"...in hindsight..."  
   

 

 

 

So that's the big question isn't it? After having a loft conversion done, what lessons did I learn that I would pass on as advice and heed myself if I was doing again?

First of all, don't be too concerned about company I used and instead assume they're all the same. The company I used may still be around as before, it may have been sold to someone else, the staff may have changed (so who are they working for now?) and they may even have downsized and increased their quality and every customer's a happy one. Or maybe not. We don't know, so lets leave that out!

Right, to get it out of the way, one consideration is perhaps to not use a specialist one-stop-shop company at all. One point of view is that "specialist" may be specialist in cutting corners, whereas another is they have done so many they know exactly what to do and are less likely to experience problems. As an alternative you could consider getting an architect and building firm instead. Or maybe not? Having employed an architect to design my rear extension, the inaccuracy (meters of inaccuracy, not mm of inaccuracy!) and incompetence (ie. missing a supporting wall, missing a sewer drain) leads me to believe that these expensive professionals aren't to be relied upon either. Personally, if I was doing it again, I think I would tend to veer towards a specialist company.

Anyway, there are 3 main points that I would focus on. Plan drawings, plan schedule and a code of conduct.

1) Plan drawings

Plans showing detailed drawings of precisely what you'll get.

Ensure this is not a 'template' plan of a loft conversion. Done correctly it should contain measurements so you know not only how long the room is, but how much of that is usable. These plans you should show where the windows, toilet, sink, shower are going. Where the radiators will be, where the plug sockets will be, where the lights and the switches will be.

Put a breakpoint in the contract so you don't go any further until they have the plans as you want them. If they can't get the plans to how you're happy with you should be able to back out and get your deposit back.

The plans form part of the contract so ask yourself if they are intending to deliver what you think you're buying? The reason I say this is that they never actually had our loft specifics in writing where they would be, always saying "no problem". And be aware of friendly people with reassuring words - the memory of these words may vanish in time!

The sales and the project manager said that they would be asking us later where we wanted such things, as we would confirm doors, door handles, skirting boards, etc. None of this happened and being wary I might not get want I wanted, I ended up making my own plans and marking requirements on these to give to the contractors. Oh, AND I marked them on the wall with a spray can.. but they still got ignored  (because they used different sub contractors with no co-ordination or checking).

We found that the main bedroom had less space than we expected due to the pitch of the roof, but the bathroom was bigger due to the stairs design. At the sales / agreement stage you'll find that you can add in as many power points as you want without affecting the price... but once it's in construction additional points may come at additional cost.

Basically - ensure that what you want is in writing as it's much easier to wave in their face. As our plans bore so little resemblance to what we actually have we couldn't do that. What we had were always default loft plans and never customised.

Don't let the contractors start work until you have the plans how you want.. as they'll keep stalling you until they start and then their feet are under the table and you soon won't be in a strong bargaining position, but instead be fearful of stopping work. Remember my roof (pic right) that got demolished so quickly...?

 
2) Plan schedule Plans showing what work will be done at what date.

It should document the work packages (ie, plumber, roofer, electrician, etc..) and the maximum time a package could take, the dependencies and then, the actual dates that it will be started/finished.

This plan should show what payments are due after which work packages have been completed. Be sure to agree and document what constitutes a completing a work package (so a payment is due). For example, is "roofed in" when part of the roof is on and the veluxes are installed or when the roof is on, the veluxes installed, windows in, doors in, stairs in, roof is fully complete?

Against these build in financial penalties for slippage, whilst being reasonable. If they can't commit (to the worst case dates), then personally I would ask myself why. You don't have to be anal about this, but you need an agreed basis for measuring progress and knowing if they are on or off track rather than relying on someone to tell you it's all ok.

Also, ensure the payment schedule leaves sufficient for a completion amount. What I didn't spot until it went wrong is the payment schedule I had was far too heavily weighed on the company's side and they were always in a position of walking out and being in profit. I had no leverage and it showed.

 
3) Code of conduct Agree (and document) how you expect them to work around your home, to acknowledge that whilst it's their building site, it's also your home.

For example:

  • = House to be kept secured at all times:
  •               -   No leaving the front door open
                  -   No leaving loft hatches open with ladders propped open
                  -   Loft space to be properly secured at end of the day (that's not a piece of insulation over it)
  • = Rubbish to be kept to the skip or on the scaffolding.
  • = Landing area to be safe at all times (any banisters removed to be replaced by temporary ones)
  • = Any mess inside the house will be cleared up that day. For example, no cutting wood on the landing carpet and leaving the mess.
  • = When they create excessive dust (ie. when they break through) they should seal off the doors, and clear up the mess after
  • = They will not store tools on new, cream carpet
  • = If they help themselves to a cup of tea, they clear up afterwards (not take all the cups in the house and lock them upstairs)
  • = What time they cannot start before or finish after. Can they work weekends?

