What should you do before a loft conversion starts?

Empty the loft of belongings, photograph the loft and the ceilings of the rooms below, and decide the hot water system before the tanks come out. Get any poured-in loose insulation tested before anyone disturbs it.

How much does it cost to remove a water tank from a loft?

Public cost guides put removing and disposing of a loft cold water tank at £150 – £300 per tank. Whether it's included in a loft quote depends on the company, so ask, and expect a tank containing lead or asbestos to cost more to dispose of.

Is a combi boiler or an unvented cylinder better for a loft conversion?

A combi removes every tank but serves one shower well at a time. A system boiler with an unvented cylinder suits a house with more than one bathroom, provided the mains supply meets the minimum flow and pressure the cylinder's manufacturer states.

Does old loft insulation have to come out for a loft conversion?

Approved Document L doesn't say it must. Once the loft is heated the insulated line moves up into the roof, and the old quilt comes out if it's in the way of the new floor; public guides price removal and disposal at £250 – £1,100.

Does vermiculite loft insulation contain asbestos?

It might, and nobody can tell by looking. US Environmental Protection Agency guidance says to assume it does and leave it alone, and a UKAS-accredited laboratory analyses a sample for £25 – £60.

Does rerouting loft wiring need building control?

Altering an existing circuit outside a bathroom's special location is not notifiable under Approved Document P paragraph 2.7, though it must still meet BS 7671. A new circuit for the loft room is notifiable under paragraph 2.5.

Do you need to tell the water company about a shower pump in a loft?

Regulation 5 of the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 requires notice and consent for a pump or booster drawing more than 12 litres per minute connected to a supply pipe. Ask your plumber whether the pump they propose is caught.

Back to Loft Conversion

Phase 3 · Preparation · Task 01 of 01

Clearing and Preparing the Loft: Tanks, Old Insulation, Cables and What to Move First

Preparing a loft for conversion: what you clear, what the company strips out, the hot water decision behind the tanks, old insulation, cables and asbestos.

10 min read1-2 weekends to empty the loft, plus the hot water decisionUpdated 2026Free with email

The first thing a loft conversion takes out is easy to leave off the quote. The Federation of Master Builders lists "the removal or repositioning of water tanks or chimney stacks" among the things a loft quote should spell out.

The tank is the small problem. The big one is what replaces it. Take the tanks out and you're changing how the house heats and stores its hot water, which decides how well a shower in the new loft ensuite will run. Leave that decision until strip-out day and it gets made in a hurry by whoever is holding the pipe cutter.

Everything else in the loft is simpler, though one item, the old insulation, mustn't be touched until you know what it is. In the loft conversion stages, this is the first job on site.

The rules below are for England. Wales has its own Approved Documents and Scotland uses Technical Handbooks.

Who does what before the strip-out

The physical work belongs to the loft company, or to a shell contractor and its trades. The decisions belong to you.

If you're running your own finishing trades, the plumber, heating engineer and electrician are yours to book, before the shell contractor starts.

Empty the loft weeks before the start

Do it early. Lofts hold more than anyone remembers putting up there, so decide where it all goes before the first box comes down.

What you don't want can go to the tip or to a clearance firm. Public cost guides put a loft clearance at £100 – £600 a load. Check any carrier first on the Environment Agency's public register of waste carriers: the government's waste duty of care code says a business carrying other people's waste needs an upper tier registration. Keep the carrier's registration number, the date you checked it and a receipt or waste transfer note. If the waste is later fly-tipped and traced back to you, that record shows you met your duty of care.

Once the loft is empty, photograph everything left in it, then the ceilings of every room below. If cracks appear later, you'll want to know which ones were already there.

What this guide covers

01The tanks are a hot water decision
02Old insulation
03Cables, aerials and anything else running through
04Chimney breasts
05Bats and nesting birds
06Protecting the rooms below
07What to settle before the strip-out starts

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General guidance for homeowners in England (and Wales where we say so), not professional advice. Every site is different: check anything that affects your build with a qualified professional, your local council or building control. Terms

Frequently asked questions

Reference guides for this task

Free guides to the tools, materials and terms this step involves.

Tools

Dust Mask FFP3

Materials

Dust Sheet