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Attic conversions
We turn the space under your roof into a room you can use all year: floor strengthened, proper stairs, insulation to current standards, and the fire work done the way the regulations ask for.
in short
AltHome converts attics into usable rooms across Kerry, Cork and Limerick: floor strengthened, a proper stair, insulation to current standards, fire doors and rooflights. The price is driven by head height (around 2.4 m to the ridge is comfortable), cut roof or trussed roof, and where the stair goes. A typical conversion takes three to five weeks and the house stays lived in.
what it costs
What decides the price of an attic conversion?
Four things move the price, and you can judge most of them yourself before anyone visits. The first is head height. Measure from the top of the ceiling joists to the underside of the ridge. Around 2.4 m gives you a comfortable room once the new floor and the insulation take their share. Under about 2.2 m the room gets tight, and the options are a dormer, lowering the ceiling below, or accepting a storage room rather than a bedroom. The second is the roof structure. A cut roof, with rafters and purlins, usually opens up without much fuss. A trussed roof, the W shapes common in houses built from the late seventies on, needs new steel or timber beams before anything is cut, and that is real money. The third is the stairs. A straight flight over the existing stairs is the cheap answer. A winder in a corner, or moving a wall to find room, costs more and takes a bedroom or part of a landing with it. The fourth is light. Rooflights are far cheaper than a dormer and need little scaffolding. A dormer buys head height and floor area, and brings scaffolding, roofing, cladding and often planning permission with it. On top of that sits the work the regulations ask for. Insulation goes between and over the rafters, so you lose a little height but keep the room warm and dry. Fire safety is the part people do not expect: a protected route down to the front door, fire doors on the rooms off the stairs, and mains-wired interlinked alarms. If the room is to count as a bedroom rather than storage, that work is not optional. Planning is worth checking early. A conversion inside the existing roof, lit by rooflights, is normally exempt. A dormer, especially to the front, often is not. We tell you which side of that line your house sits on at the survey, and if it needs an application we say so before you spend anything.
Can every attic be converted?
No. Some roofs are too shallow to give a usable room, and some houses have nowhere sensible to land a staircase. Both are clear within half an hour on site. If your attic is one of them we say so at the survey and you pay nothing for the visit. Where the height is borderline we measure and give you the finished ceiling height in writing, so you decide with a number in front of you rather than a promise.
the work
What is included in an attic conversion?
- Survey the roof, measure the head height and say what the finished room will be.
- Strengthen the floor with joists sized for a habitable room, and beam out a trussed roof where needed.
- Build the staircase and the opening it lands in, framed and finished by our own carpenters.
- Insulate between and over the rafters, then board, skim and decorate.
- Fit rooflights or build the dormer, and make the roof watertight around them.
- Fit the fire doors and interlinked alarms, leave the site clean and take the waste with us.
4 steps
How long does it take to convert an attic?
You get in touch
Ring, message or send the form with a photo. We answer the same day.
We come and look
A survey on site, then a written price that does not move once work starts.
We do the work
Everything goes up through the landing, so we sheet the stairs and hall on day one. The house stays livable throughout, and the noisy structural week comes first.
You sign it off
We walk the job with you, clear the site and leave the guarantee in writing.
next door
The rest of the house
A new room upstairs pulls three other trades behind it, and it is cheaper to run them together than to call each one back.
asked
Attic conversion: common questions
Do I need planning permission?
Usually not for a conversion inside the existing roof with rooflights. A dormer often does need permission, and to the front almost always. We check your house against the exempted development rules at the survey, and where it is close we tell you to ask the council rather than guess. We do not start work that needs an application until the application is granted.
Will it count as a bedroom when I sell?
Only if it is built as one. That means the head height, the stairs, the insulation and the fire work all done properly, with the paperwork to show it. A room reached by a folding ladder is storage, whatever the photographs say. We build to the first standard and hand you the certificates.
Can we stay in the house while you work?
Yes. The landing is sheeted and the rooms below stay in use. The loudest fortnight is the structural work at the start, and after that it is quiet trades.
How much does an attic conversion cost in Ireland?
A simple conversion under a cut roof with a straight stair is at the lower end. Trussed roofs needing steel, dormers, a bathroom and a new stair position push it up. We price it after measuring the head height and looking at the roof structure.
Can a converted attic be used as a bedroom?
Only if it meets the Building Regulations for habitable rooms, including head height, a compliant stair, fire protection and escape. Many Irish attic conversions are storage rooms on paper because they do not. We tell you which yours can be before you build.
quote
Get a fixed quote for an attic conversion
Tell us the address and what you want done. We work across Kerry, Cork and Limerick. We ring you back within one working day. Add photos and the price we send you will be tighter.
085 220 1422 · info@althome.ie
Written by the AltHome crew. Last reviewed September 2026.