Boarding out my loft floor ?anyadvice?

Question

wanting to know of a way to strenghthen my floor before laying chipboard tongue and grove .is it a case of laying timbers from the outside wall to the inner walls .if this is the case, is there a brackets which holds in place ,or would i just s***w all my boards to the framework ,this then becomes solid?? any advice on timber sizes ,obviously it has to sit higher than the original floor thats there ,thanks

Answer 1

Sounds like you got it already.......you can just shoot it or lag bolt in to the wall.....timber size is up to you....min for the distance max. for the looks and yes they make brackets for just about anything anymore........so go for it........also glue your floor with construction adv. If I knew the size or what it looked like it would be easy to tell you........old rule of thumb is this...........1'' of lumber for every foot of span.....12 ft would take 12'' of joist.......hope that make sense ....good luck

Answer 2

Well in the uk there are strict legal requirements. I believe your joists must be 7 inch which generally means lowering the ceilings of the rooms underneath. The new joists are strapped to the existing ones. Best thing to do is get expert advice, try your council planning department.

Answer 3

If you are making a new room up there there are regulations (UK) about 'floating floors'.  If you're just boarding it out for storage, it's just common sense planning.  I always use screws rather than nails so  I am not shaking the ceiling below. I never assume old pipes and wiring are dead and look before you s***w/nail into the joists.