Where to put a loft hatch

frugglewump

Our new mid-terrace house has no loft hatch at all. Best guess at building date is 1890.

Is there a best place to try and put one? (I'm thinking about going straight for a loft ladder)

Can anyone tell me what we're likely to find up there? (in terms of layout, insulation etc not ghosts in the attic )

jennifernil

It needs to be somewhere where there is enough space for the ladder to come down onto. Do you have a decent landing? You also need to consider whether the ladder you want to use needs any headroom while it is being pushed up into the loft.
If nobody has been in the loft since 1890 then there is unlikely to be any insulation, so you need to get some in there soon.The layout of the roof is an unknown, but there should be space to make a storage area by putting down some boards. If the insulation is thicker than the joists, don't squash it down, fix additional timbers to the joists to make them higher and fix the flooring on top. You will need to figure this out before you form the final opening for the ladder so it all fits. A light would be useful , you could wire it into the upstairs light circuit.

Poppycat

I have a smilar aged building around the same time, but it does have a small hatch. Strange that it doesnt have one, I wonder if sometime or other someone has filled it in.

As said its best in an area (usually landing) so that its easier accesable and you have have a ladder extended.

Our hatch is quiet small enough to get through and on the hall landing upstairs. I recently boarded the loft out with B&Q boarding about £3.80 for 4 sheets, and put more insulation down as well has attached Kingspan (thick insulating rigid board) to the roof. I cant turn the loft into a spare rooms as there isnt sufficent height, however it does make a good storage area.

I would certain get some good insulation, energy prices are only going to get worse in the years to come.

If your on a low income you maybe able to get a insulation grant for the loft, of course you need to get a hatch made first.

fairenoughclough

Before you do anything consider the dust, the 100 + years of dust.


If you really need access to the loft, ask the previous owners about the situation and also ask the surveyor.

Personally I would expect there to be an access point, maybe just boarded over and papered.

Good luck.

OK_Sauce

You say you are terraced. Have you asked yor immediate neighbours about if and where they may have put their hatch? I have also known terraces dating back to that time to have a completely open space, ie no dividing walls at all. This may seem strange but you also may need some kind of ssecurity on the hatch, if this is the case. Another good reason to ask the neighbours.

frugglewump

Well the landing is tiny - 2ft x 2ft with a light (bare bulb) hanging down. I don't mind losing the light - just take it up into the loft and use there - but i don't think the hatch would fit.

In terms of positioning i was more wondering if it was better, structurally, to try and cut alongside the rafters rather than across 2 or 3 of them and if there was a standard layout. In my current flat it appears to be 1 spine rafter across the length with 'ribs' coming out on each side at 1ft intervals.

Good idea about asking the neighbours - I hope they've not borrowed the space and boarded it up already

For some reason I'm remembering a sit-com with terraced houses and open space attices - the man went up to check out a noise and came back down into the wrong bedroom - was it 'Terry & June' ?

RedOnRed

Fit it between the joists in the upstairs ceiling. Lol, sounds bit too obvious I know.

Best not to fit it in a bedroom just in case you need to access it in an emergency during the night like we had to recently for a leak...it saves waking someone up.

And don't fit it too close to the edge of the roof like they did in our last house. As soon as you stuck your head through you were banging it on the roof and then you had to be a contortionist to get up!

jackieb

frugglewump wrote:

For some reason I'm remembering a sit-com with terraced houses and open space attices - the man went up to check out a noise and came back down into the wrong bedroom - was it 'Terry & June' ?

It was Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em.

However, Terry or June could have done it too.