Boarding the loft

[AllBoxedUp]

We have thick insulation in our loft which comes up above the joists. We would like to board it up and I know you needs to use the little pillars to lift the height of the boards. DH and I aren't very confident in doing it ourselves so would like to pay someone to do it for us but I'm not sure who to ask.

Would a handyman be the right sort of person? A carpenter would obviously do a good job but would it be the right person? Also, how long would you expect it to take? It's above 3 bedrooms and a small bathroom.

Thanks!

the pillars are not well thought of, although you will find a lot of online recommendations for them written my the manufacturers

Many people I prefer counterbattening with timbers run at right-angles to the existing ones, and screwed to them. You then have one layer of insulation between the existing timbers, and one layer between the new ones. The counterbattens will also spread the load, and make the flooe more rigid, especially if you use 18mm ply in big peces and it is all screwed together into a deck. Yu will need someone with carentry skills. Lofts are dirty, dark, and, in summer, unbearably hot.

You can also get rigid foam insulating boards that you lay on top of the existing timbers, and fix the flooring through that. You will probably see a display in your builders merchant or DIY shed. I think it is mostly made by Knauf which is a well-established European maker. It will look quite expensive but has better insulating power than the same depth of quilt. It is not the cheap expanded polystyrene board.

Whatever you do will not be strong enough for a habitable room (unless you do it properly to BRs approval) so if you ever want a loft conversion, it will have to be ripped out. It will be adequate for christmas decorations but not boxes of books, beds or parties. Loft timbers are designed to be strong enough to hold the ceiling up without cracking, and to stop the roof pushing the walls over. They are not as strong as floors in a room.

yes, that's the advantage of the counterbattening or rigid foam, so you lay your floor on top after increasing the insulation.

Thanks for the replies. We have a mansard roof so we're never going to do a loft conversion. We're just looking for a place to store the junk from our attic in the house we've just moved from. Looks like we should be calling a carpenter and hoping he'll take the job on.

whoever does it make sure they screw the new materials down - dont nail the new wood down or you will cause your ceilings to crack - been there got the Tshirt.

If you are in coventry a friend of mine has someone she recommends highly...