Boarding A Victorian Loft

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Andy.D

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Hi All,

We live in a Victorian Mid-Terrace built around 1884. I recently decided to put in a loft hatch so that we can board it out and make use of the space for storage. Currently there is only a small opening in a cupboard in one of the bedrooms. The hatch itself doesn't present a problem but while I had my head through the hole to check things out I noticed that the joists are only 3x2. After spending some time online I've come to realise that they won't be much good for storing anything with a bit of weight to it. The general approach seems to be to strengthen the existing joists by adding additional timber, either by sistering or screwing it on top.

It seems to me that a better approach would be to separate the loft floor from the ceiling below entirely by adding new, larger (6x2 or 8x2) joists midway between the existing ones. Laterally stabilising these with 3x2 noggins and then boarding on top of that. This should eliminate the risk of sagging and cracking as the loft floor would wouldn't be in contact with the exisiting joists.

Does this sound reasonable or am I missing something vitaly important?
 
It does, but do you have access to get these new timbers into the loft space? (i.e. how big a timber can you actualy get through the house and into the attic - on our 1882 terrace it's about 8ft max - fortunately we have two Veluxes in the attic without which I'd be scuppered) And where are the ends of these new joists going to sit? Do you have a wall plate for them to sit on, or will the ends of the joists foul the roof?
 
Well, that's the big hurdle. I can get them into the front bedroom through the window and due to the lack of firebreak on that side (another job for the list) I'm hoping I can get them in through the existing opening. I've got a couple of bits of 2.4m timber in the garden I'm going to splice together and test that theory.

Failing that, the ceiling in the front bedroom needs replastering. I might have to leave it until that's done and get them up through there. That's raises another question though. When I get the ceiling done, do they replaster over the existing lath or are they now required to replace all that with plasterboard? In which case, would the existing joists hold that extra weight or would they need strengthening anyway?
 
It's often easier to oveboard the lath and plaster then skim it. Certainly a lot less mess and muck than a full rip out and replace.

Bear in mind that if all you are doing is storing stuff you might be able to run the joists from the front/rear wall to the stud wall between the bedrooms. Alternatively it might be possible to run joists between the gable ends which are joined i the middle (so for a 16ft span two 10ft joists with a 4ft overlap bolted together)
 
Your priority (unless you have money to burn) should be effective insulation, with anything else a secondary consideration. Easiest if you're not bothered about losing a bit of headroom is a fully independent raised platform floor with 300mm mineral wool underneath it. Assuming a typical 14' wide terrace with a masonry spine wall then something like this. You might be overspanning with the 8x2's but only on paper, it will be fine for loft storage.

This gets over any issues with ceiling binders, cables etc. If there are ceiling hangers off the purlins you can board your floor round them.

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There's plenty of headroom and the stairs goes up the centre of the house so there's actually two central walls. Definitely something to consider. Thanks.
 
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