We Are Wigan Builders

There are four main types of loft conversion that are popular in the uk, all with their own strengths and drawbacks, however, all of them will add more useable space into your property, increase its value and re-sale price and make your house more appealing. The choice between which one to get usually comes about due to your budget and house’s layout. Here they are in order of complexity:

Velux loft conversions: These are the quickest, cheapest and simplest type of loft conversion in Wigan, with the drawback being they add the least amount of space onto your home. A velux loft conversion is one where none of the structure is changed, just the floor in your attic is reinforced and insulated, perhaps some internal walls are put up and a velux skylight window (hence the name of the conversion) is installed. Then the space will be decorated to whichever new room you’d prefer - Usually a home office, child’s bedroom or studio/atelier. This gives you an extra one or two rooms depending on the size of your home, but can be done fairly quickly and cheaply so can be a great option as a solution to a small problem or a stopgap for a growing child’s new bedroom until you move into a larger home!

Dormer loft conversion: These are a type of conversion that actually changes the structure of your roof, meaning it normally requires planning permission to do so, however, they’re the most popular loft conversion in Wigan for a reason! This conversion creates a flat wall for your new loft room, which means your room will have a massive window lending natural light into the room, however, your roof will have a vertical window/wall protruding out of it, hence the need for planning permission. 

These types of loft conversions can usually add an extra room against a velux conversion, or turn an existing room into a much bigger one with a higher headroom than a velux. In certain cases, it’s also possible to turn this window into a balcony, allowing you to step out from your room and enjoy the weather. These conversions almost always include a bedroom due to the beautiful finished product created. There’s no better way to wake up in the morning than with the sun shining through!

Mansard loft conversion: If you’d like a conversion that doesn’t break the shape of your roof too much and aesthetics mean more to you than extra space, then Mansard conversions are a great way to go! Instead of placing a vertical wall into the roof, these install a wall that is slanted at 72 degrees, with windows placed into this wall, which gives the maximum amount of space inside the room while keeping a slanted structure on the roof. These usually result in a room that has a velux skylight window on one side of the room, and a flat window on another side, lending tons of natural light, making it perfect for a studio or home office type room.

Mansards change the existing structure of the house as well as the roof, so planning permission can be more difficult to achieve with a Mansard due to the extra complexity involved. They are also usually the most costly due to the amount of work, materials and planning required to build them.

Hip to gable loft conversion: If you’re lucky enough to have an end of terrace or detached house, then a hip to gable loft conversion will be your best choice for a loft conversion in Wigan! These conversions change the end part of the sloping roof into a vertical wall with windows in it, creating lots of extra headroom in the loft conversion. These work very well if you also create dormers on the sides of the roof too, creating a massive amount of space in your new loft.

Other types of conversion: if your home has a strange shape to it, then there are also lots of other options available to you, whether an L-section conversion, double mansards or anything in between! If you have an idea for how you’d like the inside of the loft to look like, but not sure how to do it, then get in touch with us now to discuss how we can help you out!

We believe we at Wigan Builders aew the best loft converters in Wigan. We think this because not only do we have decades of experience with lofts of all kinds around the north-west, but we also aim to be the best value for money possible in the area. While it’s impossible to give an exact figure on each type of loft conversions, due to each individual job’s requirements, sizes, types, materials etc. we’ll give you a range to expect for each type of popular conversion available, but you’ll usually be looking in the early to mid £10s of thousands.

We’ll start with the most expensive type of loft conversion in Wigan: Dormer loft conversions. These will require a lot of construction to create an effective, beautiful loft, so they typically cost the most. This is due to the extra labour, skills and materials needed to build the structure into your roof while keeping it secure and safe. Dormers will usually set you back £35,000 - £60,000.

Hip to gable conversions usually don’t require much construction due to mostly making use of the existing space available in the loft and along the roof, which makes them relatively cheap. These will typically set you back to the tune of £30,000 - £35,000 but will of course increase in price if you’d like to add a dormer or double dormer at the same time to your conversion. It is worth noting however, it is much cheaper to do it all at the same time if you know you’d like it all, as some of the cost of materials, labour and skill will already be factored into the price. For example getting a seperate hip to gable, then seperate dormers would cost anything from £100,000 to £155,000, while getting them at the same time would usually cost below £100,000, saving you tens of thousands by planning ahead!

Mansard loft conversions. These typically cost £35,000 - £50,000, depending on the size of the roof, the type of materials you’d like to use and the fittings and furnishings you’d like us to install, if any. Similar in price to dormers as the final product is fairly similar and they require similar levels of construction. The price saved is usually in the cost of the smaller windows a mansard needs compared to a dormer.

Finally, the cheapest kind of loft conversion is a Velux conversion at £12,000 - £20,000. This is because velux conversions don’t require any construction other than installing a velux skylight window, and insulating and reinforcing the floor of the loft (as well as installing an entrance or stairs into the loft and any internal walls).

Loft conversions are typically the quickest type of house modification in Wigan apart from garage conversions. This is because it doesn’t require building any new structures, just modifying existing ones into liveable spaces. Velux conversions are the quickest conversions if you’re looking for a new room as they can usually be done in less than 4 weeks and very rarely take more than 6.

Hip to gable conversions are the second fastest, as they don’t require much construction work beyond flattening the end slope of the roof. They will usually take 4 - 6 weeks with 5 being the typical average. Dormer conversions are the next fastest with 4-8 weeks, with 6 weeks usually being the typical timeframe, depending on the way you would like the conversion furnished. Finally Mansard conversions take the longest out of all conversions due to the complexity of the construction required at 6-12 weeks to completion, with 8 weeks being the normal speed at which one is built.

If you’ve got any questions for us, or have a holiday booked and want to see if we’d be done before you come back, then get in touch with us now to have a no obligation chat!