Loft Flooring in Modern Flat

[martinbickley]

Hi,

I am thinking of adding some flooring to my loft to let me store boxes etc up there.

Having read topics on here and having had a look inside my loft I can see my insulation is currently 270mm (100mm between the joists and 170mm going at a right angle above that).

I am not looking to cover the entire loft, or use it as another room, I just want a small section for storage.

Would it be ok to lay some flooring on top of my existing insulation and effectively compress it by screwing down the flooring above it?

I assume I wouldn't lose much efficiency in insulation?

Thanks in advance.


Martin

 

[JohnD]

yes, you would lose efficiency in insulation because instead of 270mm you would only have 100mm. Its power depends on its thickness.

Also by squashing it down you will be putting presssure on the celing below which may crack or bulge.

You could put cross-battens on top of the existing timbers at 90 degrees to spread the load. Lay your flooring on that and put the insulation between.

 

[martinbickley]

Thanks for your reply.

Bit of a novice at this, I assume by using cross-battens I would be raising the height of my floor by say 170mm to give me the full 270mm thickness.

As an alternative and as I am only looking to cover part of the loft I assume I could just remove the 170mm from the top of the joists and put the flooring over the 100mm.

I assume the flooring would make up for part of the loss from removing the 170mm?

Thanks


Martin

 

[JohnD]

18mm of flooring is nowhere near as effective as 170mm of insulation.

100mm cross-battens with 100mm of insulation between would be a lot better

 

[martinbickley]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Would removing say 2 sqm of the 170mm from the centre of a 8 sqm loft make a big difference to the efficiency?


Martin

 

[cmother1]

I think I'd try for a raised platform on legs attached to the joists through the insulation (bit like a coffee table in the loft, really). Any chance you could attach one side to a batten on a brick wall?

 

[martinbickley]

No wall nearby really.

I assume that removing a layer of the insulation is a generally bad idea then?