Please tell me about your experience with loft layouts

[lezz01]

Personally I thought that he was just insulting. 

Ignoring building regs is not a clever thing to do they are there for a reason. If there is a problem, and you can get very big problems messing around in a roof space when you have not a scooby. If you haven't complied with BRs just see how quickly your insurers will refuse to pay out on any claim. What can go wrong you ask? Well lets see. Fire with no fire escape, ceiling collapse, roof collapse and if the roof goes it can take the whole house with it. If you think I'm exaggerating check with a building inspector. The cost of a proper conversion is nothing compared to destroying your house because you think you know it all. If you bodge it and the roof or ceiling collapses and one of your loved ones or an innocent bystander dies not only do you have that on you for the rest of your life but you will face a manslaughter charge. The authorities will have no sympathy and will throw the book at you. But hey clearly none of us has any knowledge or experience do we?

I often get accused of over engineering everything and you know what I do. But I do it for a damn good reason! Over engineering things is far far better than cutting costs or corners. 

Sorry for the rant guys but I've got a bit cross about this. The whole point in a forum is to call on collective wisdom is it not? I have seen no one being a jobsworth on this thread but I have seen someone being something else.................I'll leave you all to figure out who's being what.   

Regards Lez.Z.       

[brianusa]

Unless one is prepared to spend a small fortune on conversion, then its a non starter.  There are some great conversions illustrated but what about access?  Folding ladders can be a pain especially when carrying heavy building materials, etc. and ladders get progressively difficult as tempus fugits.  So an easy access is really necessary along with a up to date code conversion including insulation, heating and cooling.  Remember where you are!

Over here, we are perhaps more fortunate with generally larger homes, some with basements even but in our case my railway room is in part of the house and is easily accessible which considering my years, is a definite plus!

 

Brian.

[TheQ]

My lofts arn't to building standards, but then neither is the rest of the house, it was built in 1906. The rafters are different sizes from Railway sleeper to 3 X 2. It does have 8ft head room in the middle, each loft is a 15ft square but they are separated by two enormous chiminy breasts, Meaning a 3 ft high crawl through from the central area above the stair well.

Each loft has a railway sleeper size beam at each end and one in the middle, with the smaller rafters between, to floor the loft I'd have to double the rafters(and a bit) then insulate the loft. Practically it was impossible, getting the materials up into place. I also looked at the future, I had knee problems back then and now over 10 years later they aren't getting any better. So i'm very glad gave up on that Idea.

 

  I built a shed, which brings it's own building  and planning regs, eg, must be more than 2 metres from the boundary if flammable, etc which most people ignore. 

 

But it doesn't matter what you use, you need decent insulation and light, you need to make it comfotable for all year round  use..

[SHerr]

Having had layouts in both loft and garage at both of my houses some thoughts from me - it very much depends on your type of garage and how much you want to spend fitting out, this needs to be considered against how big a layout you want.

 

Others before have mentioned extreme's of temperature, my current garage that I have just moved the layout away from is quite large and external. this means its quite difficult to insulate well as was also in use as a functioning garage, also being external it was single skin brick and needed to be accessed by going outside. I found this space nice in summer (when you probably don't do as much modelling) as garages seem to keep out extreme heat, but really not very pleasant in winter (when you probably do more modelling). In the end I found this too much of a put off and particularly entering a cold, slightly damp area you don't feel like spending much time in there. That said, if it were a dedicated/sealed off room it would probably be fine but uses a big space that most people probably have a better use for.

 

My previous house had an integral garage, much easier to keep warmer and with access from inside the house, but much smaller. 

 

My current layout is being moved into the loft - I have not fully finished insulating and whilst I'm not doing a full spec conversion I have spend a good few hundred quid using the foil bubble lining and Celetex boards to box out towards the eaves. This gives plenty of storage beneath and keeps the draughts out. As I said, only one side fully insulated, but even on evenings with temperatures around freezing outside I have been comfortable for a good few hours in there with a small fan heater - remember heat rises so after an hour you get some warmth from below. I suggest the extremes are the opposite to garages - less good in extreme heat but more manageable in the cold. I've not yet experienced a full summer but before I built the layout it didn't seem too hot and I am likely to get a Velux window fitted.

 

You mentioned you were unsure about getting pre-built sections up there. -I have just built my layout inset - if you want something to be fully dismantled a lofts probably not the best option.

 

My current preference is the loft - 24ft x 9ft with storage beneath, but its a good sized house. It all really depends on your own space/areas available.

