boarding all/part of loft

[kevd]

I am planning on boarding some of the loft in a new build for a friend of mine.

It seems the sheds all sell loft panels in 1200x300 or so panels so you can get them in and up.

My question is, if the panels are T&G'd all the way round, then I guess you don't have to worry about the edges hitting joists all the time as the T&G will give the boards some strength. Is that correct - same as T&G's chipboard flooring they put in?

I don't think there will be a huge amount of weight up there or anything, but just wanted to check incase it was a no no. I know the Wickes boards aren't grooved on the edges so they would have to meet at joist centres. B&Q seem to have ones that are T&G's all round.

 

[mikric]

I would say its a no no . If its a new build arnt the trusses at 600mm centers anyway ?

 

[kevd]

quite possibly, I have yet to get up there and take a look, was trying thinking it out in my head first.

 

[mointainwalker]

You don't say how thick the panels are and what material.

If they are , say 22mm chipboard or 15 mm ( ?) OSB T+G and only 300 mm wide, I would have thought it o.k. if they were laid perpendicular to the joists and the joins were staggered.

 

[kevd]

sorry, board sizes are 1220x325x18mm as shown here http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.j...refview=search&ts=1257091364446&isSearch=true

And they will definately be staggered joints.

I don't know what timber merchants supply size and cost wise. Don't want anything too big otherwise will be hard to get into the loft! Though 325 seems quite thin!

 

[mointainwalker]

If its just going to be for storage, I would be happy with that. If you wanted a bit more strength you could put some wood-glue on the T+G.

 

[kevd]

ok thanks. That was what I was thinking really.

 

[jzee]

Don't forget you probably have 20-30cm of insulation up there if it's a new build!

 

[kevd]

thats what I am hoping, I need to get up there to take a look to see if I need to baton out the tops of the truss joists incase the insulation is deeper than those - which I guess they will be!

 

[masona]

You shouldn't really use the trusses but if it's very light storage then you should be okay. The trusses are design to to the weight of the roof only.

Ideally come off the wallplate or load bearing wall and build it up from there, not easy because of thicker insulation. Have a look at the link below and scroll down to page 3:2 supporting the water tank will give you some idea to get round it

http://www.mii.com/artefact/download.asp?aid=3881

 

[kevd]

crikey, thats detailed!! Its only for general storage (light) and not "living" on!

Will see what its like once up there and see how big joists are etc.

 

[kevd]

seems that the depth of insulation is much higher than the roof joist height! (as expected I guess in a new build!).

So, whats the best way of building up the height of the joists? Is the only real way to span a new length of say 6x2 or whatever depth from one side to the other and fix at end to the trusses and along the length at intervals with small lengths fixed to both new and old joist?