How far can I board my loft for safe ventilation?

[charango]

We've just had a builder in to board our loft using Caberfloor T & G Chipboard Flooring (18 x 2400 x 600 - Grade P4). He's pretty much only boarded down the centre of the loft and says you shouldn't really board under the eaves because it needs proper ventilation. Is this the case or is it because he doesn't fancy crawling under there trying to fit boards?

The reason we need as much area boarded as possible is because we downsized from a big house to a much smaller one and need as much area to utilize as possible for storage.

Any advise would be really welcome

Brian

P.S. The house is a 70s build 4 bed link detached.[/b]

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

You need to leave a 2" gap. but there is no need to for the gap between any boarding and the tiles to get so small anyway as you could never reach in that far to store things. Really you need to take a view on how low realistically is is worth going in terms of available height. There's no point boarding out further than that point. Also you should not be shoving so much stuff up there that you need every square inch, the ceiling joists are not designed for it and btw many would not consider a 4 bed link detached small.

 

[charango]

Thanks for the quick reply!

You say we need a 2" gap, do you mean that the gap has to be at least 2" at the lowest part of the eaves, basically where you couldn't store a matchbox? The area I'm talking about is enough room to put some boxes (most not particularly weight bearing, just bulky) - probably about a foot in height height. At the moment, we're losing about eight feet of usable area under the eaves.

By the way, everything is comparative, but having moved from a bigger family house, because of the upkeep, energy bills etc. the link detached is quite a bit smaller - thus the storage issue - a lot of family things that are pretty worthless but hold a lot of sentimental attachment.

Incidentally, being clueless on this stuff, we currently have a 30-year old boiler, which needs replacing with a combi job. Will the water tank in the loft be surplus to requirements? As that would free up a bit of space.

Brian

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Thanks for the quick reply!

You say we need a 2" gap, do you mean that the gap has to be at least 2" at the lowest part of the eaves, basically where you couldn't store a matchbox? The area I'm talking about is enough room to put some boxes (most not particularly weight bearing, just bulky) - probably about a foot in height height. At the moment, we're losing about eight feet of usable area under the eaves.

Exactly, but yes you could board far enough across so that you get a foot high box in or whatever. Its awkward but not impossible.

Getting a combi will make the tank redundant.