 

Sorry not a great help but I'm not really sure its a black and white decision. 

[SHerr]

Having had layouts in both loft and garage at both of my houses some thoughts from me - it very much depends on your type of garage and how much you want to spend fitting out, this needs to be considered against how big a layout you want.

 

Others before have mentioned extreme's of temperature, my current garage that I have just moved the layout away from is quite large and external. this means its quite difficult to insulate well as was also in use as a functioning garage, also being external it was single skin brick and needed to be accessed by going outside. I found this space nice in summer (when you probably don't do as much modelling) as garages seem to keep out extreme heat, but really not very pleasant in winter (when you probably do more modelling). In the end I found this too much of a put off and particularly entering a cold, slightly damp area you don't feel like spending much time in there. That said, if it were a dedicated/sealed off room it would probably be fine but uses a big space that most people probably have a better use for.

 

My previous house had an integral garage, much easier to keep warmer and with access from inside the house, but much smaller. 

 

My current layout is being moved into the loft - I have not fully finished insulating and whilst I'm not doing a full spec conversion I have spend a good few hundred quid using the foil bubble lining and Celetex boards to box out towards the eaves. This gives plenty of storage beneath and keeps the draughts out. As I said, only one side fully insulated, but even on evenings with temperatures around freezing outside I have been comfortable for a good few hours in there with a small fan heater - remember heat rises so after an hour you get some warmth from below. I suggest the extremes are the opposite to garages - less good in extreme heat but more manageable in the cold. I've not yet experienced a full summer but before I built the layout it didn't seem too hot and I am likely to get a Velux window fitted.

 

You mentioned you were unsure about getting pre-built sections up there. -I have just built my layout inset - if you want something to be fully dismantled a lofts probably not the best option.

 

My current preference is the loft - 24ft x 9ft with storage beneath, but its a good sized house. It all really depends on your own space/areas available.

 

Sorry not a great help but I'm not really sure its a black and white decision. 

[Anthony566]

My layout was in a double garage, I sealed and insulated the garage door and put 600mm of loft insulation in the roof space in the summer it stayed cool and in the winter I only needed a small heater and it was nice and warm....

 

However I am moving and I'm going to have to build a man shed for my layout as I just don't think I can ever go back to a loft layout.

Edited February 4, 2018 by Anthony566

[Andrew P]

My layout was in a double garage, I sealed and insulated the garage door and put 600mm of loft insulation in the roof space in the summer it stayed cool and in the winter I only needed a small heater and it was nice and warm....

 

However I am moving and I'm going to have to build a man shed for my layout as I just don't think I can ever go back to a loft layout.

I found the biggest thing with a Garage / Shed, other than draught proofing is to keep the feet warm, hence a well insulated floor (Polystyrene and 12mm Ply wood), and Halfords thick interlocking rubber mats.

[reggie]

My point is this - yes if you wish to follow strict building regs to use a loft there is a lot of upgrades modifications to do, but this is based on the loft space being used as a living space, with heavy furniture, en-suite, two people sleeping up there, etc. 

 

I don't consider a loft railway with one guy running a few trains to be a living area and as I said if the loft is WELL boarded I don't think there is a problem.

 

There are thousands of people up and down the country with loft railways and I have yet to hear of a ceiling collapsing or a roof caving in, if it has it is probably due to the person

doing something very foolish (of course you should never alter the structure in the loft without consulting a professional), and my You Tube example is to show how many loft layouts there are out there running perfectly well without problem. 

[chris p bacon]

 

There are thousands of people up and down the country with loft railways and I have yet to hear of a ceiling collapsing or a roof caving in, if it has it is probably due to the person

doing something very foolish (of course you should never alter the structure in the loft without consulting a professional), and my You Tube example is to show how many loft layouts there are out there running perfectly well without problem. 

 

 

You want to do my job then, I've made some good money putting right the c*ck ups that people have done in their houses because they didn't think building regs applied to them.

 

As for Youtube being the place to get educated I suggest you look at Russian Drivers for the highway code.

 

My point is this - yes if you wish to follow strict building regs to use a loft there is a lot of upgrades modifications to do, but this is based on the loft space being used as a living space, with heavy furniture, en-suite, two people sleeping up there, etc.

 

 

I'll state this again for the hard of understanding.

 

Any use of the loft space means it is a habitable space and must conform to Building Regs

 

The loft space is the void between the ceiling and the underside of the roof, it is not meant to be load bearing in any way and should be kept clear for ventilation, where there are tanks these have been calculated into the loading. These calcs don't allow for a large person to be moving about over undersized joists covered in heavyweight flooring.