Basically, things to respect your home. You may also want to include an acknowledgement of what they will do which is undesirable (like where the skip goes, that the downstairs will need redecorating, that the landing carpet will be ruined, etc..)

That document might sound a bit over the top, but there are are always expectations out of sync between the builder and "just another building site" and you, who has to live there (especially if they double the agreed build time). The salesman will, of course, tell you that all of the above is what they'll do anyway!

Bear in mind that the company we used have 9 teams and builders that do the main structure in about 2 weeks (the team we had were on another job as they started ours, and went to another job before finishing ours). That's over 100 conversions a year. Although you're spending a vast amount of money, to them you're just another punter and another loft...
 

What went wrong

= We believed them when they said 3 to 4 weeks. My opinion is that they just want to get in there and get started, then just like familiar outsourced contracts, once their feet are under the table.. they're very difficult to get out! To mitigate this, ensure what they say during sales is backed up in writing and tell them that this is why you're going with their firm. The detailed plan (2 above) should be able to let you track if they're going to hit the time they say.

= Their subcontractors are paid per job rather than per day, so on a bigger job they get less, and hence have a financial incentive to cut corners. Of course, the "we don't use subcontractors" should solve that problem, but that's what we thought we had.

In my case the builders who put the main structure in told me they are paid a set amount for the job, which is 12 days. If they take 13 days, they don't get the extra day's payment. As the steels were cut to the wrong length (2 days) and the stairs were not what they've seen before (2 days) they lost 4 days on their contract... which explains (but doesn't excuse!) their need to cut corners.



What went right

= Having it done in the first place. It's fantastic - lots of space and a really nice, airy room that makes a real difference to the house.

= The stairs. Pushing for the right stairs made SUCH a huge difference. They tried so hard to make us take stairs we didn't want and I would not compromise. The result is fantastic (compared to the 'ladder' style we didn't want). We later found out that the stairs takes an extra 2 days and the parts are more expensive.. so this is probably why the firm was reluctant.

= No macerator. Although we had pressure from the salesman, every person we've spoken to who has a macerator and every plumber ever says to stay away from them at all costs. Noisy and unreliable! Running a foul waste pipe instead takes extra labour and extra parts - hence the pressure to reassure you they're ok.

= Air-conditioning. The regulations for minimum insulation in the loft is considerable so much so that in the first winter we didn't have the heating on at all.. but this means in the summer the place does heat up. I know the sales patter on the insulation says it reflects the sun - well eventually the sun's heat does get through and the insulation certainly doesn't let it out! No air conditioning can make the room almost unbearable. Ok, so you can open the window, but you get woken up by the bright sunlight and the birds chirping on the roof right next to your ear from 5am!

 

Anything else?

= Don't pay too much attention to member bodies like the Guild of Master Craftsmen. They appear to be too easy to join, have a weak appeals process, no comeback for the consumer and in my opinion is just a logo used to appear more reputable. Of course I'm sure bodies such as the Guild of Master Craftsmen will say they have a rigorous process of vetting members.. even if that's the case what if the staff who were assessed leave - do they get their membership reviewed or is it all ok as long as they're paying the membership fees?

= Watch for that floor going down. Each time someone cuts a chunk out of it is another creak you'll have forever. The floorboards should not be secured until all the electrics, heating, water and insulation is in.

= Consider that once you have a section of your landing nice, neat and new, you'll probably want to redecorate the rest of the landing, then the stairs, then the hallway.... in fact you'll end up redecorating most of the house by stealth! We ended up doing the walls, floor, carpets and ceilings from the front door all the way up. Looks nice though!

= Get things in writing, consider anything verbally agreed never happened. Be professional but firm in your dealings. If someone does a really good job in allaying your fears, it may well be a skill they possess rather than having actually have solved the problem.

= Project manager / foreman / co-ordinator - call them what you want, but I would advise you insist on someone monitoring the worker's progress almost daily.

= Building control inspector - this man is your friend, he's on your side. Get to know him, keep in touch, advise him of your concerns.

= Keeping a diary - now this was a good idea! Not only have over 20,000 people been entertained by my ramblings (ok, page impressions, not unique visitors but still!), but it has been an excellent track of what has happened. Even if you decide not to put it on the internet for all to see but write it down on paper and take pictures with your Brownie, record what has happened and when - do not rely on your memory!

Good luck! I hope some of that helped!

Ben

 contact@myloftextension.co.uk

 

www.MyLoftExtension.co.uk

 

  


 

 

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