Question About Attic Conversion

Hello

A family member is in the process of having their attic converted into a room (does not have correct headroom, to be a bedroom but thats not an issue as it's primarily only for use as another room for storage etc).

The house is a small (say 1,100 sq ft) , 3-bed semi-d of modern build (approx 15 years old).

Wooden beams which were we think were previously used as supports to help hold the roof in place have been removed, but it seems new additional wooden beams have been put into the room alongside the original ones.

Work is ongoing and seems to be progressing well, from the eyes of a novice.

However, a family friend who was around visiting has told us there should be steel put into the room of the attic, (in addition to the floor where this has been done) to reinforce the roof.

We are now concerned that the tradesmen who are doing the job (we've seen their adverts and examples of their work locally), may be cutting corners and in effect, could be weakening the room by not putting in this steel.

Does anyone here know how this should be done, what determins if it should be done or not ?

Thank you.

Two steel girders should run from the gable ends front and back, from these the new attic floor is suspended and on top of these girders is the new timber frame walls which reinforces the roof and replaces the timber supports that were removed. That’s how mine is done. Have seen a good few conversions (family, friends etc), none of them have steel reinforcing their roof either, and all are certified.

twofor1 said:

Two steel girders should run from the gable ends front and back, from these the new attic floor is suspended and on top of these girders is the new timber frame walls which reinforces the roof and replaces the timber supports that were removed. That’s how mine is done. Have seen a good few conversions (family, friends etc), none of them have steel reinforcing their roof either, and all are certified.

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Mine has been done recently & steel girders were used as mentioned by twofor1

Usually there are two steel I-beams running across and the joists for the floor are suspended in these - effectively you get a new floor above the old ceiling. In some cases a third, smaller, steel beam is used to form a span for the roof ridge - when we converted in the UK this is what we had done when converting a hip roof to a gable dormer - as this saves headroom.

Should be someone signing this off for conformance with building regs., they should know what should be done.....

SSE

Hello

Thank you all very much for this.

As mentioned, the steel is visible which will support the new attic floor, but not to help support the roof.

This was the cause of the conern, but from the sounds of things, you guys generally feel that's OK (don't worry I won't blame you later if it proves wrong etc !!!)

There is a sign off at the end of the job, so fingers crossed that will be OK.

I just wish there was some way of getting someone independent, to come in and inspect other tradesmen's work sometimes .. most of the time, the architect refers the tradesmen etc etc.


Thank you.

If roof supports have been removed then there should be an engineer ( with Professional Indemnity Insurance ) who has said it is ok and will certify it. he should have done sketches and calculations before the work started and these should be availabel to see . he should also be visiting to see the work and not just at the end when most or all of the structural work will be covered. If you have concerns then ask builder to stop work until you meet engineer and he demonstrates that the work is progressing in line with his instructions.

( For the pedantic please substitute her, she etc above for female engineer )