Modern lofts especially were never intended for the volume of moisture that comes from our breath and so ignoring the ventilation will come at a cost in the long run.

 

​I get a bit cheesed off when some think that with no knowledge they can give what they think is an informed opinion. Stick to what you know , not what you think you know.

[reggie]

You want to do my job then, I've made some good money putting right the c*ck ups that people have done in their houses because they didn't think building regs applied to them.

 

As for Youtube being the place to get educated I suggest you look at Russian Drivers for the highway code.

 

 

I'll state this again for the hard of understanding.

 

Any use of the loft space means it is a habitable space and must conform to Building Regs

 

The loft space is the void between the ceiling and the underside of the roof, it is not meant to be load bearing in any way and should be kept clear for ventilation, where there are tanks these have been calculated into the loading. These calcs don't allow for a large person to be moving about over undersized joists covered in heavyweight flooring.

Modern lofts especially were never intended for the volume of moisture that comes from our breath and so ignoring the ventilation will come at a cost in the long run.

 

​I get a bit cheesed off when some think that with no knowledge they can give what they think is an informed opinion. Stick to what you know , not what you think you know.

 

We are all fully aware that a habitable space must conform to building regs- fine, but the fact is thousands of people use boarded lofts for model railways without issue, this you keep failing to admit. I would never suggest anyone alters the structure of a building without advice, but boarding a loft for a model railway for 99.9% of people who do it does not seem to cause any problems at all. 

 

The original posted asked a question, and in my opinion a loft is an acceptable space for a railway, as has been proved by the sheer number of people who operate in this way without problems, if you follow some basic common sense rules. 

 

Your advice is all well and good, but it also means 99% of loft railways should shut down immediately. I think you are just trying to prove how much you know and how superior you are to me. Well I've been building steel structures for handling and lifting equipment for 25 years, so have an idea about beams, deflections etc too. And to be honest I don't care how cheesed off you are, I can have an opinion, which actually a lot agree with, this is the idea of a forum.

[great northern]

We are all fully aware that a habitable space must conform to building regs- fine, but the fact is thousands of people use boarded lofts for model railways without issue, this you keep failing to admit. I would never suggest anyone alters the structure of a building without advice, but boarding a loft for a model railway for 99.9% of people who do it does not seem to cause any problems at all. 

 

The original posted asked a question, and in my opinion a loft is an acceptable space for a railway, as has been proved by the sheer number of people who operate in this way without problems, if you follow some basic common sense rules. 

 

Your advice is all well and good, but it also means 99% of loft railways should shut down immediately. I think you are just trying to prove how much you know and how superior you are to me. Well I've been building steel structures for handling and lifting equipment for 25 years, so have an idea about beams, deflections etc too. And to be honest I don't care how cheesed off you are, I can have an opinion, which actually a lot agree with, this is the idea of a forum.

 You ignore the fact that a forum like this is not an appropriate place to be advising people to ignore the laws of the land. What happens if someone who listens to you ignores the law and the regulations, and suffers catastrophic loss?  Andy Y could be in trouble for allowing contributions like yours to be made, and constantly reiterated, despite professional comment. Plenty of people drive while using mobile phones, ignore red traffic lights, and other similar things. The fact that they do that, even if they do get away with it most of the time, does not make it legal, permissible, or even for that matter sensible. The same applies here.

[The Stationmaster]

My point is this - yes if you wish to follow strict building regs to use a loft there is a lot of upgrades modifications to do, but this is based on the loft space being used as a living space, with heavy furniture, en-suite, two people sleeping up there, etc. 

 

I don't consider a loft railway with one guy running a few trains to be a living area and as I said if the loft is WELL boarded I don't think there is a problem.

 

There are thousands of people up and down the country with loft railways and I have yet to hear of a ceiling collapsing or a roof caving in, if it has it is probably due to the person

doing something very foolish (of course you should never alter the structure in the loft without consulting a professional), and my You Tube example is to show how many loft layouts there are out there running perfectly well without problem. 

 

Very simple really - if there is a person up there,  as with a model railway, then it is habitable space and as Dave has just posted, for the umpteenth time, the Building Regs apply.  

 

Now if you would like confirmation of that from another  horse's mouth let me quote what happened when we built our house -

 

1. Original planning submission mentioned specifically the roof space being used for a model railway so the plans were based on the Building Regs applying.

