Things to look for if your house or flat is in a city. The following problems could be missed by your builder or local company and could have unforeseen problems which will cost you extra money that you might not be aware of until its too late.

The problems are as follows:

If there is only one point of access into the flat. There may only be access through the front door. If there is no rear access to the property all the materials may have to go through the communal area or through the house. This could be at an extra cost as it will take longer. Plus no builder really wants to do this. As well as having to carry the materials up the 2/3 flights of stairs the team will have to go through tight turning corridors which is often very difficult.

If your house or flat is on a double yellow line or on a red route. It then might have a restriction like a certain day when the crane company can operate so it doesn’t restrict the flow of traffic. If its a Saturday or Sunday, the crane company could charge you or your company extra for a weekend slot and this cost is normally absorbed by the customer even though they may not know it at the start.

If there is a bus shelter and/or bus stop outside the property. This will cause similar problems to the point above but also you may not ever be able to use a crane for the build. This decision is made by the local council subject to health and safety to the general public. If you cant use a crane you/your company may have to use an electronic wench which is attached to the side of the scaffolding. It roughly costs the same amount as a crane but it takes alot longer to lift everything up onto the scaffolding and into the roof. Health and safety issues are also present with regards to storing materials on the front scaffold and working off it with such a busy street. One situation I’ve been in before is that there was a bus stop and shelter that where always in constant use, even on a Sunday the buses were running from 6am until midnight every 3 minutes… This is a major problem for a building company, the council and for your road. Also if the road is very slim it can cause issues for the crane delivering materials.

If your house is on or below a parade of shops there is also a major issues with the scaffolding. It will have to be netted, possibly have a scaffolding alarm fitted and be specially designed so the general public can safely walk underneath the building area. Costs are around £1000 on top of the quoted scaffolding cost.

Most of the points above will all need a scaffolding license as the health and safety implications are massive. There is also nowhere for the skip to go at the front of the property. If there is a side road you can apply for a permit form the council but if there are yellow lines on the side road there will be costs attached, approx £200+ a week which again will probably be missed but then get absorbed by the customer…

If there are no parking bays that can be suspended for the trades to park, the tickets will cost around £1 to £2 per hour in most cities. Trade permits can be available in some areas and are alot cheaper but will need to be arranged with the local council by the home owner.

A “Tin hat” is the scaffolder’s name for a temporary roof structure.

It is part of the scaffolding that protects the whole roof when exposed to many weather conditions that your house could face when having a loft conversion done. By laying long corrugated aluminium sheets down across the whole area of the roof it protects the house from all potential problems like rain and snow. It’s made of Aluminium so it’s light and easy to carry around but i still cant imagine this being an easy job for a team of scaffolder’s. The picture above shows just how high the scaffolding has to be built up before the tin hat can be laid.

The costs for a tin hat would usually be around £800 to £1000 extra on top of the standard price of scaffolding which will already be included in your quotation/estimate (This price based on a semi detached house @ 5.5m wide)

For bigger jobs that are having major construction works done on or for jobs that the main roof will be open for a considerably long time on is definitely worth paying the extra for. Even if it is just for the peice of mind.

On a detached house the cost could be as much as £2,500 to £3,500 extra. Only because all four of the scoffolding sides will have to be extended up and reinforced over the entire roof area which is a very big job.

Winter would also be a wise time to pay the extra for a tin hat. Please speak to at least two professionals for advise on this before Deciding to pay for this option.

The majority of fitters/builders who build lofts will always prefer to use a Tin hat. Not only does it speed the job up, it also makes their life so much easier instead of trying to guess the next days weather conditions. At night they also know they wont be receiving a dreaded phone call from you at four in the morning saying there’s water coming through the ceilings because they didn’t waterproof the roof properly.

When a tin hat isn’t being used, tarpaulin is the standard product that is. It is perfect for smaller lofts or for doing lofts in the Spring/Summer months. Normally the builder will be able to use tarpaulin to protect against showers and within a 10 minute down fall have the whole roof watertight.

If any water damage are made to the inside of your house as the work is being done the builder should offer to put right any damages made, in the worst cases it should also be covered by their public liability insurance. Do check all this with your company/builder before the work commences and its too late…

When having a loft conversion the scaffolding normally goes across the front of the property for access and storage of materials and to the rear of the property for protection and safety when building the dormer / mansard. When having just a Velux conversion it is standard practice just to have scaffolding to the front because nothing apart from Veluxs will be going into the rear and would just be a waste of money (your money).

The front scaffolding is erected so the builders can work in and out of a hole in the roof without having to come through the house with major construction materials such as steel RSJ’s and heavy timbers. Going in and out of the roof should last at least 3/4 of the total build time as the stairs are the last part to go in as part of the first fix process. This means that until the stairs are in you shouldn’t have anyone coming in and out of your front door or through your house.

Scaffolding Dimensions

The scaffolding at the front is around 5-6 ft from the front wall so most of the heavy materials will fit on there in one crane lift. The scaffolding should also be built timber blocks to protect the path or drive way.

If your house is a semi detached or a end of terrace you will need scaffolding down the side to protect the tradesmen when building the loft. It should only be around 1ft or 3 planks wide though so you don’t need to much width between houses.

If you don’t own the land down the side of the property or you live in a flat and worried about the freeholder or neighbours there should be a clause in your lease or contract to state that any roofing or structural works to be done on your property allow you access the their land to access your roof i.e scaffolding use. Please check with your solicitor for further details and legal advise before going round to your neighbours demanding access. Or you could just try asking them nicely!!!

Also if down the side of your house there is an alley, small drive or access point to yours or other neighbours garages the scaffolding company will be able to bridge the alley with reinforced scaffolding so everyone will still be able to use the access point. This would cost roughly £800 extra on top of the normal scaffolding costs and is based on an 8 week build time.

If you have a conservatory, this should be boarded over by the scaffolders with some sort of ply board or chip board so if any debres falls from the loft onto your extension or conservatory it will be fully protected. It is always good to check your company or builders liability insurance policy just to make sure that the outside of you house is completely covered by the insurance company or have in writing that your builder will put right any damages that could potentially be made.

If you live on the main road or red route (in London) the council will have to be informed, and the scaffolding will have to be netted and a shoot will need to be used to get the rubbish into the skip. If you are concerned about security an alarm can be fitted to the scaffolding at an extra cost of around £200.

If you are on a red route the council will need to be informed as they may need to close the road in order for a crane to lift the materials onto the scaffolding. This is so all the emergency services can be informed and usally takes around 1 months waiting time. Also if your road is not a red route but it is less than 20 ft wide, it will also need to be closed for the crane. Both of these examples cost around £1500 depending on what local authority you are in but please do check.