Loft flooring for the ultimate newbie.

[systematic]

Hi Community,

I recently had an entire Chimney stack removed (2 x Chimney breasts - one in the living room and one in the bedroom AND the chimney on the roof). The loft is a mess - dust and black soot in many places, bricks scattered in random places, insulation curled and full of dust etc. In fact, here is a video I took this morning spanning across the loft as I am stood on the hatch ladder:

From this video, are you able advise what joists I currently have? I think they are 3x2s.

What I would like

• Be able to put in thicker insulation than whats already in there. I think thee existing insulation is 100mm or less.
• Strengthen the overall structure so that i can confidently install this floorboard - https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-P5-...pboard-Flooring---18-x-600-x-2400mm/p/164516#. I chose this because my joists run 400mm apart.
• Be able to use this as a storage space initially but then perhaps change it in the future to a living area like a bedroom maybe? I am not too fussed about not being able to get a bedroom but I am forward thinking to learn my options.

What I dont want:

• I would like to avoid using loft legs. I appreciate that using timbers will not give me the 270mm insulation height that is standard. However, as long as I can get something thicker than what i already have, I will be happy.

What I dont know and need your help with

• Given the above, do I run 4x2, 6x2 or larger pieces of timber next to to the existing 3x2 joists?
  
• Given the above, do I run 4x2, 6x2 or larger pieces of timber perpendicular to the existing 3x2 joists?
• Given the above, do I run 4x2, 6x2 or larger pieces of timber next to AND perpendicular to the existing 3x2 joists?
  
• How long should these be?
• Do the new timbers get glued to the existing 3x2 joists, screwed or both?
• The new timber will add more weight, do I need to be worried about this?

Thank you very much for your support!

 

[cdbe]

Personally, I don't think there's much point putting in joists for a possible future loft conversion without a full design, also, you have nowhere to pick up the outer ends. You could mess about with fixing bits on existing joist etc but you only get a marginal improvement in strength, probably best just using the legs so you don't compromise the insulation and keeping the heavier stuff over the central wall.