Simple boarding of loft

[carled]

Hi all,

we have a traditional 1948 semi and I want to put some simple boarding in the loft to allow us to store and easily access stuff up there. At the moment we have stuff strewn all over the place and it's a pain balancing across the joists to get to the more far-flung regions of the loft!

Without going up and measuring, I'd say that the joists are probably about 12 inches apart... is that fairly standard?

I don't want to convert the area to living space, merely storage space, so what would be the best material to use?

 

[AnonymousImport]

I used Chipboard and ols kitchen cupboard made form chipboard

 

[AnonymousImport]

at a very big diy store that is similar to q & B they had "loft boards" about six in a pack made of chipboard ideal for what you want, one thing, do screw them down ,or like some one i knew, board tips up and hey presto legs through the ceiling

 

[carled]

thanks for the tip!

 

[AnonymousImport]

oh.... and just a extra tip... DO screw them down... but don't nail em! Otherwise you may find the plaster falls off the ceiling of the room underneath!

 

[AnonymousImport]

A couple of tips here. If using chipboard, especially if using chipboard without tongue and grooved edges, make sure that all the boards end on a joist so that they are supported. Chipboard WILL break at the edges if unsupported, and that can mean a foot through the ceiling or worse a broken ankle!

If using the Q&B type boards, lay them so that the length, say 1200mm spans about 4 joists. The joist spacing in older houses is usually about 12 to 13 inches between the sides of each joist, that's because the guys who used to build the rooves and ceilings used the length of their hammer to space them. If you have a good wooden handled claw hammer, you will find that it is exactly the width between joists.

 

[AnonymousImport]

34cm apart (and 5cm wide) - that's about 13 and a bit inches I think - you're right!

Q&B (why not the other way around? Site rules?) seem to be selling the packs at £8.80-ish whereas W**kes have them at £3.87 per pack of 3 (the 1205 x 340 x 18mm ones) - presumably they're much of a muchness?

 

[AnonymousImport]

18mm ok but 22mm better, whatever suits yourpocket.

 

[AnonymousImport]

IF you use toungue and groove floorboarding, lay it thick side-up, that's all... I'd probably agree with the others that chipboard is cheaper, although I think wooden floorboard, properly fixed are a tad stronger.

HTH

Aw

 

[AnonymousImport]

i used 8' x4' sheets of 18mm chipboard then cut it to fit the hatch,then laid them out making sure no edges were hanging over beams.this worked out cheaper than buying the loft boarding packs..

 

[AnonymousImport]

If you're a really bright spark you'll measure the diagonal gap in the loft hatch ensuring that you have the space above to get an 8" board in and turn it. Then go to a place where they offer a board cutting facility and have your 8' x4' ripped lenghways to the correct dimensions. Takes all the drudgery (not to mention mess) out of it

 

[Rolyan]

I've done the loft recently, and used the chipbaords from the large DIY store. They were about £3.50 for a pack of 4. Worked out pretty cheap. Definitely screw them down. Also, dont expect the tongue and groove to just slide into place, you may need to knock them together quite firmly, using a hammer and a block of wood on the edge. Finally, sometimes the joists are a bit uneven, so screw one in place loosely, then fit the ext, then tighten the first, etc, etc. Easy done, and allows them to bow a bit.

 

[carled]

Yeah - just been finding that out after having to unscrew about 8 of the boards!

Cheers.

 

[AnonymousImport]

I used 50 * 47 timber across the original joists at 300mm spacing, and screwed at every joist. this raised the floor above the electric and central heating pipes. Then 18mm chipboard 2.440M * 0.600M and screwed again to new cross members and supported at the ends.