Loft and Garage Conversion, Seamill

About this project

This house sits on the coast at Seamill, looking out across the Clyde to the Isle of Arran. The clients wanted a new living space upstairs that made the most of that view, with good built-in storage. They also wanted the garage turned into usable, heated floor space. Being so exposed to the weather, everything had to be built to last with little maintenance.

In the loft, structural steel went in first, followed by a new floor build-up and insulation. Large sliding windows were fitted to frame the sea view, along with roof windows that had their flashings and internal trims made to suit. Outside, the new walls were finished in zinc as a ventilated rainscreen, fixed with marine-grade fixings to stand up to the salt air. Inside, our joiners fitted cupboards and storage into the eaves, then hung doors and fitted skirtings and facings, leaving the room ready for decoration. Fire escape, ventilation and insulation were all built to meet the regulations.

In the garage, the walls, floor and ceiling were insulated up to current building standards. New stud walls went in with a vapour control layer and sound insulation on the walls shared with the house. We fitted doors, skirtings, storage and space for utility use, ran power, data and heating routes ready for the clients, and levelled the floor ready for its final finish.

Joinery, roofing, glazing, electrics, plastering, flooring and cladding were all run as one programme. We kept a close eye on supplier lead times so the site never stood waiting, and checked the work at the structural, weathertight and pre-finish stages. The clients now have a top floor room with an open view of the coast and extra space on the ground floor.