Loft boarding dilemma

[JudyMc]

I have an end of terrace built 1929. I want to put in good flooring in the loft to make more efficient storage. I'll also be reinsulating. 

 

The issue I have is the roof joists that run L to R of the property are 1.4m apart (5.5m long), I'm struggling to find something that covers the gap without too much waste. I've considered sheet material, scaffold boards plus others. The standard kits from DIY stores are no good as the boards are too short, or the distance between the posts is too narrow.

 

The insulation is going between the joists and I don't want to raise the floow height.

 

Any suggestions please?

[joe90]

19 minutes ago, JudyMc said:

are 1.4m apart

WHAT, photo please 

[nod]

I think I would re measure 

 

[Conor]

Your joists won't be up to the job of taking any weight.

[Dave Jones]

if your boarding the joists you cant have any insulation ?

[joe90]

1 hour ago, Dave Jones said:

if your boarding the joists you cant have any insulation ?

You can but only the thickness of the joists

[JudyMc]

Thanks all. I want the flooring to straddle the joists as the insulation will fit between them and between the ceiling joists which are at right angles to roof joise but 400m apart. I'll get a photo to show.

[mike2016]

You can get legs / stilts to put the new floor on and rest these on the ceiling joists but as your setup sounds unusual a photo may better confirm where the structural support comes from and if there a gap between the two layers?

[JudyMc]

I can't put on stilts as span is roo big for modern sheets. See pic below. The boards that are there are on ceiling joists and if I put weight on they'll fall through.

[ProDave]

9 minutes ago, JudyMc said:

I can't put on stilts as span is roo big for modern sheets. See pic below. The boards that are there are on ceiling joists and if I put weight on they'll fall through

What makes you say that?

 

Putting boards as you show is how 99.99% of lofts are boarded.

 

Yes the ceiling joists are skinny which is why you need to be careful how much load you put on them, but they are normally okay to walk on and store light stuff on.  It is when you are doing a full loft conversion you have to beef them up or fit new joists.

[JudyMc]

The ceiling joists are nailed and have already pulled away from roof ones a bit. My concern is if I leave as is I'm going to get a ceiling come away. Not massive weight on it but how much is too much? That's what I don't want to risk. I'm not aware of any current stilt pack that will span 1.4m. The boards I have down are only chipboard about 8mm thick so also not adequate.

[joe90]

7 minutes ago, JudyMc said:

The ceiling joists are nailed and have already pulled away from roof ones a bit.

In that case you need to sort the ceiling joists first then think about flooring.

[Canski]

On 11/09/2024 at 07:18, Dave Jones said:

if your boarding the joists you cant have any insulation ?

You can with loft legs. I got mine from Wickes. 300mm legs gave me 400mm of insulation below. Solid as a rock. https://www.wickes.co.uk/Loft-Flooring-XL-300mm-Raised-Floor-Legs---Pack-of-12/p/167598

Edited September 15, 2024 by Canski

[JudyMc]

So are you suggesting put legs on ceiling joist so to span both them and roof?. With modern sheet sizes not sure that would work as too much weight/joins on the ceiling parts