Boarding a Loft

decmatt

decmatt

decmatt

Soldato
Joined
10 May 2004
Posts
3,759
Location
East Yorkshire, UK
Hi

I am looking at boarding my loft out, I did it a few times with my dad growing up and he always used loft boards (like https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Chipboard-Loft-Panels---320mm-x-1-22m-Pack-of-3/p/116420) and nailed them directly into the joists.

I have read a few places that you aren't supposed to nail into the joists, and to raise it and then nail in.

This isn't to be used for living, purely for storage.

Any advise for whats best?

Cheers
 
The regulations for loft insulation have thickened the amount. Years ago it was deemed enough to simply fill level with the joist. Now it's thicker so you need raise the boarding and have an uncompressed lay of stuff underneath.

My house had them nailed to the joists but in future I may move them up make a loft hole extension and reposition the loft latter.
 
NickK said:
The regulations for loft insulation have thickened the amount. Years ago it was deemed enough to simply fill level with the joist. Now it's thicker so you need raise the boarding and have an uncompressed lay of stuff underneath.

My house had them nailed to the joists but in future I may move them up make a loft hole extension and reposition the loft latter.
Click to expand...
Or use celotex etc. between the joists then the board can be kept at the same height.
 
The regulations don’t mean anything for an existing house, you can do what you like.

Where you have space you should you use loft legs so you don’t compress the insulation but this might make the space impractical, so weigh it up. I have some boards directly onto the joists and some raised on legs and batons.

I would always drill a pilot hole and then screw. Ideally countersink the boards so you don’t split them.
 
I screwed mine down (only needed half the floor done though). As hammering has a tendency to vibrate through and potentially create cracks in the plaster ceiling below, not a good look.
 
The regulations don’t affect an existing building so you’re free to do what you want although its better to have a good amount of insulation

I recently boarded as much area as I could at mine, I used loft legs and the wickes 3 packs of loft boards, a few rolls of 100mm insulation and a few rolls of 170mm top roll

It was a horrible job but worth it
 
Put 100x47 Joists at 90 to existing. Pilot hole and screw in at angle with 80mm screws then board on top.

Nice and strong a gives 200mm of loft insulation plus the effect of board to stop air escaping the rock wool making it more effective than the 270mm required.
 
If you board out and increase insulation especially if you use celotex you may create moisture issues internally.

Plasterboard ceilings are good at absorbing moisture and ventilating through the loft.
 
Simon said:
Put 100x47 Joists at 90 to existing. Pilot hole and screw in at angle with 80mm screws then board on top.

Nice and strong a gives 200mm of loft insulation plus the effect of board to stop air escaping the rock wool making it more effective than the 270mm required.
Click to expand...

I would be concerned about the amount of weight this would add to the loft along with the boarding.
 
I made my own loft legs to raise the boards up with some timber. I was considering buying the commercial loft legs or laying cross joists but my joists seem to be of varying heights so it'd be a pain to get it level. I also have a fairly old house which has thick but not very tall joists so it would be hard to find cross joists that would raise everything high enough to sit above the insulation.

I did it a few months ago and my ceiling hasn't caved in yet, but this comes with no warranty!

Things you need:
  1. 38mm x 89mm x 2.4m timber to use as loft legs.
  2. 22x600mm chipboard flooring
    (I actually got it from Travis Perkins via eBay as they delivered it and it worked out cheaper for me)
  3. 5.0x50mm and 5x30mm torx screws
    seriously, you will thank me later for using torx heads - my impact driver kept stripping normal pozi screws
The basic process was this:
  1. Measure/cut the legs leaving around 15cm clearance above the insulation to allow ventilation (I think this is building regs, makes sense in ether case)
  2. Drill four angled pilot holes at maybe around 30 degrees through the base of the leg
  3. Use the 50mm screws to screw through these holes down into the joist
  4. Repeat with the next joist etc for the length of the board
  5. Repeat for the other side of the board, e.g., 60cm away from the first set of legs
  6. Sit board on top of legs and screw down with the 30mm screws

I put in about 8 of those boards, and once it was all together it feels absolutely rock solid. I was worried it might rock a little but there's no movement at all. I won't lie it did take quite a bit of time and effort to do it. The biggest effort was figuring out the logistics of getting the boards up into the loft by myself.

Potato photo but you can sort of see all the bits here.

johD5xVm.jpg
 
I ended up screwing the boards directly into pre-drilled holes in the joists, but I did this very very slowly, as I know it could have caused cracks on the lath and plaster ceiling!!!

the loft legs just were not practical for me and I didn't totally understand how to use them unless I had the wrong ones for the boards I bought.

definitely worth doing, it just helps a lot for storage purposes.
 
Weight is something very important to consider if it's trussed rafters the design will probably only allow for 250N/m2 of loading for "light storage".
 
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