Loft Boarding/Ladder/Lighting

SavvySaver24

Hi All,

Looking for some advice on Loft Boarding. I had a quote for 40m2 of boarding, a loft ladder, loft lighting and a new draft proof loft hatch and it came in at just over £1,000. Firstly can anyone advise on whether they think this is reasonable?

However, it seems we now have an added cost that we hadn't factored in. Our insulation is 9 inches, and as such we have been told we will need the joists raised to accommodate this. The cost to raise to accommodate between 100 mm and 200 mm of insulations seemed fair (extra £300 or so). But to raise it to accommodate over 200 mm we were then looking at £1200 additional cost!

This is absolutely not within our budget, so I have a couple of questions:

1. Can you "squash" down insulation. Ideally squash it enough so we don't need them raised at all (so from 230 mm down to under 100 mm) or at least down to under 200 mm (from 230 mm)?

2. What are the implications of "squashing" down the insulation? Does it hugely effect it's efficiency?

3. Does anyone know if loft boarding companies would generally be prepared to "squash" it down, or would they always say we need the joists raised?

As an aside, I am starting to wonder if we should attempt to do it ourselves there is no boarding up there at all at the moment and none of us have any DIY skils! Worth attempting it at all or leave it to the experts?

Thanks!

martinthebandit

https://www.diy.com/ideas-advice/how-to-board-a-loft/CC_npcart_1300020.art

Oh and if you never try, you'll never get any diy skills

Silvertabby

Insulation question apart, we could have boarded our loft ourselves - but we also wanted the loft hatch replacing with a double sized one, plus pull down wooden stairs fitted.

We paid £800 for that (including all materials) some time ago, so £1K now does sound reasonable.

Rather than fit permanent lighting up there, we fitted an industrial 100w light bulb with a long cable. This is plugged into one of the landing sockets when we need to access the attic, and rolled up and tucked into the fold-down stairs when not in use.

Perhaps you could have a go at the boarding/lighting yourselves, and just get this company to fit the new hatch and ladder?

TheCyclingProgrammer

You should not compress insulation down, it will reduce it's effectiveness and you will be wasting your time.

You can use loft legs or something like those loft zone kits to create a raised platform under which your 270mm of insulation can sit. The Loft Zone kits aren't cheap but perhaps you could save some costs with a bit of DIY? Get a carpenter in to fit the loft hatch, a spark to do the lights and board it yourself.

SavvySaver24

So the package for the Ladder, Lighting, and new loft hatch is £440 (that is the mid-range ladder rather than cheap one).

So that was the other thing were thinking, buy loft legs (£215) and chipboard (£400 to do 40m2). And then try and fit ourselves And then add the £440 package for the Ladder, Lighting and new loft hatch.

It is the cost of paying someone to raise it that seems to be the costly aspect.

sevenhills

I have just partially done my loft, the insulation is itchy and a nightmare. You would need to wear a mask.
I had a quote for 35sq m, just to board and a new hatch in a different location, £1,000
They do recomend not to squash the insulation, but surely boarding it out will help to keep the heat in, maybe you would put a cheap carpet up there too.

dunroving

How much head space do you have in the attic? My house has a shallow pitch so I have decided to only partially floor the attic (along the centre below the roof apex), with less insulation, and have more insulation in the unboarded area.

I looked at the loft legs but decided against, for reasons of head height and cost. As someone else pointed out, presumably flooring and carpet will offer a slight increase in insulation above the basic layer.

d0nkeyk0ng

We had our old loft hatch (that was essentially a board that hinged inwards and needed a ladder) with a new, larger hatch with folding wooden ladder. It cost around £350-400 for that alone.


I then spent about £350 on a loftzone floor kit, £100 on rolls of insulation, about £70 on boards and screws.


We already had lighting in place, so not a big issue.


Insulation - the main way in which insulation works is by trapping air (think how wearing lots of layers of clothing is more effective than one thick jumper). Squashing it down reduces its effectiveness and can render it pointless. One option would be to use insulation boards like celotex. These are expensive but would mean you probably wouldn't need to raise the loft floor.


I think our loft measured around 40m^2. I boarded about 75% of it (remember space for hatch) and bought boards from Wickes at 3 for 2.

SavvySaver24

So logistically, if we were going to buy timber and chipboard, and board it ourselves (or partially board anyway), what should we do first?

Raise floor and board OR have the ladder, new loft hatch and lighting fitted. In order for the fitted ladder to fit in the loft properly when the hatch closes, I assume it has to be attached to the RAISED floor which would imply we have to raise floor and board first...

Slinky

SavvySaver24 wrote: »

So logistically, if we were going to buy timber and chipboard, and board it ourselves (or partially board anyway), what should we do first?

Raise floor and board OR have the ladder, new loft hatch and lighting fitted. In order for the fitted ladder to fit in the loft properly when the hatch closes, I assume it has to be attached to the RAISED floor which would imply we have to raise floor and board first...

Logically I'd have thought you'd want the new loft hatch, ladder and lighting in first in order to help your access for doing all of the rest of it. I can't imagine that if we'd been doing what you plan to do our loft ladder (telesteps, this sort of thing but not exactly the same https://www.ramsayladders.co.uk/i-telesteps-loft-ladder.html?source=googlebase&option_id=116&option_value_id=502&kw=&fl=1000&ci=67904936127&network=g&cid=268314087&aid=24895537167&tid=pla-259878740487&dev=c&mt=&lim=&lpm=1006959&pos=1o9&dm=&fid=&mid=106343520&pid=135-502&country=GB&source=google&gclid=EAIaIQobC!!!!93SiObi3AIVBZPtCh3vUAu6EAQYCSABEgKZOPD_BwE) would have been attached to the raised part of the floor, it wouldn't make any sense.

EssexExile

If you're capable of boarding out the loft yourselves then why not fit the loft hatch & ladder yourselves? It's not complicated, I've just checked & there are YouTube videos on the subject.