2. In order to get Planning Permission I had to lower the roof ridge height and later realised when the area was being built that this would cause headroom problems so advised the Planning Dept in writing that the roof space would not be used for a model railway although the construction standards would not be changed but the staircase and fire doors would be omitted and a loft ladder provided instead.  

3. So in construction terms the roof space meets habitable space standards in the Building Regs but in terms of access it does not.

4. When the Building Inspector carried out his inspection he had with him a copy of my letter regarding change of intended use of the roof space, he could see the loft ladder and he used it to check what was happening in the roof space (it was already in use for storage by then).  He agreed that it was not habitable space as the access was not compliant with the Building Regs.

5. When the Rating Officer inspected the house to assess its rating for Council Tax she too inspected the access and roof space to check that it was not being used as habitable space. (in fact we have so much stuff stored up there finding space for a model railway would be impossible).

 

Yes that was a new build but the important point is the Building Inspector and the Rating Officer both checked to ensure that I was doing what I said I was going to do and not use the roof as habitable space.  Both knew full well that it has gable windows but I had changed the status of what had originally been planned so that was that.  The Building Regs exist for good reason and if the construction of the roof space is such that it does not comply with the Regulations for habitable space then it should not be used as habitable space and could lead to problems when a property is sold (assuming it is properly surveyed and proper searches are carried out).

Edited February 5, 2018 by The Stationmaster

[chris p bacon]

 

We are all fully aware that a habitable space must conform to building regs- fine, but the fact is thousands of people use boarded lofts for model railways without issue, this you keep failing to admit. 

 

 Can you provide some evidence of the "Thousands" to back up your statement of fact.

 

and in my opinion a loft is an acceptable space for a railway, as has been proved by the sheer number of people who operate in this way without problems

 

And you know for a fact that there aren't problems.

 

 

I think you are just trying to prove how much you know and how superior you are to me.

 

Most certainly not, I am pointing out that with no knowledge you are advocating the use of a loft for a purpose it was never intended for. You are also advocating that people ignore laws of the land which are laid down as part of Building relations.

Well I've been building steel structures for handling and lifting equipment for 25 years, so have an idea about beams, deflections etc too

 

You may have been, but the use of steel is not the same as suggesting fitting flooring over ceiling joists which were never intended for the purpose of loading.

 

I can have an opinion, which actually a lot agree with, this is the idea of a forum.

 

 You certainly can have an opinion, I'm also at liberty to point out that it comes from naivety and ignorance of the subject.

[Andy Y]

 I think you are just trying to prove how much you know and how superior you are to me. 

 

Think yourself lucky you have got people who can give sound and substantiated advice; have a chat with your local council's building inspector if you want to continue debating the issue.

 

 

Andy Y could be in trouble for allowing contributions like yours to be made, and constantly reiterated, despite professional comment. 

 

Don't worry; we can prove that Reggie's been told he's talking from an ill-informed perspective.

[caradoc]

 

I'll state this again for the hard of understanding.

 

Any use of the loft space means it is a habitable space and must conform to Building Regs

 

Does this mean that anyone going up into their loft for any purpose is breaking Building Regulations ? I would imagine that a huge proportion of households in the UK have at some time used their loft for storage of unused or unwanted items.

[woodenhead]

Popping in and out of a loft is fine else how would you fix items that are up there.

 

What you can't do is put items in there that make it look habitable - chairs, beds, railways, electrics for more than the purpose of lighting the loft so you can find items up there.

 

Think fire risk as well as the strength of the joists - a fire in the roof isn't pleasant especially if you are up there with it and it's blocking your sole exit.

[tigerburnie]

  I think most home layouts are a compromise if you want a full circle track, for my layout, my large summer house wasn't really big enough at 14 x 12 whereas the loft accommodates the track and a station that is around 12 feet long including the access throats at each end. The only thing I would say is lay the track in the height of summer, that way you only have to worry about shrinkage and possible uneven gaps. My trains have run with a temperature of plus 30 C and minus 2 C and didn't de-rail after a couple of sliding adjustments during the freeze up.

[33212]

I am a loft dweller. Started in 2003 by strengthening the floor joists by adding lengths of 2x2 to the top of each, screwed through, ends just on to the walls. Once completed, filled the floor voids with insulation. Next was to fit a roof Velux "means of escape" top hinged window, did this myslef, and building inspector signed off - if they ask what the loft is to be used for just say storage, as long as you use a ladder to gain access..if you fit stairs then many more regs kick in. Don't alter any structural beams or remove joists, this sets inspectors alarm bells ringing.

