Loft Flooring Advice for Newbie

sho_me_da_money

Thank you all. 

I found a really good joiner who has told me what needs to be done. His views were completely different to what we've discussed i.e. laying timbers from gable end to gable end.

He said there are a few supporting walls between the two eave sides and that he will lay 17 x 6x2 timbers between eave side 1 to eave side 2 using the walls as the resting points all along the loft. I think he said something about using packers. Additionally he said, all the struts can go. Apparently these struts are in there to hold up the ceiling. The joiner was sure that the new timbers would hold up the ceiling far stronger than any struts could hence the reason for why will remove them.

Joiner said once all timbers are in place, we then:

1. Put new insulation in the floor. Will achieve 225mm in height.
2. Install the floor and board in line with the perlins
3. Beyond the perlins to the eaves we fill with insulation
4. Box off all around the perlin perimeter with plasterboard or even the chipboard.
5. Get some silver insulation for the roof. So pack insulation between the rafters

Done.

Ill post pictures once its done.

FreeBear

sho_me_da_money said: 3. Beyond the perlins to the eaves we fill with insulation
4. Box off all around the perlin perimeter with plasterboard or even the chipboard.
5. Get some silver insulation for the roof. So pack insulation between the rafters

Be careful about packing insulation right under the eaves - You do not want to compromise airflow.

Putting up plasterboard sounds like you are turning this in to a loft conversion - Be careful not to fall foul of planning and building regulations as it could cause issues when you come to sell.

Packing insulation between the rafters (especially with the silver foil stuff) certainly puts you in in loft conversion territory and will compromise air flow around the roof timbers unless done right. If you block airflow, there is a very real risk that the roof timbers start to rot and lead to an expensive repair bill.

sho_me_da_money

FreeBear said:

sho_me_da_money said: 3. Beyond the perlins to the eaves we fill with insulation
4. Box off all around the perlin perimeter with plasterboard or even the chipboard.
5. Get some silver insulation for the roof. So pack insulation between the rafters

Be careful about packing insulation right under the eaves - You do not want to compromise airflow.

Putting up plasterboard sounds like you are turning this in to a loft conversion - Be careful not to fall foul of planning and building regulations as it could cause issues when you come to sell.

Packing insulation between the rafters (especially with the silver foil stuff) certainly puts you in in loft conversion territory and will compromise air flow around the roof timbers unless done right. If you block airflow, there is a very real risk that the roof timbers start to rot and lead to an expensive repair bill.

Solid response.

1. Don't pack insulation under eaves
2. Can I box off the perimeter? Was thinking plasterboard but could equally use chip board
3. Dont pack insulation between rafters? I think they said silver stuff or kingspan...?

Stick to the above?

FreeBear

A low retaining "wall" or kick-strip, say 300mm would stop stuff rolling away into an inaccessible corner.

If you have ~270mm of insulation below the loft boards, there is absolutely zero need to put insulation between the rafters unless you are planning on using the space for something more than storage.

sho_me_da_money

So slight progress update here. The lads have fixed ?wall plates? (sorry if this is the wrong terminology to each gable wall. They are then going to run timber from gable to gable to create I presume a rectangular frame.

They will then fix 17 or so joist hangers of the eaves sides frames and place in the remaining 6x2s.

Does that make sense? Maybe these pics might help:

sho_me_da_money

The loft frame will be an independent floor installed at a height over the existing 3x2 joists. They will be using the supporting walls for resting on. So in a nutshell:

Gable Side Wall 1 - A wall plate made of a single 2x6 timber with two joist hangers, one at each side of the timber
Gable Side Wall 2 - A wall plate made of a single 2x6 timber with two joist hangers, one at each side of the timber
Eaves Side Length 1 - 2x6 timber doubled sitting in the joist hangers that were installed on the gable side walls
Eaves Side Length 2 - 2x6 timber doubled sitting in the joist hangers that were installed on the gable side walls

The first of two days work has ended. And this is what it is looking like:





Tomorrow the perimeter frame will be finished with about fifteen 6x2s running at 400/600mm centers across the loft floor from Gable to Gable.

I lose the head room but i should have a solid storage and play area for the kids with a massive height improvement to the insulation. 

Materials cost was about - £450
Labour cost for two guys/two days -£400

Not bad.