Gaffar wrote:

The question I have is I have bought 22mm 2400x600 flooring grade
chipboard - green backed stuff-
(without thinking) and am now not sure if these boards will be too heavy
for the joists to handle
The loft area is about 40sqm that I am boarding with the rest staying
under old insulation for now.

You omit the one bit of info we really need: what is the span of the
existing joists?

The celing underneath seems to be lath boards with cement/plaster which
was artexted and has now been overboarded and reskimmed

So you have in effect the weight of two ceilings below....

A structural engineer spared me a couple of minutes on the phone and
advised the joists should be ok to hold the weighth of the boards
(although the celing below may crack but should not collapse), also
advised agaist screwing boards into joists if possible as they may crack
and distributing light storage weight into the sides.

Is this sound advice and is there anything you guys can think off that

Seems ok, not sure about the non screwing bit though.

may help the situation or provide reassurances. WOuld writing off the
cost of these boards be wise and just replace with ordinary loft bvoards
that can be bought in B&Q and the likes.

Ordinary loft boards not not much lighter, so I would not bother. Stack
stuff over the supporting wall or near the edges, or if you are feeling
really adventurous you could stick in a "floor grade" set of joists etc
to bring it up to loft conversion standards.

--
Cheers,

John.

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