Boarding and insulating our loft space! 

Is this something that can be done by someone with no experience?

I'm glad you made this comment. I've always wondered about a floating loft floor, but more in the sense of putting the boards directly on existing ceiling joists. But then you have the problem of board edges not meeting etc and lots of cutting (and boards possibly slipping off the joists, although I thought about elaborate ways of stitching the boards together and still have them floating, all too complicated for my liking). Having floating timbers running 90 degrees to the joists with boards screwed to them from the top gives you complete freedom with the locations of both the board joints and the floating timbers themselves. Although you have to watch how much weight you're putting on that ''floor' because the ceiling joists are only there to act as rafter ties and also provide a ceiling for the room below, never an actual floor as the timber sections are far too shallow compared to the floor joists used for the upstairs floor of a house for eg.

​@@fareed3188 it really depends, some attic spaces will be easier than others. My 100+ year old house has heavy oak ceiling joists with a fairly narrow span so I was able to just tac boards down with a few shims to keep it level. But my moms newer construction attic was pretty complicated, I had to bag up a ton of blown insulation just to see what I was working with, there was already some fairly complicated framing from the master bedroom vaulted? Ceiling . I had to take some pictures and consult some inlaws with framing experiene.

The vapor will make its way through the boards and insulation and into the open attic space and ideally through a vent.

Good point. However they are also adding extra weight - not just in the extra timber but also the add'l insulation and flooring. I wonder at what point it becomes an issue. A question for a structural engineer

Thanks so much!! 🥰 We have got a structural engineer for the extension but not specifically for the loft no, we’ve not altered the structure of the loft. The only think you might want to check out is that your loft timbers could hold extra weight, I’d be surprised if it couldn’t though but could check it out if unsure! We didn’t get quotes no as we knew we’d diy haha! We actually found insulationsuperstore really useful, they have a lot of helpful content on which insulations to use and how thick it needs to be. But unfortunately we don’t have one website that answers everything, just alot of googling! 🙈

My dad and I boarded our own loft the past two weeks, we used raised loft legs and added insulation then put loft boards on top. Much easier than it looks, just gotta take a punt and save so much money long term.

Let's see, condensation will form on cold surface, so if the upper side of the ceiling (attic side) is cold then you'll have condensation. But adding insulation should mitigate this. Without insulation it would actually be the underside (the ceiling surface) that would be cold and create condensation potentially in winter, but it depends on how much heat is in the room. If ample heat then it will heat up the surface and prevent condensation. For example this can cause a roof with no insulation to warm the snow on top of it and melt the snow. It all depends Depends on the temperature of the various surfaces, the temp of the air, the moisture levels, and the ventilation.

how is it possible to get that length of timber through the hatch?

Mr Frost no less, middle name Jack ?, sorry, I imagine you sigh... but just so on topic. afaik, please correct me if I'm wrong, but the foil is used as a vapor barrier, to stop vapor from reaching the attic insulation which will destroy its insulation properties.

In a perfect world yes, in the real world insulation is layed over cables all the time changing the electricians intended installation method with no problems. Also, lighting circuits shouldnt be pulling big loads, so it will more than likely be completely fine

Knauf hasn't got asbestos in it

Yep just at an angle 👍🏼

How much of a gap did u leave before putting in another screw? I’m putting 8ft joists and not sure how many screws I should be using. Was thinking would two be enough as the weight will hold it down also.

11 months on and still sifting through videos for help. Im replying to my own fcking message. The quotes im getting for boarding my loft are fkcing OBSCENE £1700 !???? Just to put some S**T in my loft!!! SICK OF IT!!!!!

I wouldnt say so based of the channel name

Cost

Or should I say cost saving

The loft is only for insulating purposes and most homes dont have enough space to stand. boarding would be good but also a waste since a lot of properties come with enough storage to facilitate most people

Cost, pure and simple, I'm sure if you were buying a new build house and you wanted the loft boarded they would do it! at a cost!

Used to do work for a builder and in every new build would put 9x2 ceiling joists just in case the new buyer wants to deck the lift out !

Could you explain why please?

Because the existing joists are only capable of hanging a ceiling they are not strong enough to also support a floor, also they almost certainly won't be of an even height which will cause flexing when you walk on it.Loft insulation shouldn't be crammed in as you will lose up to 50% of its potential and without sufficient air circulation you will eventually get condensation and then black mould. In other words, what they did looks great but it is going to cause problems down the line and I guess they will already have issues with the bedroom ceilings and possibly the walls.At one point they were moaning whilst putting the insulation in and a remark was made about whether it would have been better to pay someone else to do it. The correct answer would have been Yes and I guess they will realise that sooner or later. At some point in the future they will want to sell that house and any surveyor worth his salt will find the error of their ways. This could turn out to be very costly in the long run.@@stuartosborne6263

@@stuartosborne6263 Cannot handle the weight, therefore celling below cracks

@@njh8277not really extra weight that might cause cracks in ceiling, it’s if you straighten out the 100 year old original joists during this process.