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I have an existing loft with beams/joists 2inch by 3inch, with boards over and used for light storage.
Full width of house is about 7m, with brick supporting wall half way across, so weight bearing span of each joist is about 3.5m.
From what I've read these joists are not really adequate for putting any weight on them. Additionally, I'd like to get some decent insulation under the boards.
I initially planned to put sister joists of 6" by 2" next to these and put the boards onto them, with 6" insulation underneath,
However, it has been suggested to me that laminating the existing joists is the easier option. By this I've been advised to add another 2" by 3" beam on top of the existing ones, and screw them together.
Can anyone advise whether this will work and give the same strength as a single 6*2 beam, and also exactly how to do it i.e. what size screws, gaps between screws, whether to use glue as well?
What is this process called - "laminating joists" doesn't seem to return much in a search engine so not sure if it has a different description.
Note that this is for storage only - it isn't ever going to be turned into a room so building regs dont apply.
Thanks
Full width of house is about 7m, with brick supporting wall half way across, so weight bearing span of each joist is about 3.5m.
From what I've read these joists are not really adequate for putting any weight on them. Additionally, I'd like to get some decent insulation under the boards.
I initially planned to put sister joists of 6" by 2" next to these and put the boards onto them, with 6" insulation underneath,
However, it has been suggested to me that laminating the existing joists is the easier option. By this I've been advised to add another 2" by 3" beam on top of the existing ones, and screw them together.
Can anyone advise whether this will work and give the same strength as a single 6*2 beam, and also exactly how to do it i.e. what size screws, gaps between screws, whether to use glue as well?
What is this process called - "laminating joists" doesn't seem to return much in a search engine so not sure if it has a different description.
Note that this is for storage only - it isn't ever going to be turned into a room so building regs dont apply.
Thanks