Loft lining project questions

[jonesy76]

Hi everyone,

I'm going to do up my loft (i.e. floor and plasterboard the rafters) for some proper storage space in my house, and I have some questions that I need answers to.

1. Do I need planning permission to do this?

2. There are holes in the roofing liner, but no water is getting through the tiles - do I need to patch them up?

3. There are only 2x4 joists for the loft - will I need to join them up with some 2x2 to make them a proper 2x6 joist?

4. Will I need to insulate the rafters with polystyrene, or is this too much an expense for the benefit?

5. Does anyone know of any velux window installers at all? All I seem to find are loft conversion companies.

Thanks to anyone who knows about these in advance - i'll post some pics when it's complete.

Simon

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

If you are not doing this with Building Regs then you can do what the hell you like. A roofer will fit a Velux for you.

 

[Static]

There are only 2x4 joists for the loft - will I need to join them up with some 2x2 to make them a proper 2x6 joist?

Your better off cross battening to make things higher.. assuming you need the extra space to fit in insulation.. but if you think this will add strength your wrong..

Oh and as said above if its non building regs and just for storage then can put in whatever you like.. just make sure its ventilated..

 

[jonesy76]

i thought i would need 2x6 thickness joists as i'll be putting quite a bit of weight up there. there is also the insulation problem - would probably have to take it all out to fit the flooring.

I'm sort of making a new room up there, but not a full conversion - just loft ladders into a large storage area with my old video game collection set up.

What do you mean by ventilated? is it there will be room for air to circulate round the rafters?

 

[Static]

It saves alot of time if you are honest from the start on these forums.. we arent the housing police, mostly we dont care if you build a 4000ft monument to Rooney in your back garden or convert your loft to living space without planning/building regs..

Adding a little slither of timber above the existing wont do alot.. if anything it will just add extra dead load which will cause cracking in ceilings over time..

The right way to do the partial conversion is sister the existing ceiling rafters with correctly sized floor joists.. then board etc..

Ventilate as in ensure the eaves are still free flowing of air and when you insulate all over the place that voids are left to allow condensation/vapour to circulate out of the space.. Most loft spaces are very hot in the summer and cold in the winter..

 

[jonesy76]

I was more concerned about re-sale of the house - I didn't want to do anything which wouldn't benefit the value.

I just thought that if I would be using the loft as general storage and part-time living area the joists would need to be as big as the ones under the other floors, thats all.

probably would be cheaper than all new joists too!

BTW wouldn't more joists be dead weight also????

 

[Static]

BTW wouldn't more joists be dead weight also????

No the new joists would sit onto the load bearing walls and support the new flooring so the existing ceiling joists just support the existing ceiling..

You may not be able to get sensible sized timbers to span between load bearing walls which is often the issue with loft conversions.. thus steels are introduced..

Ok, you would happily jump up and down on your flooring in the bedrooms.. would you even consider doing the same in a loft area?

You will add no extra value to the property with what you are proposing

 

[JohnD]

if you put plasterboard walls up, and a floor, it will not look like a loft storage area, it will look like a non-compliant loft conversion, and will knock thousands of pounds off the value of your home.