Loft Boarding & Hatch Help

[AnnaA1982]

Hi There

Im wanting to convert my loft for storage and was planning on doing the work myself along with the OH.

However after having a trademans come and provide a quote anyway it seems a lot more complicated that i first thought? Or is it?

Basically our existing loft hatch is very small approx 1ftx2ft and is currently pretty much under the eaves.

We therefore need to relocate this and make it bigger.

Is this an easy job? Should we leave this to the profesionals?

Secondly we want to board the loft out.

It will only be used for storage however we do have a lot to store nothing particuarly heavy but lots of it.

Will the ceiling joists take this? Do we need to reinforce them?

Thanks

 

[Chunkydoc]

Sounds very similar to my house.
Loft hatch in the bathroom but right in the corner of a Hip roof, was almost impossible to get up there.

We moved it into the hallway, but had to relocate some water pipes first. Installing the hatch isn't actually that difficult but it does require some commonsense, bravery and a little know-how.

It's messy too, well ours was as we have old Lathe and plaster ceilings.
Read all the instructions and make sure you fully understand them, as you'll be cutting into joists that are potentially holding your ceiling up.

Do you have enough insulation up there? Another poster has asked the boarding question and it was suggested they use kingspan (other products do exist) to insulate with boards over the top.

 

[AnnaA1982]

Hi there!

Thanks for the response!

It sounds like yours was very similar to mine! We have lathe & Plaster too so cue dust sheets and lots of them!

We've pretty much decided we want to give it a go ourselves but....... i have a few questions if thats ok?

Im 99% sure its not a trussed roof (ive added pics below)
We've lifted up the old boarding which shows the cealing beams/joists.

Q1) As you can see the beams/joists are joined together with nails - Is this normal?

Q2) Where the joins are is pretty much where we want to add the new hatch, is this still ok? Is it safe to cut the beams there?

Q3) The wall that runs under (at 90 dgrees) the centre of the loft is a stud wall is this likely to taje the weight of boarding and storage? You can see the wall ties poking through on the pictures.

Any advice/ suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Even if the advice is Dont do it!

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• AnnaA1982
• 17 Oct 2012
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• AnnaA1982
• 17 Oct 2012
• 1

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• AnnaA1982
• 17 Oct 2012
• 1

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• AnnaA1982
• 17 Oct 2012
• 1

 

[Static]

Its not a truss roof, its a traditional cut roof with purlins.

Q1, nails are pretty common and fine
Q2, if you are referring to the ceiling joists staggering then chances are these are over a load bearing wall below. Measure out exactly where you want the hatch and mark it out up there. Cutting 1 joist and trimming is fairly easy and shouldnt effect the overall ceiling.
Q3, its possible, does this stud wall run under the staggered line of joists? pull up the insulation and see if you can see the top of the wall.

 

[AnnaA1982]

Thanks for the response static!

Apologies if im using the wrong terminology...


The joins in the beams or joists shown in the last picture - are not over any wall. The wall under that side of the loft is a stud wall and is 2-3feet to the left of those joins.

We dont know if there was originally a brick wall, stud wall or no wall there. But we think it has been moved further towards the back of the house at some point. (left to right on picture)

Im not sure if there are any more joins or just the one in each beam as i havent pulled up all the boards & wool yet.


Is there a particular part of the beam which is best to be cut or doesnt it matter? ie just cut wheerver we want the hatch to be even if its cutting through the joins in the beam?

 

[Static]

Pull up some more of the insulation around the staggered joists and take some more photos.