Many of us want to make the most of our homes with loft conversions.

It’s far cheaper to improve rather than move – there are a number of popular TV programmes that regularly prove the point and shows you how you could transform your home.

With growing families, hobbies, and an increase in people working from home, we need to be able to use every inch of available space in our houses and flats.

Attic rooms make excellent home offices. They’re away from the bustle of the rest of the house and allow you to separate your working and home lives.

They are also great spaces for hobbies like crafting, sewing, and painting, giving you the space for materials and a good workspace.

Attic conversions make excellent master bedroom suites or spaces for teenage children.

Research by one online trades quotation checker showed that householders often spend in excess of £30,000 on loft conversions.

4 things you need to check before you convert your loft:

1. Have your neighbours converted their lofts? If so, there’s a planning precedent – that should make your application easier.
2. Check out how much those with converted lofts have sold for on Rightmove.co.uk, and compare prices with those who haven’t converted. Is it worth the investment?
3. Check out the sold prices of homes with one more bedroom than yours – that should also give you an idea of whether the spend will be worth it. Every street has a ceiling price.
4. How are you going to heat your converted room? Think about this before you convert. A loft conversion can often be the coldest room in the house. The Energy Saving Trust shows that a quarter of the heat in our homes is lost through the roof.

That last check point could have implications for how you use your room for years.

What’s the point in spending tens of thousands of pounds on a ‘room-in-the-roof’ conversion if you can only use it for half the year – or face a hike in your heating bills?

There’s a simple solution: Room-in-Roof Insulation.

Rather than insulating the loft floor, you need to insulate the roof itself.

How is it done?

• Rigid insulation boards are fixed between the roof rafters. Get the highest performance insulation board to ensure you retain as much heat as possible in your home.
• Boards are cut to fit snugly between them, and are then covered in plasterboard. To get the best results, insulated plasterboard is used.
• You’ll also need to insulate walls in your attic room with rigid insulation boards, and take care to insulate well around Dorma windows.
• You need to ensure your rafters get proper ventilation.
• Getting the right insulation and ensuring the boards are fitted properly is a skill – it’s well worth calling in a professional to ensure you get it right. They’ll also ensure the materials used are suitable for your home.

The good news is that this can be done when constructing your room or if you have an existing attic conversion which you desperately need to make warm and cosy before the winter.

City Energy has experts who can advise you on the best way to make sure your room in the roof is usable all the year round.  Contact us today by emailing info@cityenergy.org.uk or calling 02920 499 183.