Loft Conversion
One of the first jobs Decor-Solutions was
contracted to do was a loft conversion in the Kings Road.
The loft had already been boarded out and electricity provided for
some basic lighting however the intention was to convert this useful
space from a basic dumping ground into a usable and comfortable
spare room.
The location of water tanks made the job easier
as these could be just boxed in and did not need re-locating or
exchanging for coffin type* tanks.
Having drawn up some plans for the conversion it
was necessary first to clear the rubbish from the loft and move the
remaining items into the eves to aid working. Then we had fitted a
Velux window into the roof and ran mains electricity up from the
landing circuit to provide power.
It was decided to work around the supporting
beams and whilst cleaning back the wood this was to be left
untreated to provide character to the final appearance of the room.
The original boarding out was done on two levels because of the
rafters it was laid on. We decided not to change this as the
central area easily provided room for the intended sofa-bed.
The side cupboards were boarded in using a 3” x
2” (75MM x 50MM) stud partition wall covered in 3’ x 6’ (1M x 2M)
plasterboard. Doors were chosen to provide two accessible cupboards
to the storage areas under the eves. A further door was provided to
attain access to the taps on the water tanks should the need arise.
The section of wall by the water tanks was fixed using screws rather
than nails to provide easier access if the water tanks needed to be
replaced in the future. This could therefore be done without the
need to demolish one cupboard wall. Details regarding this have
been left on the cupboard door. On one side the cupboard did not
run the full length of the room as space was needed for the loft
ladder when it is folded away as seen in the photos.
Whilst putting the plasterboard facing onto the
cupboards we continued to cover the inside of the loft eves too.
The plasterboard was backed by 2” (50MM) polystyrene sheets cut to
size to fit between the loft beams to provide the room with good
insulation.
Two bookcases to one end of the room were also
boxed in using the same boarding and thus hiding the unsightly
chimney breasts. Once completed the entire walls and ceiling, with
the exception of one end, were covered with Novymura embossed
wallpaper and painted. One end wall was painted in Terracotta red
to provide a feature wall. At the client’s request all the woodwork
was not painted or treated at all but merely rubbed down and
finished.
For security purposes a second internal loft
hatch was fitted to cover the access should anyone be staying in the
room for a period of time. We have found from experience that you
tend to relax into feeling you are in a conventional room and forget
that there is a loft hole in the floor, accidents are thus
prevented.
Finally the entire flooring was covered in a
snap together wooden flooring cover for ease of cleaning and
creative appearance, a light quadrant was used to finish off the
edges.
The job was completed in 4 weeks.
* A coffin water
tank, as its name suggests, is roughly 6’ (2M) in length and 1’ x
1’ (35MM x 35MM) at the end like a coffin. It is designed to fit in
the eves of a loft when the space is needed, e.g. for a room
conversion. Its capacity is usually the same as a conventional
water tank.
Back to Recent Projects
(see pictures)