Dad's dream of a Loft Conversion

Since mum passed my dad has been doing a lot of changes to the house.

I think this is partially to do with the fact that he feels like he has to make positive changes and be seen as being busy.

Since mum passed he went to change the roof by adding solar panels which has been an ambition for him for a while. He then added a central heating system that duels like air conditioning as well as a heater and the fact that he is running via the solar panels that he is saving more money in the long run!

He was so proud that he made these big changes that he wanted to see if he could add more and follow the staying green and went for a water heating system that runs via a panel in the side of his house that works on thermodynamics.

Although these things are highly beneficial financially and to the environment he has been restricted wanting to change anything to the inside of the house.

A lot of this I think is to do with Mum. He has the idea to keep things the way mum had it. This was until recently!

His dining room carpet had been down for 26 years and to be honest the condition was appalling! It has the aged and worn smell of dogs, birds and small children and it was a noticeable aspect the moment that you walked in.
Dad knew this and had been dragging his feet. In his head, if he lifted the carpet up and replaced it then he would also have to decorate the dining room with some fresh paint and completely rejuvenate the room itself. This clearly was a lot of work of a 77 year old man to do and something that could, if chosen incorrectly, been quite pricey!

The problem is that after a couple of months of him talking about doing it that we, my brother and I, were getting fed up with all the “I want to do this” and with little follow through.

My brother and I are quite different people. I am one, probably because of my disability, to try and use my words to reassure and help him come to the conclusion to do it. My brother is a “I have a hammer what do you want me to smash” kind of person.

So much so that he was so fed up that he started to just pull the carpet up and get going!

Over three days we had revealed lovely wood flooring, cleared the carpet out, painted the walls a fresh colour and reglossed the frames.

The change has been incredible!

No longer is the room dark, dismal and smelly!

These last 5 years of changing little things has obviously had a good reflection on dad. But, this sudden “makeover” has really perked his interest.

As long as I can remember dad has wanted to do a loft conversion. The house is a large 3 bed and each room is large enough to have a double bed and the largest is enough to be split into 2 double rooms. The loft, like many peoples, has been a place to store memories, Christmas boxes and the general rubbish that we British like to hide away.

I think seeing that a room can be changed, created and made to look presentable within a short period of time has allowed dad to realise that he could easily create 2 double loft rooms quite easily and turn what is a large 3 bedroom house into a large 5 bed house and potentially making the house more appealing.

About 20 years ago both mum and dad had this dream and they spent money on laying a beautiful wood flooring so that is one aspect that he wouldn’t need to worry about. He has said that he has always liked those loft conversions that have 3 plastered and painted walls and one that is clean and bare brick. I personally don’t know how effective a bare wall would be apart from look aesthetically pleasing.

He has said though that he would happily place areas to allow light in on the opposing side of the roof to the solar panels and decorate to match the room’s décor similar to the ones on the roofblinds.co.uk website.

One thing is clear; dad is really determined to do this. It may take him a couple of months to get going but I can now see that he has the motivation to do it. Importantly though, I think he is in a place mentally now to make changes internally without losing the memory of mum.

Have you guys ever done a roof conversion? Is there anything that needs to be done or anything that needs avoided? Would love to hear your thoughts!

(This is a sponsored post. My opinions and images are my own and I am under no obligations to give a positive review! Please see my full disclosure at the bottom of my blog)