Yes agreed about the ceiling. Its actually often worse if you put a
bookshelf on the upper floor of the house and the downstairs ceiling bows!
Brian

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"Tim Watts" wrote in message
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On 05/11/18 11:44, BenTenBox wrote:
Morning.

My wife and I have moved into a victorian semi detached house. Our loft
was
already boarded when we moved in and I wondered what it was Ok to store
up
there as I know they were not built to take weight. I've attached a few
pictures but the roof is of Purlin construction and the joists/rafters
are
2inch by 4 inch and spaced a foot apart and the chipboard that was laid
is
almost an inch thick. As we've just moved in I've put some boxes up there
but
nothing that heavy, things like sailing jackets, camping bits like a tent
and
sleeping bags, and we've got some old clothes and pans. I've not got any
stacked book boxes or anything.
My question was really does this seem like a reasonable weight
considering the
structure?
https://www.homeownershub.com/img/gn
https://www.homeownershub.com/img/go
https://www.homeownershub.com/img/gp
https://www.homeownershub.com/img/gq



Jesus, yes. That exceeds the way most houses are made now...

4x2" is good. The spacing is good. Likely the victorian lumber is superior
to anything sold for that purpose now.

The only factor you haven't stated is the span of the joists.

Mine span 3.5m and are 2x4" of 1950s grade timber. All 100+kg of me can
stand on a single one mid span with no flexing.

The worst I've seen is in my childhood house - same, 1930s timber. One
ceiling dropped by an inch off the roof tie above it - that was due to a
shedload of books being piled in a cupboard mid span - a very bad
placement of load.


So:

1) You have spread the load;

2) You won't break the joists - you'll cause ceiling cracks before bad
things happen;

3) If you keep the load fairly well distributed you should be able to
store a reasonable amount of stuff - especially if you keep heavier things
nearer the suppporting walls.


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