loft legs/stilts for making storage space in loft

seatbeltnoob

stator wrote: »

Keep an eye on gumtree in your area, often fairly cheap leftover bags of rolls etc for loft insulation and often solid insulation too

Yes there are always some free loft insulation being given away on gumtree but time > money. I want this done ASAP for the sake of saving less than £50 I dont want to waste 2 weekends sitting on my hands. I have other projects dependant on loft being floored. Such as a room that needs decluttering and decorating and redundant stuff put in the loft.

Correction: I am in London I selected 30 mile radious for search on gumtree for loft insulation. Out of 6 ads, only 1 is for free and it does look a bit tatty. Beggers can't be choosers so on the free on you have to accomodate the donor, collect at a time of their choosing. Cant be too picky.

seatbeltnoob

Furts wrote: »

Remember most roofs are weak and with trussed rafter roofs there is very little timber to get a fixing int. Couple this with the woeful loft boards sold in the DIY sheds and the omens are not positive.

Also remember there are homes that fail to sell, or sales are delayed, because of loft boarding.

yes I was looking at the loft boards in b&q and wondered how the heck these chipboard is meant to support people walking on them. A passer by in b&q said to me these are rubbish mate, dont but them. They will tear through. I decided to go for 12mm ply instead. It's actually a lot lighter than the 18mm chipboard loft boarding and obviously much more stronger as it has flex to it.

stator

Nothing wrong with loft boards, they are supposed to support the weight of one person and a bit extra. Not designed for a loft conversion.

seatbeltnoob

stator wrote: »

Nothing wrong with loft boards, they are supposed to support the weight of one person and a bit extra. Not designed for a loft conversion.

For a bit more money you can get ply and do a better job. Also with those loft board packs they are 30cm wide I beleive which means you will need to put the stilts on 30cm apart as well and cut the foam insulatuion 30cm apart.

With decent quality ply you can spread out the stilts a lot more. you can spread out 12mm ply to 45cm apart and 18mm ply to 55-60cm apart so you dont reall save money with the loft board packs

TheCyclingProgrammer

seatbeltnoob wrote: »

For a bit more money you can get ply and do a better job. Also with those loft board packs they are 30cm wide I beleive which means you will need to put the stilts on 30cm apart as well and cut the foam insulatuion 30cm apart.

No. You don't lay out 30cm loft boards on 30cm spacings, you run them length wise across the joists (or loft legs) on 600 or 400mm centres (they are usually 1220mm long).

As long as you are careful with them, correctly fit together the tongue and groove and screw down with decent screws (I used spax screws), pilot holed and countersunk, they will be fine. Perfectly strong enough to hold the weight of somebody walking around on them - chipboard is used for normal sub-floors in rooms, there's no reason why it won't do the job for occasional foot traffic in a loft.

Using plywood is IMO a completely unnecessary expense for basic loft storage and is more hassle as you'll need to get them cut up.

One tip is to make sure you are aware of where any junction boxes are for your upstairs lighting circuit - you should make sure you leave an access hatch so you can get to them. You can do this by cutting taking a small length of loft board (cut one in half) and removing the tongue - it won't be quite as strong but you'll be able to lift that small section of board by simply removing the screws. Don't forget to mark it.

Fat_Walt

TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »

No. You don't lay out 30cm loft boards on 30cm spacings, you run them length wise across the joists (or loft legs) on 600 or 400mm centres (they are usually 1220mm long).

As long as you are careful with them, correctly fit together the tongue and groove and screw down with decent screws (I used spax screws), pilot holed and countersunk, they will be fine. Perfectly strong enough to hold the weight of somebody walking around on them - chipboard is used for normal sub-floors in rooms, there's no reason why it won't do the job for occasional foot traffic in a loft.

Using plywood is IMO a completely unnecessary expense for basic loft storage and is more hassle as you'll need to get them cut up.

One tip is to make sure you are aware of where any junction boxes are for your upstairs lighting circuit - you should make sure you leave an access hatch so you can get to them. You can do this by cutting taking a small length of loft board (cut one in half) and removing the tongue - it won't be quite as strong but you'll be able to lift that small section of board by simply removing the screws. Don't forget to mark it.

But if a loft board is 30cm and you're supporting the joints on loft legs there will be 30cm spacings across the boards.

seatbeltnoob

Fat_Walt wrote: »

But if a loft board is 30cm and you're supporting the joints on loft legs there will be 30cm spacings across the boards.

(I agree, It seems to me that the joint where the two loft boards meet needs to be supported underneath by the stilts or else it will be prone to break there. particle board has no flex. Plywood can flex quite afair bit before it gives in.

Loft board pack is £8 for approximately 1.2m x 1m. A 12mm sheet plywood is £24 for a 1.2 x 2.4 so just 1.5x cost A small increase for what you get IMO.

You could go for 18mm and use far less loft legs if you want.

Selco/b&q have inhouse timber cutting facilities. Because ply is strong you dont need a tong and groove joint between boards.

TheCyclingProgrammer

Right, I see what you mean now. Personally I wouldn't use loft legs with any type of board, I'd use some 3x2 or 4x2 across the existing joists or using something like the LoftZone kits I mentioned in a previous post. You'll have no issues with chipboard boards.

stator

Loft legs are designed to be used at a certain density. If you use larger spacing you might find they are overloaded

seatbeltnoob

TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »

Right, I see what you mean now. Personally I wouldn't use loft legs with any type of board, I'd use some 3x2 or 4x2 across the existing joists or using something like the LoftZone kits I mentioned in a previous post. You'll have no issues with chipboard boards.

problem is you will limit yourself a lot if you use timber planks in how much insulation you can put on. the loft stilts raise it up to 170mm, so you can use 150mm loft insulation. with 4" timbers you are limiting yourself to 75mm insulation (you need some air gap).

Let's not forget 4x2 is actually not 4 inches more like 89mm. If you want comparable elevation to the loft stilts you would need extremely wide (and heavy) timber.

Loft stilts weigh practically nothing which is their key points. Most floor rafters in the loft are weak because they were never meant to have people walking on them. You put great big 2x6 on them and you put a lot of load on which will limit how much stuff you can put on top.