Cross Battens

[Jag1978]

Hi All - I'm raising the height of the floor in my loft to secure down some loft boards.. I'm going down the cross battening route. My existing joists are 65mm high and I'm using 45x95mm battens.. I'm getting 6x130mm wood screws to fix the new battens to the joists. Should I be drilling pilot holes before screwing down the screws.. I was thinking I wont get a drill bit thin enough and long enough to make pilot holes so worried about splitting the battens or worse the joists..

Hope that makes sense..

Jag

 

[foxhole]

http://www.orbitalfasteners.co.uk/e...9zGcbA_VhnBYhu55kYRRb_VzxSoG1fx1umBoCqGDw_wcB

Standard flat bits should also be long enough.

 

[big-all]

100x5mm screws one each side at 45ish degrees no pilot needed

 

[Jag1978]

Thanks for the tip guys.. Think the drill bit in question is too thick at 5mm for pilot holes as the screws are 6mm

Putting the screws in at an angle could work though so will consider that..

I'm getting 6x130mm screws so I can technically screw the battens down from the top as the batten is 95mm high and the beams are 65mm high, but if no pilot holes are required I should be okay to screw straight through

Regards

Jag

 

[big-all]

i would pilot 130mm but not 100mm

 

[Jag1978]

Cool.. I'll find a drill bit that is long enough to pilot drill the holes.. 4x130mm should do the job

Jag

 

[JohnD]

IMO it is more use to drill the battens, there is nothing to be gained from having the screw thread bite through them.

 

[Jag1978]

yeah true I can see what your saying.. just drill through the battens to stop them from splitting and not worry about pilot holes for the beams.. I guess that would make more sense..

Jag

 

[big-all]

IMO it is more use to drill the battens, there is nothing to be gained from having the screw thread bite through them.

its actually far better to not grip the batons because as you stand on the joists to do the work they will sag causing a gap between batons and joists that wont pull shut if it grips

 

[Jag1978]

oh right I see what you mean.. Something else to think about.. I'll be a boarding expert by the time this I'm through with this.. Thanks for you input

Jag

 

[foxhole]

Thanks for the tip guys.. Think the drill bit in question is too thick at 5mm for pilot holes as the screws are 6mm

Putting the screws in at an angle could work though so will consider that..

I'm getting 6x130mm screws so I can technically screw the battens down from the top as the batten is 95mm high and the beams are 65mm high, but if no pilot holes are required I should be okay to screw straight through

Regards

Jag

Screw head would be larger than the 6mm, or you could use a washer, or a smaller bit.
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/produ...yJBAg1ohQvqdL4QfnRS6VovPJJEop1L5IaxoCeDnw_wcB