More Loft Insulation / Higher Joists

[Toki]

I currently have 100mm or so of loft insulation which is level with the current joists. On top of the joists I have some boards used purely for storage of some light boxes.

I have Miller Pattison coming round next Monday to top up the insulation to over 270mm I think it is.

Before they come, I want to extend the joists so I can place the boards back on once the insulation has been done.

My question is, how easy is this to do myself and where do I get the joist extensions from? A local timber merchant?

I'm not a joiner but am quite capable of using a hammer and drill.

 

[DIYWell]

Without knowing what your roof is like (old building, thick wood, new building, thin wood) I can only say what worked for me last year.

I've a 70's house with roof trusses. To raise the central storage space I put lengths of timber across the trusses on small stand-offs where they crossed. From memory 70mm stand-offs and 100mm timber. The length of the 100mm timber was dictated by being able to get them in through the hatch, and everything was tied in place with metal strapping.

Putting timbers across has two advantages; reduces the cold spots to only where the old and new timbers cross, also adds a bit of structural rigidity to help with load bearing.

All the timber came from a local timber merchant, hardware from builders merchant. It was an easy job, but took a bit of effort, and the movement disturbes the existing mineral wood so wear a face mask.