Loft boarding advice

[tvaustin]

I currently live in a 3 bedroom maisonette. My boys (and me) love lego and this has took over there bedroom resulting in smashed sets and lost pieces. I have got lots of new sets which i can't build due to lack of space and missus will not have lego anywhere else.

I thought the best thing to do would be to board my loft out and make some shelves to display the lego, so i got some people out to give me some quotes.

1st person specialises in loft boarding and came very highly recommended by lots of people. He gave me a free quote and had the following to say:

• Purlin beamed roof with 2.5 metre headroom and joists of .35mm x 100mm at 400mm centres. 22 square metres to board.
• Supply and fit 3 section ladder, 22 cross bracing, 22 metres boarding and additional 100mm loft insulation to add to my 100mm i already have and change loft hatch
• total cost £1260

I then thought it may be cheaper for me to supply the materials myself as my brother in law works at homebase and gets 20% discount so i got some people out to just do the work and i supply all the materials.

• cheapest was £450
• he said i would need at least 6 x 2 wood for the cross bracing and if i used 4 x 2 he couldn't take any blame if anything happens

I looked at materials and was surprised how much everything would cost so decided to just use the 1st person to do everything.

Where i work, they scrap some chipboard which materials come in. They are 1.2m x 1.22m so i thought these would be perfect for the shelving for the lego and ended up taking 20 of these boards home lol. I then thought about having them in a L shape in the loft and going about 2 - 3 high and then using the rest of the loft for stoarge.

I messaged the loft boarding company back and asked what bracing beams they use and if they do shelving as would need a frame made to fit the boards to. Unfortunately they do not do shelving and they use .90mm bracing beams.

I then messaged him again asking if the boards would fit through the loft hatch when he has removed it without cutting the boards down and he replied

• he would have to withdraw from the project as he does loft boarding for lightweight domestic storage and is not suitable for day to day activity and excessive loading and to consult a more appropriate building firm to do a conversion properly.

Kids would go up in the loft but not everyday but there could be 4-5 of us up there at a time. We also do store a lot of things up there currently (im a hoarder) as we have xmas decorations, old toys, old clothes (about 10 x 80 litre storage containers) and loads more.

I am now stuck on what to do - do i need to do a proper loft conversion? does using bigger wood for cross bracing help? Do i get in contact with carpenters or builders?

Thanks in advance

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

For safety reason, you get a calculation on whether you require to strengthen the load bearing areas, for extra duty they are going to undertake.

 

[Doggit]

Post some pictures so we know what we're dealing with.

 

[tvaustin]

 

[tvaustin]

 

[tvaustin]

as you can see i have a lot of stuff up there - even on top beams. I have used old desks/cupboard doors and some loft boards (not screwed down) to support the stuff across the beams. I havent got much floor space left so had trouble taking some photos

 

[HERTS P&D]

Before you do any wood work, order a 7 yard skip and fill it. Before the wife leaves you.

Andy

 

[Doggit]

Sorry TV, but you'd need to clear a good space for us to see the joist layout. Great pictures of the amount you managed to stuff up there, but we can't see the joists, nor the layout to be able to advise you properly.