Hi there,
I have a mid-terrace house that was built in 1880s. I've pottering about in it doing work here and there. I've left the worst thing til last now come to sort out the main bedroom. The plaster isn't looking too clever on the walls and ceiling is sagging badly.
The ceiling is a lath and plaster ceiling and it seems that the joists that the ceiling is holding on to is are bowed... causing the ceiling to sag.
I'm looking to rip down my main bedroom ceiling. I also want to replace the joists with much more substantial ones but since I've purchased this house I've always had this idea that I want to extend upstairs into the loft with proper stairs going up as well.
Currently the joists up in the loft are 3" x 1". I've had a couple of suggestions from people I have spoken to about doing this have said that 6" x 2" should be fine. I'm not convinced... my joists on the upstairs floor are 7" x 3" so how can 6" x 2" be any good?
I'm planning on using upstairs for something like a chill-out room and having my PC and that kind of thing up there. So the problem there is that with even this kind of use I'm being told that this classed as habitual so I need to comply with Building Regulations.
So far (and please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong and/or point out anything else I haven't found out yet or considered), I've found that the stairs must go to the landing and have a fire door. The headroom clearance all the way up the stairs must be 2m. I know the new ceiling must be the fire grade (pink coloured?) type.
My question is this: What thickness joists should I consider using? The distance between front wall and middle wall (the existing 3" x 1" joists rest on this middle wall; the distance is 3.97m and from middle wall to back wall is 4.07m. Also, what joists would I need just for using the loft space as storage? The reason I'm asking this is because of my budget and may not be able to afford doing the loft conversion completely unless I can get the joists in first and consider stairs and rest of conversion later.
Sorry for the long post and thanks for your time; I appreciate it.
Jay
I have a mid-terrace house that was built in 1880s. I've pottering about in it doing work here and there. I've left the worst thing til last now come to sort out the main bedroom. The plaster isn't looking too clever on the walls and ceiling is sagging badly.
The ceiling is a lath and plaster ceiling and it seems that the joists that the ceiling is holding on to is are bowed... causing the ceiling to sag.
I'm looking to rip down my main bedroom ceiling. I also want to replace the joists with much more substantial ones but since I've purchased this house I've always had this idea that I want to extend upstairs into the loft with proper stairs going up as well.
Currently the joists up in the loft are 3" x 1". I've had a couple of suggestions from people I have spoken to about doing this have said that 6" x 2" should be fine. I'm not convinced... my joists on the upstairs floor are 7" x 3" so how can 6" x 2" be any good?
I'm planning on using upstairs for something like a chill-out room and having my PC and that kind of thing up there. So the problem there is that with even this kind of use I'm being told that this classed as habitual so I need to comply with Building Regulations.
So far (and please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong and/or point out anything else I haven't found out yet or considered), I've found that the stairs must go to the landing and have a fire door. The headroom clearance all the way up the stairs must be 2m. I know the new ceiling must be the fire grade (pink coloured?) type.
My question is this: What thickness joists should I consider using? The distance between front wall and middle wall (the existing 3" x 1" joists rest on this middle wall; the distance is 3.97m and from middle wall to back wall is 4.07m. Also, what joists would I need just for using the loft space as storage? The reason I'm asking this is because of my budget and may not be able to afford doing the loft conversion completely unless I can get the joists in first and consider stairs and rest of conversion later.
Sorry for the long post and thanks for your time; I appreciate it.
Jay