Loft hatch widening - recommendations, please?

[Hissing Syd]

Morning!

I have a ridiculously narrow loft hatch in my house, which needs widening, and ideally an extendable ladder fitting.

As ever, I'm on a very low wage/budget, but I can't put this off any longer. If anybody could recommend someone good and reliable, who wouldn't cost the earth, then I would be very grateful.

Cheers!

[Oaktree]

Another plea for any recommendations for this as I need to find someone to do this work too!

[mosy]

I imagine loft hatches are small due to spacing of joists, i.e. you could lengthen the opening but not make it wider without cutting into joists. Joists support the roof of course so obviously can't just cut through one. So I wondered what was involved and found this instructional which shows how the cut joist(s) can be tied together to maintain their weight-supporting capability: http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/en ... _hatch.htm

My observations would be that (a) if an older house it probably has substantial Imperial-size joists so matching them (as advised) would be very expensive as commonly available modern joists are much smaller and in metric sizes. (b) You can see how much work is involved and that any cuts need to be absolutely accurate if the new joist "ties" are to sit flush (not rock) and maintain overall integrity. (c) Gawd help you (well your house) if an installer does a less than perfect job!

The point of my post is really that I'd want to know likely material and time cost and level of competence needed. Bear in mind that anyone could cut through a joist willy nilly which is why DIY regulations were introduced notwithstanding existing planning consent required for any alterations to load bearing items and would need a drawing to support the hoped-for consent, which you might need if/when you try to sell the house.

You might want to check whether you'd invalidate your building insurance. There are stupid get out clauses, e.g. you can't claim for a downstairs whatever if you invalidated the policy by something irrelevant like not locking your upstairs bedroom windows or somesuch. Read T&Cs with a fine tooth comb if you don't believe me

I hope the above is helpful. If the above adds nothing to your knowledge, then you've only lost a minute by reading it.

[Oaktree]

Thanks Mosy - your comments are exactly why I'm looking for someone to recommend someone good for this work...

[mosy]

Absolutely. In the absence of recommendations my best initial thought is that you could maybe find out if any similar planning applications (or loft conversions) have been lodged (online that you can see) which might show builders or structural engineers? Sometimes, if you ring the council planning dept, you can get through to a knowledgeable person sometimes - might need to sound like the proverbial dizzy blonde or Manuel's "I know nothing" to provoke sympathy though

[Hissing Syd]

Thanks for your response, Mosy.

I take your point re structure etc, but at the moment the hatch is so small that there is no possibility of gaining access to the loft, short of forcing Oliver Twist up there at gunpoint. I know it can be widened, as my neighbour's house is the twin of mine and has a normal sized hatch. And with the onset of winter, I'd really like to be able to get up there and put a bucket down if (God forbid) necessary.

No joy finding anybody as yet though. I also now find myself in need of a plumber to fit a low level loo with a wall mounted cistern, so any leads or recommendations for a trustworthy and reasonable person to do either of these things would be very gratefully accepted!

[mosy]

For the new loo, you could try Trevor Dee 07831 567823 who is qualified for gas and plumbing. I know he can do this and he's certainly reliable and trustworthy. He tends to have a very full workbook so I usually send him a brief text and ask him to call when he has a minute. I can't say how reasonable his prices are but I guess they must be OK if he's always busy.

Edit: I know he can fit a replacement loo, not sure if he could install a wholly new one if new waste outlet needed to be installed and connected somehow to existing outflow. You can buy loos that work by extracting all moisture so that remaining "proceeds" can be removed for disposal elsewhere. Probably cost a fortune but a solution if connecting to existing outflow means moving mountains. Look up waterless toilets.
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For the loft hatch, you could try the "find a builder" service from the Federation of Master Builders: http://www.fmb.org.uk/#

If no joy, could try estate agents or any local building society who will probably know surveyors who might know builders.

If you can't access the loft at all, I've no idea if you might need to jack up the ceiling first. Not trying to scaremonger - the reverse actually as it means you could also try to find a builder who knocks walls down for through lounges as they'd know about joists holding up (or not) while they install the requisite RSJ, or in your case while cutting joists out to widen the hatch.

Someone once told me that all we had to do was to find the person who knows and ask them, et voila. (Now we'd say seemples.) Even if the trail can be as long as "the house that Jack built".

[Oaktree]

Hissingsyd - I found the details of a nice man called Graham on the east dulwich forum (where he has lots of recommendations) and he widened our hatch today - am very pleased!

[Hissing Syd]

Many thanks for your responses, both of you! I've got the number of the man you mentioned, Oaktree, and will give him a ring.

Thanks again for taking the time,

HS