These pages contain a diary detailing my experience of having a loft converted into a bedroom/bathroom and how such a simple task was more trouble than anticipated.

The idea to keep a blog came after reading Steve's excellent account of his house build [click] and I thought it would be good to do something similar as an interesting record to look back on and see the 'before', 'in between' and 'after' pictures. Little did I know that it would turn into such a long drawn out saga! However before this starts to appear pessimistic I must state I love the final result!

I chose a company advertised on Google, with a nice website, good brochure and professional salesman. They claimed they were a friendly, family owned company which had been in business for quite a while, used no subcontractors and were specialist. The reality was I did not get the quality or professionalism expected and in hindsight don't believe I selected the best firm. You will need to read the blog to form your own opinion on that.

However, this blog details my experience as a homeowner and I have taken care to ensure this blog does not highlight the failings of one company. Since this website has been up I have been contacted by a others who have also not been satisfied with the firms they used and interestingly some of the aggressive actions sound familiar. I have a 'Hindsight' page where I've consolidated some thoughts based on feedback received and my own experience.

Loft conversions are comparatively not difficult and there is a great deal of profit in them so amongst the reputable companies out there, lesser ones will exist. And what is a lesser company? A good one with a proud reputation may take on more work than they're sized to deal with and perhaps that's when standards slip? It's a reasonable business strategy to not turn down work, but if you're the customer in that element of over expansion, it may not be so good for you. But how do you know you are?

Someone who contacted me chose their loft company by watching them do another job nearby, spoke to previous customers, checked their Companies House listing and even watched them do a job for a Channel 4 programme. When it all went really nasty and legal action was needed, they phoenixed! (ie. the company was closed and re-appeared under a slightly different name)

In another example, a colleague at work had a company claim his job was completed, but he disagreed. The company said they had the building control certificate, signed off by the council and therefore the job was completed and final payment due. If he didn't pay they would leave the scaffolding up and not issue the cert. He refused, they left the scaffolding up for 9 months and never issued the cert.. but when he contacted the council, it transpires the structure was not signed off and significant work was needed to make it compliant. Oh, and this particular firm's website was absolutely fantastic.

So how do you select the right company... or avoid the right company that's taken on too much volume and won't give you the professional job you expect? I don't know.. but if you trawl through this you may well get some ideas.

This site has 2 areas; the diary and my thoughts in hindsight.

Rather than simply stating "don't go with XYZ company", I've attempted to be more constructive as companies have the most amazing ability to phoenix (ie. go out of business and appear next week under a different name) making avoidance of a company through it's name very difficult. The company I used, "Heritage Lofts & Extensions", went into liquidation so no longer exists but around that time a new company sporting the same website, same director, same address, and doing the same work appeared.

Anyway, enjoy..

Loft extension diary / blog

My thoughts in hindsight

If you want to get in touch, please do. Quite a few have already and it's interesting for me to hear from others who've been unfortunate in their building contractors and how their actions are similar. Alternatively, if this site has helped you or given you some ideas it'd be nice to hear from you. :)

                Email me at: contact@myloftextension.co.uk