Hi
This is slightly OT as I don't plan to do it myself but...
We have a truss roof (if that's the right term for a roof thats made up from an array of prefabricated wooden triangles). The roof space is full of criss-cross wooden beams so I guess that a loft conversion would require a complete new roof. Has anyone here done a loft conversion on a roof like this and what was involved?
Many thanks
Nick
My sister had one done. Putting it simply, they (the builders) put in a steel frame resting on the house walls to support the new floor, massive new timbers to hold up the roof (which may have been tied to the steels at the bottom - I didn't see that bit) and then cut away the old trusses. The existing roof covering remained in place throughout except for a small area of the existing tiles and felt removed to allow materials to be craned in.
They lost a lot of headroom in the process and ended up with something which I think was a waste of money. It cost =A345K 3-4 years ago but that included a new en-suite in half of the bedroom that they lost to fit in the new staircase, fancy lighting and solid wood flooring so I don't know how much the bare conversion would have been. Apparently the insulation part of the building regs changed sometime during the planning stage and they lost more headroom than they thought due to the extra insulation. I reckon they lost at least 12" with the raised floor and lowered roof.
MBQ
Hi Nick. My mate used these guys two years ago.
the extra wood enables them to make it all from matchsticks. New larger wood can be added alongside the existing roof timbers, then the matchwood forest cut away.
There may be more to it though, eg bracing, purlins, firebreak, etc.
NT
Your original post didn't appear here for some reason. We have replaced or altered a number of roof trusses in buildings for loft conversions. We have one coming up soon for a family whose architect had the stairs finishing directly under the bottom string of the truss! It will depend on the design of the roof structure, it might well be possible to do it without removing the roof but that would depend on many factors. Structurally it can probably be done but it would also depend on whether the roof can be propped during the work (unless old truss can be left in the meantime) and ease of access for getting new materials into place. You need to ask a good builder with experience of this sort of thing (some won't have a clue), or preferably a structural engineer.
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