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I've been considering boarding our loft for a while, but I'm not yet satisfied I've found the right solution. We have raised tie trusses like this:
(Our bedroom is in the roof space under the horizontal tie)
For ease of installation, I was considering the Loftzone kits. However the legs of these won't fit under the diagonal ties (or are they struts?), until quite far out towards the edge of the loft space. So if we want to board right across we need some other solution in the middle (or perhaps overall). The Loftzone kit would look like this, but with a larger span in the middle between the metal beams. Our diagonal ties are shallower than these
Can anyone provide any ideas? I asked Loftzone and all they suggested was their kit with shorter legs, however this will compress the insulation we have and there will still be large-ish span in the middle.
Could I hang wooden beams off the vertical and diagonal ties to support the boards in the middle? Also I've not measured where exactly the Loftzone kit will fit. If it ends up too far towards the eves then it may be pointless as there is little headroom there
I've just did my loft and used Loft Stilts - https://www.loftstilts.co.uk
Took a fair bit of time to put them all in place, but solid once the boards were down.
I'm not that into DIY, so I'm not sure if that's of any help to you!
I've seen those other systems. I'll still have the same issue with them though. Loftstilts seems a cheaper system but you need more supports than the Loftzone. I'll have to look at them all in more detail for cost and install time comparison. If Loftzone is a lot quicker I'd be happy to pay more as I hate working in the loft!
Why are you boarding it?
If it's to give some storage for a few lightweight items then just go with simple, lightweight boarding; polystyrene sheets would do it depending on ceiling joist spacing
If you're thinking of anything more then you'll need proper advice because the trusses will be designed for a snow and wind load on the exterior of the roof rather than loading the horizontal separately. The joints will be designed to be in compression onto the horizontal, rather than in tension
Cracking in the ceiling plaster is a massive warning
@timba we mainly have have empty cardboard boxes for TV etc. We'd like to get the Xmas decorations up there and a few other lightweight items, like the folding travel buggy. No real need for boards other than stopping the installation being compressed. They'd also help with accessing things. Not planning on doing the whole thing either just an area to store some items.
It's a new build house so the roof should be rated for snow and wind plus being able to accessed by a person(s) for maintenance. The static load of a few items isn't going to affect that much, especially if the load is spread over several trusses as the Loftzone system does. That system has a BBA cert too so I can check that for application details.
The joints will be designed to be in compression onto the horizontal, rather than in tension
The Loftzone and Loftstilts load in the same way as the ceiling plasterboard. I guess any work around in the centre section needs to do the same
I suggested polystyrene sheets because it'll tend to retain insulation values and you won't be tempted to overload them, plus they're light if laid bare across joists
Any maintenance in the roofspace tends to be limited, with loop-in lighting circuits accessible from within the (bed)room and water tanks are less likely
If absolutely necessary I'd crawl along the tops of internal walls rather than mid-span.
You've got to consider worse case; windy, snowy, stored items and a trade needs access. Tread carefully 🙂
Interesting info from here with statement from NHBC
The NHBC has confirmed that....
‘Where access to loft space is provided, structural design is required to take account of live loading on ceiling
joists for the purposes of occasional entry and maintenance and a nominal live load allowance is included in
acknowledgement that homeowners are liable to place light, miscellaneous and infrequently used items, such
as might be suitable for spreading across widely-spaced joists, in the loft area’Chartered Structural Engineers confirm the above is correct and that trusses in new homes that are fitted with a loft hatch should be designed to BS 6399-1:1996*. This states that the truss must be designed to carry a 25kg/m² loading for storage and a 90Kg load to account for a person accessing the loft.
Therefore we can confirm that a correctly installed and loaded raised loft storage system will not invalidate the NHBC warranty and that if the new house was constructed with a loft hatch then the trusses should have been designed to support a storage load of 25kg/m² and a 90kg person.
That's useful information
" b) with access: 0.25KN/m² uniformly distributed over the whole area and a concentrated load of 0.9KN so placed as to produce the maximum effect in the supporting members"
If my maths is correct (it is early 🙂 ) an 18mm P5 board weighs up to 13kg/sq m*, plus legs, plus fixings. In other words you have taken up more of the load with the system than with the storage
*Wickes say 17.3kg per 1.44sq m, Sheet Materials Wholesale say 18.75kg per 1.44sq m
I suppose the other thing to point out is that 90kg isn't a big tradesperson, fully dressed and with kit
Good points timba. I've measured up the trusses now. It's not worth having the Loftzone kit. The space under the diagonal struts where there is 300mm clearance to fit the legs is only 600mm wide. The Loftstilts or Loftleg would be better value.
Then I just need to make my own supports where the diagonal struts are and in the centre.