Loft boarding - raising joists above insulation.

[valve90210]

Having spent a chunk of today messing around in the loft hoping to get an area boarded and failing miserably as the previous owners have had new insulation installed meaning I need to raise the joists in order to clear the insulation I am asking for some advice.

I have read through several threads on various forums about this and seen mentioned many times loft stilts which have on the whole been met with disapproval, most seeming to prefer additional timber joists mounted on the original joists. This had been my initial plan but I was worried that the extra timber would be really heavy and along with the boarding and a load of stuff stored up in the loft might be too much for the joists to support?

Are my fears re the weight unfounded? If so I shall get some timber and get installing...

Any help very much appreciated.

 

[valve90210]

Timber I beams, lightweight, used them in one of my previous places.

Had a look for those but couldn't find many suppliers and the sizes didn't seem to match up with what I need, for ease I'll stick with timber like the previous owner used on the smal area he boarded.

As long as you laid the new joists the opposite way to the existing loft joist, then the loading is taken by the walls below & transferred to the ground floor.

This is good to hear! I shall do it that way, as has been said I'm not looking to store anything very heavy, just usual sort of loft stuff,

 

[valve90210]

I'm using fairly standard joists but the insulation that has been put down is not hugely deep so the boarding does squish it down but only very slightly....to be honest I think the insulation has been put down in a fairly shoddy manner as it looks a bit ropey, also I think it has been laid on top of old insulation which was not as deep as it should have been so overall it's not a deep as some.