On September 6th 2014 we commenced a new project in our 3 bed semi-detached house to convert our loft. Having watched a number of TV programs about developing your home we decided that we would rather extend our home than move.
We were limited in terms of ground space and after paying architects to produce plans for side and rear extensions we decided that the additional space just wasn't worth the investment.
In March 2014 we started to seek quotes from several loft conversion companies. After receiving 4 quotes we were really disappointed that all of the loft conversion companies were insisting on installing a stair case to our new loft via the small box room which would have resulted in us effectively losing a room to create a room.
We had one last attempt and contacted Gallery Loft Conversions...
We had a visit from Nick Lock (Gallery Loft Conversions Architect) and immediately we felt a lot more confident. Nick was an excellent professional, he had an open mind, he sat with us in our back garden with his laptop and 1:1 created some design ideas. He had a look around our house with us to explore all of the options and when we presented ideas to him he took them on-board and worked them through to a solution.
After 6 weeks of searching with various companies and 24 months of thinking, within 15 minutes of Nick leaving our home we had decided to go with Gallery Loft Conversions. Nick sent us three different quotes to choose from later in the same week. We chose the quote that we liked the most and called him to get the ball rolling.
Very promptly we were given instructions on how to proceed. We started by paying a deposit (10%) of our total quote. We were then asked when we wanted the work to commence. We decided to wait until after the summer holidays and asked for the work to kick off in September 2014.
At the end of August 2014 we had a visit from Kelly Lane. (Owner / Director of Gallery Loft Conversions) Kelly took us through a Pre-Start meeting that laid out clearly how the work would proceed, how we needed to pay (in instalments as the work progressed) and who our onsite project leader would be. We were also given an approximate time-scale of 6- 8 weeks for the project by Kelly, lets see how accurate that was...
With everything clear we waited for the agreed project start date of 2nd week in September to arrive...
Our House Before
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| Back |
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| Front |
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| Inside Loft |
Loft hatch on first floor landing
Week 1
In week 1 our scaffolding was put up and initial structural work to reinforce our roof was performed. Velux windows were fitted at the same time.
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| What an amazing day! wall to wall blue! |
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| How much wood?!? :-) |
Week 2
This was a pretty scary week.. Our existing roof was completely removed and replaced with the framework for a new dormer extension. Thank goodness that we had great weather!!!
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| Dude where's my roof?!? |
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| Thank god its not raining!! |
Week 3
With the external work for chippy first fix pretty much completed the team focused on the internal development. It was pretty amazing to see the walls of our first floor disappear!! This week was really busy, at one point we had:
- 3x Chippy
- 2x plumber
- 2x Sparky
all at the same time!! It was really exciting to see how things developed so quickly. All we needed now was Nick Knowles and we we could be on the BBC... :-) http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006pnjk
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| Dude where are my walls?!? |
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| Nice Stairs!! |
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| What do you think Ryan? |
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| En-Suite first fix underway |
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| Gareth the magician!! |
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| Hide the soil pipes in the first floor soffits :-) |
Week 4
Week 4 was a quieter week, a lot of work was done but it was a little less noisy. The new fibre glass roof was installed and the chippy's made great progress with installing the internal stud walling.
Week 5
All about the Chippy's, the team completed the installation of the stud walling and made the conversion ready for plastering.
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Bye Bye old Loft Hatch!!
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Hello new Sun Tunnel!!
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Week 6
Time for some plaster! It is safe to say that these guys are amazing plasterers. Many of my friends have asked for their contact details. These guys make plasterboard walls as smooth as glass!!
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| I love that Sun Tunnel!! |
Now time for the Shower Tray
How about some rendering, thanks Sparky!
Week 7
Time for some Tiling!! I have had tiling work done in my house before, i will never again look for a tiler. Their work speaks for itself, if you need a tiler just go here...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Enrique-and-Antonio-Perez-Specialist-tilers/179699298740112?fref=ts
Work pauses for 4 days
Week 8
Lets finish this up with, chippy second fix more tiling and plumbing second fix!!
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| Each of the smaller tiles are individual tiles and are not on a sheet, Enrique and Antonio fitted each one of these one by one, they measured them precisely to ensure they were absolutely perfect!! attention to detail has a whole new meaning! |
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| Gareth using a hole saw to cut out a floor tile so that our toilet water supply would fit perfectly! |
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| Gerri, Ryan and Kyle installing the Juliet Balcony, thanks guys, nice job! |
Week 9
Bye Bye Scaffolding!! Looking great on the outside.
https://www.facebook.com/Galleryloftconversion/photos/a.461424633990972.1073741828.371909352942501/570836643049770/?type=1&theater
With the project now completed by Gallery, it's time for some DIY!! We chose to do the decorating and storage creation ourselves.
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| I think Gerri would like these cupboards? :-) not bad if I do say so myself!! |
Some final pictures of the completed project taken by Nick and Kelly during their wrap up visit.
So... the all important question... would I recommend Gallery Loft Conversions?
Absolutely yes!
We have been exceptionally impressed with Gallery from the very start to the very end and we would like to say a very special thanks to all of the team / tradesmen from Gallery:
- Kelly (Company Director / Owner - Always on the ball and very responsive to emails and calls)
- Nick (Architect, the man with the plan)
- Gerri (Onsite Project Lead & Master Chippy)
- Ryan (Master Chippy)
- Kyle (Apprentice Chippy)
- Gareth (Plumber AKA "Magician"!) & Mario & Dan his assistants who worked so hard.
- Mark "Sparky" (The awesome Plasterer) & Matthew & his assistants
- Geraint (Head Electrician)
- Jamie (Electrician) & his assistants
- Mike (The Steadfast Roofer and Sun Tunnel fitter!!)
My family and I have been amazed by the incredible flexibility, professionalism and friendliness of the entire team. Each trade has done a first class job, gone the extra mile to ensure perfection and worked to deliver exactly what we wanted. I also think that they very much enjoyed the pulled pork /bacon baguettes at lunch time :-)
Thanks again to Gallery and all of your team, we are totally overwhelmed with the impact you have made to our home in just 8 weeks. We highly recommend your company and all of your tradesmen for a first class job.
