The Real Bottleneck in Loft Conversions Isn’t the Loft

Ask any homeowner what will make or break a loft conversion, and they’ll tell you about headroom, pitch, insulation and more. Almost no one will mention the staircase, though – and yet, it is often the staircase that makes or breaks a loft conversion project altogether.

It’s a problem of geometry rather than ambition. Building regulations control that there must be sufficient headroom above each step of a staircase, as well as that the maximum angle that a staircase can take is specified. Even if there is ample floor space in the loft area and if the pitch of the roof is suitable for a staircase, it’s impossible to build the staircase due to insufficient floor space to accommodate the staircase in a way that doesn’t encroach upon an existing bedroom.

This is why the best loft conversions are often designed backwards. Instead of asking “what can we build up there?”, the most experienced designers will ask themselves “where can a staircase actually go?” This has a ripple effect on the rest of the design, influencing factors like how much usable space will be left in the house downstairs, where the door to the new room will go, and how much natural light will enter the space from the rooms below. For Loft Conversions Bristol, contact caineslofts.co.uk

The deciding factor in how high to extend a house is usually not who will live in the loft itself but rather someone who lives one floor down – in the stairwell – whose needs must be accounted for in planning the extension of that loft.