How To Floor An Attic Uk

This means they are easy to get through the loft hatch.

How to floor an attic uk. These panels are 18mm thick 1 2m long and only 320mm wide. Attic joists for live loads. To fasten the panels to the floor joists you ll be working on your knees so wear kneepads to protect your shins. It is made much easier by the production of special loft panel flooring.

Often minimal live load requirements are four times that of dead loads. A loft or attic floor is only designed to carry a load of 25kg per square metre. Open the windows so there s good ventilation and use work lights so you can see what you re doing. First you ll need to measure the area you want to floor so you can calculate how much wood you ll require.

If you don t need additional storage think of flooring an area less than the entire attic such as a small section around the attic door opening. The real work is muscling the panels up the ladder so try to enlist the help of a friend who can hoist them to you. Use 1 foot wide boards in pine or spruce to make quick work of putting down a floor. Mike embarks on a project to lay a floor in the attic loft space.

You also need to ensure that the joist spacing is adequate. All attics joists can carry a minimal dead load weight i e 10 pounds per square foot. 1 x 6 3 spruce is a step up from pallet quality wood but makes a fine usable floor in an unfinished attic space. To floor an attic you ll need to install a sub floor for support before laying your plywood floor.

But live loads are a different matter. Unless expressly built for use as a living space your attic floor may not be strong enough. Be cautioned though that even with insulation hardwood flooring will cause a lot of foot traffic noise to the floor below. Mike embarks on a project to lay a floor in the attic loft space.

If your intent is to use the attic for a purpose other than storage you will need to consider a more finished look. The loft flooring is not designed to carry loads heavier than this. Joist dimensions are only part of the equation. In fact the horizontal rafter sections in your loft are there solely to hold up the ceiling for the rooms below.

You ll have to construct a wooden frame or sub floor with boards 16 inches apart to provide extra support for the floor. Attic joists that are made from 2x8s may be acceptable for building your attic floor but because every room is variable there are no absolutes.