 

I then bought the rolls of insulation bubble stuff and stapled over the ceiling rafters in horizontal, overlapping, as per instructions, basically if you get a drip of water or condensation, it will run down and out over the eves. Also, I left a gap of 1cm at the top of the ridge, either side to allow the roof space tp breathe - yes I get a bit of cold air blowing in but it keeps the roof space dry.

 

Once complete, i screwed very thin ply over the top, and painted the whole lot white. Fitted a ring main (you could then, you can now if you get part C sign off) otherwise its a sparky job but will cost peanuts compared to model railways!

 

I then built my boards, at 18 inches off the floor, so have to sit on a low stool or kneel down, a compromise as this gives me, in a rectangle, 80 feet x 4 feet of board space - obviously the higher up the roof you go the less board space.

 

During the summer months, I lock the roof window open a crack which lets the roof breathe, its never too hot, I also have a large fan to circulate the warm air!

 

In winter I have an oil filled radiator for initial use, but with the hatch open it soon warms up.

 

Any problems, - yes I did not put enough support framing under the boards on some, so have some "undulations" here and there. The 18" height is great for space on top but a pain in the A for getting wires through underneath, so use one of those grap things. Avoid locating sidngs in direct line with the window to avoid fading stock, I bought a blind for mine in the end. Also put to window on the shady side of the roof if there is one.

 

Plus points - as secure as the rest of your house, 100 times more secure than a shed and the wife can't get up there! Never had any issues with stock being too hot or melted!

 

Minus points - temperature variations, its not a steady 20, never goes lower than 15 but can get up to 28 without the window open, but soon cools off with it open, create a through draft with another window works.

 

Would I use a loft again? Yes

[reggie]

I'm not suggesting building regs don't exist, all I'm saying is there are plenty of people with railways in lofts that are not having issues suggested by some people, i.e ceilings and roofs collapsing. I have examined my ceilings and roof carefully today and can find no evidence of movement or cracking, splits or stress. I have had the railway for many years so think any problems would have manifested by now. The loft was well boared and there is no live power when unattened, there is also a fire extingusher. A folding loft ladder is fitted.

 

As I said before, in an ideal world we would all have a proffessional loft conversion but few of us can justify spending, or have, thousands to do this, so use the above method, I am not aware of many ceilings or roofs collapsing because of someone having a railway in the loft. As i also said i would never suggest anyone alter the structure of a building without consulting a professional.

 

However the suggestion that anyone who boards their loft (correctly and well fitted) and puts a few kilos of plywood up there (8x4x9mm = 16kg), with some track and cardboard structures, are liable to come crashing through the ceiling or find their roof collapsing is being a little extreme, in my opinion, If anyone can send me 3 examples where disater has struck from a model railway in a loft as described above,  I will gladly change my mind....

[Mike140]

Plus points - as secure as the rest of your house, 100 times more secure than a shed and the wife can't get up there! Never had any issues with stock being too hot or melted!

 

Minus points - temperature variations, its not a steady 20, never goes lower than 15 but can get up to 28 without the window open, but soon cools off with it open, create a through draft with another window works.

 

Would I use a loft again? Yes

I won't quote the whole thing so to not take up the whole page, but that sounds exactly like what's been done in my loft. 2x2 laid across the joists and screwed in to them, 8'x2' chipboard on top of that. I believe that was done for storage purposes long before a layout was even planned to be up there because it is easily 7' from 'floor' to apex and no one fancied performing a balancing act on ceiling joists to put Christmas decorations away, so a 'floor' was put in. As far as I can tell that spreads the load more evenly.

We also had a Velux window fitted. With the hatch and upstairs windows open we get great circulation in the summer, a nice cool breeze.

To avoid track going wonky with the cold and heat we cut each piece of flex in to thirds once it was shaped and joined them back together with fishplates. Better to have lots of lengths of track growing and shrinking a little bit than having one long length taking all the stress. We had track buckling before we started doing that.... The "clackety-clack" also sounded good.

[chris p bacon]

I am a loft dweller. Started in 2003 by strengthening the floor joists by adding lengths of 2x2 to the top of each, screwed through, ends just on to the walls. 

 

 

 I'll just pick up on one point in this post as it's repeated further down the page.

 

Adding something like 2"x 2" to an existing ceiling joist doesn't add any strength, if for example the existing joist is 3" x 2" (or 3"x 1 1/2" for modern trusses) and a 2x2 is added it doesn't give it the strength of a 5x2 but merely adds to the height and makes it a 3x2 and a 2x2 in the same plane. 

