Protecting floor joists and using the first floor during the build

Hey all,

I've now got to the point in my build when I'm at the first floor, with my pozi joists installed. The joists are untreated, and will be exposed to the elements until I get the first floor built and my roof on.

I appreciate this is normal for most builds where there's a first floor, but for me it might be a couple of months of building to get to the point of being water tight, so longer than normal. What actions should I take, if any, to protect the floor joists during this period?

Also, might be a dumb question, but how you you normally use the actual floor during this period? I've been supplied with my floor boards already, but don't want to lay them down because of the potential damage cause by the elements and generally building. So what can I do - get some thick ply/osb to lay down temporarily to be able to use the floor, or potentially just use scaffold boards?

Sorry, probably obvious questions to those in the know, but I'm not sure!

Cheers
Andy

 

Why would you want to use the floor?

Use polythene for covering.

 

I figured that building the inner skin of my walls and pointing them up would be easier when working on a floor on the inside...

 

Build from the scaffolding. Drop a plank or two on the joists to point up or clean off the inner face.

 

Thanks Woody

 

walking and working on polythene encourages slips and falls, especially when it is exposed to the weather.

you can get ridged plastic sheets that you can staple down to protect flooring. About 4mm thick and look like polystyrene roofing panels.

 

Most if not all of the big house builders board the floor, some of the smaller builders I deal with have started to do the same on extensions, but the decking comes with polythene on the surface and they tape the joints etc, Egger do one that I believe just glue down and require no taping and can be left exposed for 6 weeks.

 

The flooring I’ve got is Egger.

Chances are that they will be exposed for a few months rather than a few weeks.

Perhaps I should lay it, then cover completely with a thick gauge dpm to provide weather proofing and to account for the fact it might be exposed for a while.

 

The problem with a floor between four walls is that it wont drain easily, it holds water like a bowl and you end up with concentrated damp in a few places which is not good for the boards despite what the manufacturers say.

If you are going to have this floor exposed for months, and are dead set on laying it, you need to cover it well and devise something with skirt upstands sealed against the walls and maybe some sort of slope and drainage outlet to prevent standing water.

 

They put down sheets of old ply here on the joists to work on. You might just trap the water in if you lay plastic over it and it gets under.

 

Not dead set on anything to be honest, just trying to assess the options.

Im working on my own most of the time so if nothing else I can just put a load of blocks up in one go Onto the floor and leave my scaffold clear.

Someone nearby sells used ply hoarding 8x4s, so perhaps I should put a tarp on the joists to protect them, with some holes for drainage, then onto put plybord around the wall perimeter for additional workspace/storage.

 

thanks, hadn’t seen your post when I wrote my last one, but this could be the way forward...

 

The bloke wanted £14 a sheet for used plywood, and wickes had new 18mm osb for £20...and the latter didn’t mean a 40mile round trip to collect...so hey presto.

They only had 7 sheets, and I could have done with 8, but it’ll do for now

 

I asked my scaff company to give me 20 extra 4 metre boards so that I can use the inside space, and then put my own scaff towers on them. I dont think I'd have been able to do the roof without being able to work from the inside.

Fair play to you pushing on through winter. I'm nervous enough about the weather and the light disappearing and just about to start getting the membrane on the roof.

 

Surely you’d do the inner skin from inside the building?
I just put a few planks down on the floor joists, job done