Villas with attics, and the space above them
The late Victorian and Edwardian villas of Haywards Heath were often built big, and upwards. Mid Sussex District Council's appraisal of The Heath conservation area describes house after house on Oathall Road as two storeys "with attics", and one, Norton Lees, with a basement as well. For an owner today that roof space is an obvious place to add a bedroom, a study or a bathroom, and the same goes for the semi-detached houses and inter-war homes across the rest of town. Turning a loft into a room is largely a dry lining job. The rafters and walls are insulated, with Celotex-type rigid boards or rock wool depending on the build-up, then tacked with plasterboard and skimmed in two coats. Fire rated boards go where the layout needs fire separation between the new room and the floors below.
Dividing large houses into flats
Some of the town's large villas have been divided up. The same appraisal records one Oathall Road villa now split into three apartments and another divided into three dwellings, and others converted into care homes and offices. Conversions like these depend on good dry lining. Sound proofing between flats relies on denser boards, insulation in the wall and ceiling voids, and carefully sealed joints and service holes. Fire separation relies on fire rated boards and correct detailing at every junction. Metal stud partitions and MF ceilings are the quickest way to create a new layout inside an old shell, and a suspended MF ceiling hides new services while levelling an old, uneven ceiling at the same time.
Insulating behind a period front
In The Heath, Muster Green, Lucastes and the town's other conservation areas, the outside of a house is part of the street's character, and changing it can need permission. Lining the inside of the external walls is often the more practical way to warm up a solid-walled house without touching its brick or render. Insulated plasterboard can be bonded to the masonry with dot and dab or fixed to battens, then skimmed, giving a warmer wall in exchange for a few centimetres of room. On walls that need to breathe, the insulation and any vapour control have to be chosen carefully, and any damp dealt with first. If the outside is changing anyway, compare this with external wall insulation in Haywards Heath.
Newer homes and extensions
Bolnore Village, south-west of the town centre, where the first homes were finished in 2002, and other recent housing are typically lined with plasterboard from the start. Typical dry lining work in newer homes is a garage conversion that needs fire and sound separation, a new stud wall to split a bedroom, or a ceiling boarded and skimmed after a leak. Extensions often combine boards and solid plaster: see float and set plastering in Haywards Heath for the solid side.
What to plan before boarding
- Fix where sockets, lights, radiators and data points will go; it is far easier before the boards go up.
- Lofts, flat conversions and garage conversions usually need Building Regulations approval, and building control will want to inspect insulation and fire separation before it is covered.
- In a listed building, internal alterations can need listed building consent from Mid Sussex District Council.
Read more about plasterboarding and dry lining, or see all our services in Haywards Heath. Call 07824 165672 for free, no-obligation advice.
