Loft Conversions
Need more space without moving house? EDDI Construction Ltd designs and builds loft conversions across North West London — turning an unused roof space into a bright bedroom, home office or en-suite, managed from first drawing to final coat of paint.
Call +44 7492 350404Most NW London homes have a loft that is doing nothing but storing boxes. A well-planned conversion is usually the cheapest way to add a full extra room and real value to your property. We handle dormer conversions, Velux (rooflight) conversions and hip-to-gable builds, and we will tell you honestly which type suits your roof, your budget and the look of your street.
Because we bring carpentry, plastering, plumbing, electrics coordination and decorating under one roof, you are not left chasing five different trades. We handle the structural steel and floor joists, insulation and fire safety, the staircase, plus the plumbing for a new en-suite if you want one — then finish and decorate so the room is ready to use.
You get a written, itemised quote before anything starts, so you know exactly what you are paying for. We turn up when we say we will, protect the rest of your home while we work, and clear up at the end of every day. Most of our work comes from referrals, which only happens when people are happy to have you back.
The three main options are not interchangeable, and the right one is largely decided by the roof you already have. A Velux or rooflight conversion is the least disruptive and the cheapest — no change to the roof shape, just insulation, a floor, a staircase and windows in the existing slope — but it only works where you already have enough head height, roughly 2.2 to 2.4 metres at the ridge. A rear dormer is the most common answer in North West London because it creates full standing height across most of the floor and usually gives room for an en-suite. A hip-to-gable suits the many 1930s semis and end-terraces around Wembley, Harrow and Kingsbury where the roof slopes in on the side: squaring that hip off into a vertical gable wall adds a substantial amount of usable floor before a dormer is even considered, and the two are often done together. We measure the head height and look at the roof structure before recommending anything, because a conversion type chosen on price alone tends to produce a room nobody enjoys using.
Planning permission and building regulations are two separate things, and a loft needs building control approval whether or not it needs planning. The parts that catch people out are structural and safety rather than cosmetic. The existing ceiling joists were never designed to carry a floor, so new floor joists go in alongside them, usually on steel beams spanning to the load-bearing walls. Turning a two-storey house into three storeys changes the fire escape route, which means fire doors on the rooms off the new stair, a protected stairway running all the way down to the front door, and mains-wired interlinked smoke alarms. Insulation has to meet current standards in the roof slope and the dormer walls. The staircase itself needs adequate headroom and a compliant pitch, and where that goes is often the single biggest constraint on the layout — which is why it is worth settling early rather than late. We handle building control throughout and coordinate the drawings, structural calculations and inspections.
A loft conversion is one of the few major building jobs you can usually live through, but only if it is run properly. Most of the noisy structural work happens above your ceilings rather than inside your living space, and much of the material can go up through scaffolding at the rear rather than through your hallway. The disruptive moments are predictable: cutting the opening for the staircase, which brings dust into the landing below, and connecting the new plumbing and electrics into the existing system. We tell you when those days are coming rather than surprising you with them, sheet and protect the route between the front door and the works, and clear up at the end of each day rather than at the end of the job. If you have decided to move out for part of it, we will tell you honestly which weeks are worth being away for.
Most loft conversions take around 6 to 10 weeks depending on the type and whether an en-suite is included. We give you a realistic timeline in your quote and keep you updated as work progresses.
Many loft conversions fall under permitted development, but dormers and larger builds can need planning permission. We will advise on what your project needs and can help coordinate drawings and building control.
We build loft conversions across North West London, including Wembley, Harrow, Brent, Edgware, Kingsbury, Willesden, Cricklewood, Hendon and Stanmore.
As a rule of thumb you want roughly 2.2 to 2.4 metres from the existing ceiling joists to the ridge before the floor and insulation go in. Less than that does not rule a conversion out, but it usually means a dormer or a hip-to-gable rather than a simple rooflight conversion. We measure it properly before recommending a type.
A dormer is a box built out of the roof slope, usually at the rear, that creates full standing height across most of the new floor. A hip-to-gable squares off a sloping side roof into a vertical gable wall, which suits the 1930s semis and end-terraces common across NW London. They are often combined — the gable adds the floor area, the dormer adds the head height.
Yes, and they are separate. Many conversions fall under permitted development for planning purposes but every loft conversion needs building control approval — for the new floor structure, fire escape route, fire doors, interlinked alarms and insulation. We handle building control and coordinate the structural calculations and inspections.
Most people do. The bulk of the structural work happens above your ceilings and materials can usually go up via rear scaffolding rather than through your hallway. The genuinely disruptive days are cutting the staircase opening and tying the new plumbing and electrics in — we tell you when those are coming rather than surprising you.
Yes, and it is one of the most common additions. It needs the supply and waste running up from the existing system and, on some older gravity systems, a solution for the pressure at that height. We handle the plumbing as part of the build rather than leaving you to arrange it separately.