Loft boarding - Truss, Brace, Kings & Queens

[jarvo]

Hi all,

I live in a newish build circa 2013 and have a small loft space that I would like to partially board out for very light storage.
The loft is roughly 3.7m wide by 5m long, with an area roughly 3.6m x 3.6m which could be boarded when the loft access is taken into account.

I'm currently looking at a LoftZone kit (7m2) to raise the boards above the 270/300mm of insulation that's already in place.

So my problem is the roof is a truss design with large vertical posts right down the centre of the loft space with support struts, which makes boarding rather difficult.
Not sure if this is called a King post design as different sources show different names
(its 1.87m from the centre of the posts to the loft edge)

What would be the best way to board it out, start from the centre King post and go 1.2m (maybe 1.8m) out to make the most of the head room.
Ideally i would like to avoid cutting every single loft board to make them fit around the King post as it doesnt have to look beautiful just for storage.

Secondly the diagonal strut braces, could they be repositioned horizontally (red line) to give easier access for storage?
Or would this substantially weaken the roof.

A couple of images below, sorry about the poor quality.. my phone doesnt seem to like the low light levels

thanks all

 

[noseall]

Hi all,

I live in a newish build circa 2013 and have a small loft space that I would like to partially board out for very light storage.
The loft is roughly 3.7m wide by 5m long, with an area roughly 3.6m x 3.6m which could be boarded when the loft access is taken into account.

I'm currently looking at a LoftZone kit (7m2) to raise the boards above the 270/300mm of insulation that's already in place.

So my problem is the roof is a truss design with large vertical posts right down the centre of the loft space with support struts, which makes boarding rather difficult.
Not sure if this is called a King post design as different sources show different names
(its 1.87m from the centre of the posts to the loft edge)

What would be the best way to board it out, start from the centre King post and go 1.2m (maybe 1.8m) out to make the most of the head room.
Ideally i would like to avoid cutting every single loft board to make them fit around the King post as it doesnt have to look beautiful just for storage.

Secondly the diagonal strut braces, could they be repositioned horizontally (red line) to give easier access for storage?
Or would this substantially weaken the roof.

A couple of images below, sorry about the poor quality.. my phone doesnt seem to like the low light levels

thanks all
View attachment 319460View attachment 319456

There is very little that you can remove from a truss roof, as they are a bare bones structure (slender sections) in the first place. You certainly can't re-position the diagonal bracing, no.

 

[jarvo]

Thanks @noseall, I had done some research but couldn't find anything conclusive

 

[^woody^]

You just have to cut or notch the boards around the truss struts as best you can. May need timber supports fixed to the sides or undersides of the struts to support the cut edges.

 

[jarvo]

Thanks @^woody^ I think thats probably the best i can do, i cant see any easy way around it

 

[jarvo]

Out of interest why does the NHBC say Chevrons are needed for spans over 8m.
The roof in question is probably closer to 4m and 2 storey.

7.2.9 Bracing for trussed rafter roofs - NHBC Standards 2019

nhbc-standards.co.uk

 

[^woody^]

All trusses need bracing. Diagonal bracing for shorter widths, chevron (ie double/treble etc diagonal) for wider widths.