On 05/11/2018 12:18, Tim Watts wrote:
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.Â* 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,Â* 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.

Mine is built to an earlier grade of Victorian engineering and the beams
are roughly 3x10" pitch pine and at 18" spacing with floorboards in the
loft as well as on the suspended floors. I doubt there would be any
practical way of overloading it short of storing gold bullion up there.

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.

My first home built in the 1970's the loft timber could barely support
the roof and you needed to be very careful not to put anything heavy up
there or to stumble in the loft for fear of cracking the ceiling below.

It would creak as you shifted your weight on the boarded section.

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.

+1

Worth looking to see if there are any load bearing internal walls too.


--
Regards,
Martin Brown