 

calculating joists is not straight forward and is subject to how they are fixed at the ends as well as spacing and loading. To give an idea,  I am presently making a bedsit from an office, this has no large loads such as a bath but is merely a 'habitable space',  The existing joists are 9"x 1 1/2" and spaced at 16" centres.  For fire proofing and loading I am installing new joists inbetween the originals which are a JJI ( like an 'I' section) they are  245mm high and the top and bottoms are made of 90mm (wide) by 45mm (high) timber and they have a sterling board web between them. these are laid at just 12" (300mm) centres.

Why the difference ?

 The length of them is 6M, and the originals have a deflection in the middle of the room of 3 1/4 inches(85mm), they have dropped so much they are coming out of the walls. When walking across the original floor it bounced and had started to push the brickwork out at the rear of the property,  the loading wasn't carried downwards but had started to push against the wall. The more the joists bowed the further the wall was being pushed out.  We calculated that one person standing in the middle of the room and rocking back and forth on their heels was able to move 4 tons of brickwork and you could see it moving.

 The previous owner had no idea, he thought his carpet was shrinking as the gap around the edge increased. 

 

I can see the attraction of a big space, but it can come at a very heavy price.

[LBRJ]

The only reason I post on this thread is to hopefully stop someone reading some of the "advice" given and ending up falling through their bedroom ceiling (which will not be as funny as it is in cartoons)  -  What fate has in store for those posting it bothers me not a lot.

 

The piddling bits of 3x2 that one normally sees in a loft are to hold the ceiling up not to create a floor above it!

 

I mentioned before I had cut the odd corner. I do.

For example I ran some 6x2 joists  from wall to wall adjacent to the lathes for the ceiling around the access hole to a previous loft of mine to create a landing area, to put boxes and stuff...not to have a playroom the size of the house.

 

There also seems to be some confusion about "my mates attic" is ok etc - Attics are indeed proper rooms - but very few houses built since the Great War have them.

 

It really cannot be pointed out enough that just for the sake of a larger train set space "on the cheap"  why risk breaking your house/your back/ your kids.

 

also, saying others do it is like me saying i know of people who drive home from the pub every night after 5 pints - just because they have got away with it so far does not make it best practice

Edited February 6, 2018 by LBRJ

[teaky]

As part of the calculations for my loft conversion the structural engineer calculated the allowable spans of the timbers used for existing rafters.  For this purpose the calculations assume the timbers are used without the strengthening cross webbing (i.e. the W shape found in many modern factory assembled trusses).  The timbers are 80 x 38mm.  If used for floor joists the maximum permissible span is 1m.

 

These figures from a qualified structural engineer also match up with the timber traders association span tables.

 

The final calculations for the floor joists I have recently installed resulted in 200 x 75mm joists to span the 5m width of the room.  Note that these are also specified as C24 timber meaning they are a step up from the more common C16 structural timber and well above the un-certified standard of non-graded timber.

 

Rather than looking for or asking for evidence of people not having problems with converted lofts not done in accordance with Building Regulations I suggest that it is a more sensible approach to use the regs. as a start point.  After all, they represent a minimum standard.

 

The regs. also cover far more than just structural work.  People posting their approach to fire safety along the lines of "I have a fire extinguisher" only serves to highlight a lack of understanding of fire safety.  The regs. are primarily focused on creating a space that is protected from fire from below and ensuring there is a protected escape route.  Having an extinguisher handy won't put out a fire on the floor below or create a safe exit route.

 

Others may have a different view but if I was looking at a property to buy and the loft had anything beyond a few boards to make it easier to store the usual junk we all accumulate and was kitted out to look like a room I would want to see the Building Control certificate before parting with my money and letting my family live there.

[Bergmann]

I admit I don't actually have a real loft, it's actually a living room is only used for my hobby. A stone staircase leads up and the ceiling below it is made of reinforced concrete. The room is heated but has only one Velux window. So that I can carry heavy things up and down alone, there is an electric crane. I just felt the security was worth the extra expense. Our hobby model building costs so much and the place to be able to exercise is part of it. I also made the expansion under professional guidance, which saved costs.

[tigerburnie]

I have loadbearing brick walls supporting my loft, down pretty much the centre of the house, the floor/joists don't move at all, I guess advice would be a good idea before starting, my house is also single storey, if that makes any difference.