Recommendation for Benchmark Lofts

[KateP]

We used Benchmark Lofts to convert our two bed half-house into a four bed. The initial quote was competitively priced and thorough. Tom was very approachable and spoke in plain English about what was to be done - which in comparison with other builders we had approached, was a breath of fresh air.

The build was complicated by the flimsy nature of our terraced half-house. Tom communicated directly, and diplomatically, with our architect, structural engineer, party wall lawyer and neighbours on both sides. We were living off site, and away for a lot of the build, but Tom and his team got on with the job efficiently and consulted with us at every stage.

Despite the complications and late start, the building work finished on time - just before Christmas. The entire build, which involved a loft conversion adding two bedrooms and a shower room, lowering the first floor ceilings, removing a chimney breast, moving the boiler and completely remodelling the existing bathroom - took around 6 weeks.

We are very happy with the finish and everyone comments on how well the conversion has been done. I wouldn?t hesitate to recommend Benchmark Lofts, and I would certainly use them again if I were to do a similar project.

http://benchmark-lofts.com

Tom: 07747 694087

[domcourage]

Hi All - Stay away from Benchmark Lofts. Following recommendations on this site and some excellent references that Tom provided we hired Benchmark to manage out loft conversion as a design and build. We were linked up with an "architect" who offered next to nothing in terms of design advice and after some significant delays submitted an application that was rejected. Throughout, Tom was defensive and not helpful so I had my suspicions. These were confirmed when I tried to contact him after the rejection and he was never heard from again. We were ?2000 down but overall it feels like we dodged a bullet on this one.

Best of luck everyone - it's a jungle out there.

Dom

[Half-houser]

Hi Kate, we're about to undertake a loft conversion on our half house and having similar issues with structural engineers / party walls etc. Would you be willing to share any advice or details around what structural solution you settled on? Thanks very much! Ann-Marie

[Jules20]

Avoid Taylored lofts. The guy who runs it ignores the party wall act...and also party wall award method statements when constructing a basement...not good.

[MIG87]

We're nearing the end of our 'half house' loft conversion. Steels had been delivered, builder (not benchmark) was set to put them in then discovered there was no brick party wall just timber. It was oversight from the project manager and architect. We needed an extra huge steel which spans from the front of the house to the wall at the top of the stairs, then they fixed the usual cross steel to that.