Do I need a loft hatch?

[Hugh1983]

I've gutted the top floor of my house so that it's one big room which opens up from the stairs.

By removing stud walls, i have removed the support for the ceiling rafters. These rafters run accross the room balanced from the two supporting beams in the sloped roof. Previously, you could go into the loft and things were stored up there. Now, the celing wouldn't support anyone walking or storing anything too heavy up there.

I'm going to insulate and plasterboarding the ceiling level and then skim but I'm wondering if I should put in a loft hatch?? Do I need one? Is there any point having one if you cant walk around or put any weight on the ceiling? I'm guessing the only point in having one would be for use as an observation point to see any issues in the roof in the future.

 

[xr4x4]

Ermmm... Did you check that doing what you did wouldn't affect the structure of the roof?

 

[Hugh1983]

Ermmm... Did you check that doing what you did wouldn't affect the structure of the roof?

Yes....

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

You ought to have one for access to enable a periodic check every now and then. No regs demand it though so up to you.