How much stuff can I safely store in our loft?

[Crimson72]

We have a fairly large loft space in our late Victorian end of terrace house, with a floor that has been handily boarded over by the previous owners. I have four boxes of spare bathroom tiles that I'd ideally like to store up there, but they're quite heavy (about two stone per box?) and I'm worried about the effect the weight could have on the joists.

Is it safe to store heavy items in a loft or is it really only for very light stuff (like empty suitcases, Christmas baubles etc)?

It's going to depend on how well it's floored and how stable your ceiling is; but I wouldn't put tiles in our Victorian loft. I reckon they'd randomly fall through at some point!

It's going to depend on how well it's floored and how stable your ceiling is; but I wouldn't put tiles in our Victorian loft. I reckon they'd randomly fall through at some point!

Thanks Anchor - is there any way of telling how strong the ceiling is?

Hmm, perhaps I should stash the tiles in the shed instead...

We had a Victorian mid terrace and stored loads in ours!

You could spread the weight and effectively “lay” the tiles on the floor so any given point isn’t overloaded. Only an engineer or surveyer could tell you for sure about the strength of the structure.

Do you really need to keep that many spare tiles though? Could you not just get rid?

Well if it won’t take 8 stone, it’s a problem for the loft and a person going up there!

If you can safely stand there than you can leave 4 boxes (x 2 stone each) there, surely.

Hi,

My parents had half of their loft boarded up pretty well.
I am going away for 2 years and I have decided to move everything from my 2 bedroom house.
One thing that worries me is that the loft is pretty full and I am scared it might fall through the ceiling.
Any expert please tell me if I should empty it out?
See the image attached.