecoration of the existing landing beyond making good
Timescales
A rooflight conversion is typically 5 to 7 weeks, a dormer 7 to 10 weeks, and a hip-to-gable with a rear dormer 8 to 12 weeks. Scaffold goes up first and the roof is opened early, so weather has more influence here than on most jobs. We plan the open-roof period around the forecast and sheet it properly.
No prices appear on this site. Construction quotations depend on the property, the ground and the specification, and a figure published without seeing any of those is a guess. What we will do is come out, look at it, and put a written quotation in front of you.
What drives the cost
- Conversion type — rooflight, dormer, hip-to-gable, or a combination
- How much steel the new floor needs, which depends on the span and the walls below
- Where the staircase lands, and whether that means altering the floor below
- Whether an en-suite is included, and how far it is from existing drainage
- Roof covering — matching existing stone or slate costs more than concrete tile
- Scaffold requirements, particularly on terraces and restricted access
Common questions
Questions we get asked
Is my loft high enough to convert?
As a rule of thumb you need about 2.2m from the top of the existing ceiling joists to the underside of the ridge, because the new floor and the insulation both eat into it. Below that, a conversion may still be possible by altering the roof structure, but it changes the job significantly. We measure it at the survey and tell you straight.
Will a loft conversion add a bedroom I can sell as one?
Only if it is signed off by building control as habitable space, which means the floor structure, the staircase, the fire escape route and the alarms all comply. A boarded loft with a ladder is storage, not a bedroom, and a buyer's solicitor will ask for the certificate. Every conversion we do is signed off.
Do you need to come through the house?
Some of the time, yes — but most of the material goes up through the scaffold and the roof, and we form the staircase opening as late as the sequence allows. We will tell you at quotation stage which weeks involve traffic through the house.
Related
Other building & structure services
- Home extensions Single and two-storey rear, side and wraparound extensions, from first survey to building control sign-off.
- Garage conversions Turning an attached or integral garage into a habitable, insulated and properly signed-off room.
- New build construction Individual houses through to multi-unit schemes, taken from foundations to handover.
- Structural works & underpinning Steels, load-bearing wall removal, underpinning and remedial work to existing structures.
- Groundworks & civils Excavation, foundations, drainage, retaining structures and hard standings.
Start a conversation about your project
Tell us what you are planning. We will come out, look at it properly, and put a written quotation in front of you.