loft question

[mcmac]

Need some advice please

I have a small loft in a new house which is insulated on the floor with some pink stuff which i assume is fibre glass. I'm planning to lay some flooring accross the slats so we can use it as storage and a place for me to play guitar and record, so i will be spending considerable ammounts of time up there. . The flooring will be the cheap stuff that interlocks specially for lofts. Is anything i'm doing unsafe, namely spending time in an atmosphere where there's fibre glass.

Thanks

 

[Sam Gangee]

Fibre glass and "rock wool" fibre is nasty stuff. It can cause skin irritation, eye irritation and lung problems. Last time I went in a loft for 5 minutes, unprotected, I spent three days coughing and rubbing my eyes!

I'm not a builder but this is what I suggest:
Don't work in there without wearing goggles, face mask, gloves and a boiler suit or similar. This will be uncomfortable but this is the best time of year to do it (cool).

Make sure you have plenty of light.

Put walking boards down - as many as necessary to make sure you don't step through the ceiling.

Lay any electrical cables that are going to be needed. If you need a mains power point, take a fused spur from the ring main, NOT from the lighting circuit.

Cover the entire floor area with "building paper" or similar (ask your builders merchant). Make sure you don't block any vents in the eaves.

Now it should be OK to remove the protective clothing but be alert for any symptoms of dry throat, coughing, sore eyes or itchy skin.

Buy suitable lengths of tongue & groove "flooring quality" chipboard - it usually comes in lengths of 6' x 2' or 8' x 2' as I recall. You'll need a nice sharp Tenon saw to cut this.

The chipboard can be laid quite quickly and you might like to drill 5mm holes and screw it down. If you use a screwdriver bit in an electric drill this can be quick and easy and allows you to lift the chipboard should it ever be necessary. Nails are fine but more permanent!

The "building paper" will keep the fibres at bay while you are working and should continue to minimise fibre dust from the edges which the flooring won't cover.

The normal black roof undercover will make it very dark in there so nail plasterboard up for insulation and reflection. If you put fibreglass up first, the temperature will remain warmer in winter and (important) cooler in summer.

If you don't do this, at least paint the roof matt white. It will be much lighter.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

 

[Sam Gangee]

One other point. To insulate the roof and provide a white surface, it's MUCH easier to use 2" expanded polystyrene sheet. However, this stuff is probably a fire hazard so take advice on this!