Loft boarding project started

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Cantilever but you have made it tricky now with how you have laid out the beams
You cuold sister up to the one by the right of the loft hatch and the one on the far left of your last photo
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Yeah I left those bits sticking out with the intention of bolting joists together to extend out towards the opposite side there. A full cantilever wouldn't have been possible though I don't think, it's too far a distance compared to the supported distance, and there's still no beam on the far right.

Somehow I need to sit a beam on the wall plate but the issue will be cutting a 45 degree angle reducing the strength at the bearing.

If I add an additional block of wood on top of the wall plate (blue) and then reinforce the cut joist end (red) with a triangular steel plate (green), does this strengthen the bearing end sufficiently? And also could I also bolt the joist to the existing rafters or somehow sister the rafter for extra support?

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Any ideas?

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Was found in the corner of the loft. It was a mass around 6" diameter embedded in the loft insulation. Pulling it apart it is a gooey consistency, dense but with what looks like small pods inside and a lot of brown crumbly stuff. And it smells. No evidence of any creatures though.
 
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danlightbulb said:
Any ideas?

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Was found in the corner of the loft. It was a mass around 6" diameter embedded in the loft insulation. Pulling it apart it is a gooey consistency, dense but with what looks like small pods inside and a lot of brown crumbly stuff. And it smells. No evidence of any creatures though.
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Does look like some kinda nest... Ancient wasps?
 
Pickers said:
Does look like some kinda nest... Ancient wasps?
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Yeah must be some sort of wasp or bee. I've seen old wasp nests they are almost paper like with a honeycomb structure and just crumble to nothing when you touch them. This is a dense, heavy mass, brown goo (possibly chewed timber) mixed with the Rockwool.

Its affected the nearby loft timbers too, I need to try and scrape off some residue.
 
Only a small update.

Loft light switch:

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Rest of project going well but had a bit of a slow down due to other priorities. More joists have gone in another small timber order coming Monday then that will be the joists finished and I can get the rest of it boarded.


There's a couple small tears in the bitumen roofing felt. I initially ordered a self adhesive flashing tape which was supposed to adhered to felt but didn't stick at all. Second I ordered Gorilla waterproof patch and seal tape which has adhered but not brilliantly. I expect to find it peeled off at some point in the future.

Does anyone else know what I can use? I'm thinking I need to move away from self adhesive tapes and go full on contact adhesive with a patch.
 
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That switch looks good. I got mine 80% done about 3 years ago then moved onto other jobs :D. **** doing any loft business in the current heat!
 
danlightbulb said:
There's a couple small tears in the bitumen roofing felt. I initially ordered a self adhesive flashing tape which was supposed to adhered to felt but didn't stick at all. Second I ordered Gorilla waterproof patch and seal tape which has adhered but not brilliantly. I expect to find it peeled off at some point in the future.

Does anyone else know what I can use? I'm thinking I need to move away from self adhesive tapes and go full on contact adhesive with a patch.
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I found that Gorilla stuff pretty good - was using it to seal holes in, and join edges, in damp proof membrane. But I have also used it to stick to bricks semi-temporarily. Basically it's key to give it a clean surface to stick to - no dust and no grease. I wiped the DPM with isopropyl alcohol.

Appreciate felt might not be easy to get into this state. I really ironed it down as hard as I could to get a good bond too.
 
LuckyBenski said:
I found that Gorilla stuff pretty good - was using it to seal holes in, and join edges, in damp proof membrane. But I have also used it to stick to bricks semi-temporarily. Basically it's key to give it a clean surface to stick to - no dust and no grease. I wiped the DPM with isopropyl alcohol.

Appreciate felt might not be easy to get into this state. I really ironed it down as hard as I could to get a good bond too.
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The problem with felt is it's textured not smooth like dpm or brick face. And I can't put a lot of pressure on because theres nothing solid behind the hole.
 
Hodders said:
Could you use a spare piece of felt and something like epoxy to stick it?
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That's what I was thinking but I don't have any spare felt or anything similar so I'd have to get a whole roll.

If anyone has a couple square feet of felt or roof membrane of some sort going spare, maybe left over after a job, and willing to post it to me that would be great.
 
danlightbulb said:
That's what I was thinking but I don't have any spare felt or anything similar so I'd have to get a whole roll.

If anyone has a couple square feet of felt or roof membrane of some sort going spare, maybe left over after a job, and willing to post it to me that would be great.
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I don't know how big the holes are, but you might be able to use the tape you have, just use epoxy to stick it?
 
 
 
danlightbulb said:
Will try it thanks. There's also some kind of primer available for it, not sure what it is exactly might be some kind of contact epoxy. I've also seen a suggestion to use bitumen mastic and mesh scrim tape.
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The primer for flashband is a kind of bitumen type stuff.
If you have anything similar I was going to suggest putting some of that on anyway.
Its to seal porous surfaces to stop the water managing to get behind it, especially if the surface is loose.
 
Now I can get to it easier, cleaning out this small hip roof projection from the main roof. Again, absolutely filled with rubble, dirt, dust, soot. Hoovering it all out for new insulation.

Won't be boarding it but wanted it clear to check condition. Another ancient nest found amongst the insulation same style as last time. Cleaned up and sprayed with disinfectant which you can see the wet area in the picture.

I can see under the eaves down into a small bay window flat roof projection from here. There's no insulation in it.

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