Can you keep a bed in boarded loft?

[Sunshiner13]

Hi, I understand boarded lofts are not to be used as bedrooms, however we've just moved into a house with a boarded loft and some really good windows in. Our old house had a garage in which we used as a camping/telescope space with a bed and a really big solid telescope. The loft has a big space and windows, just wondering if these boards take that kind of weight. It wouldn't be a regular thing used as a room (think home alone Kevin when he's 3rd floored) but rather not wake to the kids in the bathtub 😅... But if they will survive it sounds like a great treat for school holidays!

Sounds okay - I think the ventilation/condensation would be a concern to me but if it’s got windows and ventilation then the odd nights are probably fine. Another point to think about might be the cold - my loft gets freezing at night and in winter - and if you put a heating source in there do you have smoke alarms up there just in case?

If the boards take the weight of an adult walking across them.then they should take the weight of an adult lying across them. But why do you need an actual bed? Wouldn't an airbed do?

Personally, I wouldn't want to sleep in a loft in case of fire.

I just have a spare bed here from downsizing, I'd probably just bin the bed now we've got our new ones. It's more a summer thing, our garage was the same no heating and doors/windows need to be open to use the telescope. I wouldn't close the hatch or fild the ladder if the kids were in there (age 13 and 15). I just have no idea about what they hold as I've never had them and always had it drilled into me as a kid about coming through the roof so don't mess around in lofy spaces, even in my friends fully converted I used to sweat 😅

Really doesn’t sound like a sensible idea. It’s not about the weight. What would they do in a fire? Climb down a ladder?

I might just be old or poor but every fully converted loft I've ever known has been ladder access (fixed of course not step ladders) 🤷🏻‍♀️

And that approach is acceptable for a playroom or den used when everybody in the house is awake - but the lack of an exit-able window and proper staircase access which meets fire safety regulations is the reason boarded lofts can’t be classed as bedrooms, because they aren’t safe in the event of a fire and so shouldn’t be used for sleeping in. I really wouldn’t put a bed in there.

It's concerning the number of posts talking about boards!

Floorboards are strong - they will take your weight, plus any furniture you care to add. The boards are irrelevant though - it's the joists you need to worry about, that are holding the boards up!

Plenty of attics aren't designed to hold anywhere near the same weight as the first floor. If your attic is one of those and you use it as a room, both you and your intact floorboards may go crashing through the ceiling at some point.

There's a reason loft conversions are so expensive - if all it took to be a safe room was hammering down some boards and sticking a window, everyone would do it!

I think it's fine you just can't sell the house saying it's a bedroom without it being properly converted. Stand to be corrected though.

Ageed TeresaBlue re the joists, but not all flooring is the same either. I have seem cheeper thin particle/backing board used in attic space as an insulation cover with the expectation that the professional who needs access would still use the joists.

And in one instance, so that any storage boxes would be supported across the joists too, reducing the "capacity to store crap we don't use". It worked😁.

Yeah I'm not convinced about weight on the boards, growing up I had friends with fully converted lofts used as bedrooms with only ladders for access... I never dared to walk straight in those either and they were properly done and in full use.

Just figured I'd ask once and for all if I had to continue living like that, would make a brill odd night in the summer holidays. We've been up there to clean and its ok for standing up on but a bed frame might be different, don't know its new to me having loft space

They did not get legal occupancy if the only access is a ladder.

You could pay a carpenter/builder for an inspection.

No you can’t - it’s a huge hazard in the case of a fire.

Loft spaces with only ladders are not suitable for sleeping in - it’s really dangerous

Yes I know the dangers for using as a fully functioning room. This isn't what I was asking, I was intending on putting an unused bed frame up there for storage, with the exception of 1 or 2 nights in school holidays for a telescope night using a mattress on it.
I know legally it can't be and won't be used as a bed room this isn't my concern. We have a telescope and the views would be amazing.
I'm just asking about the weight on the boards having a bed frame up there and the weight of the telescope

I’d say it would be fine for occasional use., I mean how many time does the average house catch fire !!!!!!!! If your worried about the weight on the floor try and get a builder/joiner to have a look and set things straight ?

as long as you have working smoke/ fire alarms I don’t see any problem.

kids will love it 🙂

I don’t think anyone here can tell you whether or not your particular loft is suitable for X activity and whether the joists have been sufficiently strengthened to hold X amount of weight. Have a surveyor look at it and assess whether anything is required for it to be used beyond storage.

I don't think you can unless you have an escape route. We have a third floor with two bedrooms in a v old house and when we had our windows replaced the rules were they had to be big enough openings to allow for an escape route through them.

You can do whatever you like in your own house.

it won’t officially count as a bedroom because of fire regulations. But you can sleep anywhere you like in the house.

Could you not get a couple of camping chairs to use instead, while they use the telescope? I've got a loft conversion and it takes a lot of strengthening. I also have a fire escape window and a staircase to it. Not a ladder.

Yeah I suppose it differs. I just wondered if it was one of those 'your eyes will go square' things and I was going to die believing it 🤣
Thanks all

I have a proper loft conversion with proper staircase. My son has a loft space with proper stairs and a window but his is not classified as a bedroom because the people who had it done did not get planning permission. It would not pass as you need 2 metre headroom. His only has 1.94 metres. Apart from the 6 cm lack of headroom it is fine to use as an occasional bedroom as it has proper staircase and fire alarm and CD monitor too. My son used it as a storage room but once when 3 friends stayed over one slept in loft on camp bed. I suspect your loft area might be the same does not have 2 metres head space. Providing ladder remains up and a smoke alarm is fitted I don't see why your kids could not look out of the telescope there.