Boarding loft - new house 3 years old.

timbo343 · Post by **timbo343** » Sun Aug 13, 2023 7:27 pm

We live in a 3 year old new house which is a Space Home and we are wanting to board out the loft.

We have been up (the loft hatch needs changing to a drop down hatch - it's currently a push up hatch) and noticed there is about 400 - 450mm of insulation up there.

The area around the hatch has chipboarding down over the 100mm joists where the insulation is laid on top of.

My question is, what is the best way to make sure the loft boards sit 500mm above the joists when the longest loft legs are 300mm?

Would we have to use the 300mm legs on the joists to give 400mm and then batton 100mm on top of the 300mm legs to give 500mm?

Thanks in advance.

aeromech3 · Post by **aeromech3** » Fri Aug 25, 2023 8:03 pm

Obviously you are going to need some serious carpentry to plant a floor 500mm above the joists; loft legs and extensions are not stable options.

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Sat Aug 26, 2023 12:36 am

I am sure I read once that adding extra timber in a loft to gain height then, over boarding it for more storage space, sounds a good idea, but often forgotten is the extra weight of all the additional timber, and that it should be checked out first to see will the existing timbers be able to cope with the extra weight.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sat Aug 26, 2023 8:38 am

I doubt there will be enough strength in the ceiling joists, certainly if you were looking for anything more than a bit of lightweight storage. Just float some ply over the insulation for your stuff. Forget any ideas of extra living space, unless the house was built with preformed attic trusses you have limited options.

DWD

Neelix · Post by **Neelix** » Sat Aug 26, 2023 1:18 pm

I would venture to suggest that loft boards do actually contribute to the insulating layers in a home. Most homes in Scandinavia are wood

oz0707 · Post by **oz0707** » Sat Aug 26, 2023 6:26 pm

You cab use loft legs then cross batten some cls on top to give you an extra 80mm or so. To stabilise the elevated platform id be wanting some fixings into the uprights on the trusses at the edges just to stop it falling like a house of cards. As has been said id be sceptical of how much weight you can hold. Most designs allow for a tank so one or two hundred kilos or so spread out but the timber would probably weigh half of that.