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Questions about loft in new house?
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Noneforit999 said:You 'may' live in a house which has a central supporting wall which goes down to foundations and although the floor in the loft is the original joists, it can take more weight than a newer truss loft due to the joist span being less and sitting on the central wall. This is may, don't take this as advice but ours is similar....If thre is a central supporting wall then it is likely the timbers supporting the first floor/loft ceiling will be sized according to that reduced span, i.e. much reduced compared to what would be provided if the span was longer. Unless the roof structure was designed for loading (e.g. a waer tank) then the sizing will usually be the minimum required to support the ceiling without excessive 'flex' - i.e. rigid enough to reduce the risk of the ceiling cracking.But a central supporting wall would be beneficial (if it can take the additional load) where additional structure needs to be added to support loads from a converted loft. The reduced span means shallower members can be used, and this in turn helps with available headroom.Noneforit999 said:....and although we only use it for storage, it was boarded out 30 years ago and had a staircase installed by the previous owner but its not a loft conversion, you couldn't have the weight of a full bedroom up there.
You don't have a loft conversion, the space in there is not habitable for two reasons.
1. You don't have building regs, therefore its not habitable and cannot be used or advertised as such.
2. Its unlikely to have the structural supports for the weight of a bedroom etc.
What you likely have is enhanced storage which can possible take more weight than a newer truss loft. We have loads stored in our loft.
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Section62 said:Noneforit999 said:You 'may' live in a house which has a central supporting wall which goes down to foundations and although the floor in the loft is the original joists, it can take more weight than a newer truss loft due to the joist span being less and sitting on the central wall. This is may, don't take this as advice but ours is similar....If thre is a central supporting wall then it is likely the timbers supporting the first floor/loft ceiling will be sized according to that reduced span, i.e. much reduced compared to what would be provided if the span was longer. Unless the roof structure was designed for loading (e.g. a waer tank) then the sizing will usually be the minimum required to support the ceiling without excessive 'flex' - i.e. rigid enough to reduce the risk of the ceiling cracking.
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