DIY people: Shelving in the loft

DEL 707

DEL 707

DEL 707

Soldato
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20 Mar 2004
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I've got quite a few DVD/old games in my loft at the moment, a good few boxes. I'd like to put up some sort of shelving up there so they're on display, but there isn't much in the way of room. So I was thinking of putting up shelves inbetween the supporting beams.
Whether this is a good idea, or safe, I don't know :p.

Here's a very crude drawing. Will try to get a picture when I find my lead.

loft.jpg


There's a length of wood that connects all the beams together along their back.
So the big question is, am I going to be casing any damage but attempting to put up some crude shelving?
 
DEL 707 said:
So the big question is, am I going to be casing any damage but attempting to put up some crude shelving?
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Depends on how much C4 you use to clear the way.

The beams in your loft, though they are holding up the roof, should be hella strong, so some ply/mdf/wood shelving and some DVDs shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure you secure the shelf to every beam to avoid strain and sag. No one likes sag

//I'm not a builder - I take no responsibility for your roof falling in on itself :p
 
It'll be fine so long as you're not messing with the way the beams and joists are structured (which you're not, obviously), not sure why you'd want to mind!
 
As long as you're not hacking away large chunks of beam then I'd have thought it'd be OK. I'm not an architect. This is just a guess. I may well be wrong. This does not constitute advice. If your house falls down it's not my fault. :D
 
Wait, so you want to put them on display in your loft? I assume the loft has been comverted into a room?
 
Sukh said:
Wait, so you want to put them on display in your loft? I assume the loft has been comverted into a room?
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No no, I'm not converted it. I'm just out of room to store old films/games, which is why they're all boxed up, I would like a shelving system, so that if I fancy digging out an old film, I don't have to go rummaging through boxes.
This will not high class stuff, my DIY skills are basic, bordering on dangerous.
 
Rather than this, why don't you just catalogue your collection and label up the boxes. That way, if you need to find an old film, you can peruse your listings and then go to the box that the film resides in. No point on displaying them in a loft to get dusty and potentially ruin them.
 
Sounds obvious but the more rafters it straddles the better really. Bare in mind that they hold several tonnes of tiles and then in the winter snow load. A few dvds and what not on a shelf wont really impact on them*

* This is not carte blanche to hang an elephant from your roof timbers.
 
Vintage_Geek said:
Rather than this, why don't you just catalogue your collection and label up the boxes. That way, if you need to find an old film, you can peruse your listings and then go to the box that the film resides in. No point on displaying them in a loft to get dusty and potentially ruin them.
Click to expand...

Have to agree with this tbh. It'd protect the cases from dust etc and it's just a case of pulling a box down, labelling it and then knocking up a quick spreadsheet.
 
if i fancy a film i do not want to look at spreadsheet. I want to just to look at my collection and see what jumps out
 
make a spreadsheet cataloguing your films, then throw away your DVDs. Every time you feel like a film just look at the spreadsheet.

Mmmmm spreadsheets
 
i transferred my entire DVD collection into 3 wallets alphabetically under my side table in the lounge. thought i would miss the cases - but to be honest I never regret it for a moment.

I don't go nuts keeping them organised. just keep the F's with the F's and the R's with the R's.

keep my favourites discs on a shelf. I guess it depends if the cases and collection is precious to you.
 
Not recommended that you hang anything with any mass from a roof truss. They tend to be engineered to take specific loads (materials plus a 'snow load', for example), while I expect it would be somewhat over-engineered for safety you don't really want to start reducing that margin by hanging shelves from it.
 
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