General loft, loft hatch and loft access information

[eowens90]

I'm looking for some general information about lofts to help me with a project but I can't find much online and I can't even visit friends and family to have a look at theirs so I would be grateful if anyone with experience of lofts you could enlighten me on the questions below:

 

- Do most houses have a loft?

- Where is the loft hatch usually located? (landing or bedrooms?)

- Is there usually a lot of space around the loft hatch? (i.e. is it usually located far from walls and doors?)

- Are loft hatches usually the same shape and size?

- Does the hatch usually open inwards or outwards?

- What is the most common method of accessing a loft? (portable ladder or ladder attached to the hatch?)

- Is the floor inside the loft usually flat? (or are there different height beams etc?)

 

Any help answering these questions would be much appreciated!

[Olf]

51 minutes ago, eowens90 said:

Do most houses have a loft?

Unless the roof is flat, there will be an area than needs to be servicable and that you can define as 'loft'

 

51 minutes ago, eowens90 said:

Where is the loft hatch usually located? (landing or bedrooms?)

Landing, unless layout forces it to be in a bedroom (see below)

 

51 minutes ago, eowens90 said:

Is there usually a lot of space around the loft hatch? (i.e. is it usually located far from walls and doors?)

It depends on roof construction, but you want to place the hatch in, or close to, place where there is the most headroom - or at least enough to access the loft

 

51 minutes ago, eowens90 said:

Are loft hatches usually the same shape and size?

No, but most are designed to fit between joists at 600mm centres, so about 550mm. Length varies and you can pick your own depending on type and space available

 

51 minutes ago, eowens90 said:

Does the hatch usually open inwards or outwards?

Upwards if the hatch is just a board in a frame, downwards if hinged. But not impossible to modify the first type to hinge upwards.

 

51 minutes ago, eowens90 said:

What is the most common method of accessing a loft? (portable ladder or ladder attached to the hatch?)

Don't know the statistics, it will depend on the use: for servicing only - use smaller hatch (easier to fit) and use a ladder when needed; for frequent access (storage, maintenance of devices etc) having build-in folding stairs makes more sense, but comes with size and price

 

52 minutes ago, eowens90 said:

Is the floor inside the loft usually flat? (or are there different height beams etc?)

 

Floor usually is flat, but you need to lay it first. For sure there are joists running parallel at regular (and standard: 400 or 600m centres) distance.

 

[tonyshouse]

Usually not floored, some boarded to some extent, 

[Dave Jones]

11 hours ago, eowens90 said:

I'm looking for some general information about lofts to help me with a project but I can't find much online and I can't even visit friends and family to have a look at theirs so I would be grateful if anyone with experience of lofts you could enlighten me on the questions below:

 

- Do most houses have a loft?

- Where is the loft hatch usually located? (landing or bedrooms?)

- Is there usually a lot of space around the loft hatch? (i.e. is it usually located far from walls and doors?)

- Are loft hatches usually the same shape and size?

- Does the hatch usually open inwards or outwards?

- What is the most common method of accessing a loft? (portable ladder or ladder attached to the hatch?)

- Is the floor inside the loft usually flat? (or are there different height beams etc?)

 

Any help answering these questions would be much appreciated!

 

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