Hello

Following on from advice sought here and elsewhere, I went about it thus:

1) Ordered 300 feet of 1 x 1.5" sawn battening to sit along the tops of the
existing joists

2) Ordered twenty 8'x2' 22mm tongue-and-groove chipboard panels (heavy duty)

The reason for the battening was so that I could rebate the lengths where
necessary to allow for the various bits of twin and earth that were fitted
across the original joists - and avoiding notching out the actual joists. I
decided on the big loft panels because I reckoned they'd be quicker to lay
than the small "B&Q" loftpack boards, and they're 22% thicker (and hence
they are stronger).

It took us a day (two people) to lay the battening and notch out with a
pull-saw and chisel and rearrange the mains cabling into the channels. It
took about a day and a half or two days to lay the loft boards. Where the
ends of the loft boards miss the joist (the boards are layed perpendicular
to the joists), we used PVA wood glue. I've screwed them (and the battens)
down using chipboard screws (twinthread gold screws) and a Makita battery
drill/driver which did the whole lot on a single charge.

Last time I did a loft of similar size I used the B&Q packs and although it
went OK, I had to cut most of them to size on accout of non-standard joist
spacing in that house. That's what made me decide to use the bigger boards -
they span more joists per board and they're that much thicker that, when the
ends miss a joist, a decent amount of gluing makes those ends adequately
self-supporting.

If we ever do it again I shall use the same approach but I might
cross-batten instead of parallel batten. Cross battening will implement
sufficient clearance for the mains cabling and will also lend strength to
the structure by adding a bit of additional support at the board ends.

1) Ordered 300 feet of 1 x 1.5" sawn battening to sit along the tops of
the existing joists

Cost - about 55 or 60 quid

2) Ordered twenty 8'x2' 22mm tongue-and-groove chipboard panels (heavy
duty)

Cost - about 155-160 quid

On Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:34:13 +0100, Duncan Di Saudelli wrote:
The reason for the battening was so that I could rebate the lengths
where necessary to allow for the various bits of twin and earth that
were fitted across the original joists - and avoiding notching out the
actual joists. I decided on the big loft panels because I reckoned
they'd be quicker to lay than the small "B&Q" loftpack boards, and
they're 22% thicker (and hence they are stronger).

Can you do that in the UK, then? I'm not sure I could get away with it
here in the US - I think "bare" wiring in an "unfinished" attic space is
OK, but as soon as flooring goes down the wiring would have to adhere to
the electrical code here - which means running it through the joists a
certain minimum distance from the edges.

cheers

Jules

"Jules Richardson" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:34:13 +0100, Duncan Di Saudelli wrote:
The reason for the battening was so that I could rebate the lengths
where necessary to allow for the various bits of twin and earth that
were fitted across the original joists - and avoiding notching out the
actual joists. I decided on the big loft panels because I reckoned
they'd be quicker to lay than the small "B&Q" loftpack boards, and
they're 22% thicker (and hence they are stronger).

Can you do that in the UK, then? I'm not sure I could get away with it
here in the US - I think "bare" wiring in an "unfinished" attic space is
OK, but as soon as flooring goes down the wiring would have to adhere to
the electrical code here - which means running it through the joists a
certain minimum distance from the edges.

When I did a similar thing, I cut holes in the flooring big enough for them
to sit over the cables where they crossed the joists.
That way you can still see them.

On Wed, 7 Apr 2010 20:12:44 +0100, dennis@home wrote:

"Jules Richardson" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:34:13 +0100, Duncan Di Saudelli wrote:
The reason for the battening was so that I could rebate the lengths
where necessary to allow for the various bits of twin and earth that
were fitted across the original joists - and avoiding notching out the
actual joists. I decided on the big loft panels because I reckoned
they'd be quicker to lay than the small "B&Q" loftpack boards, and
they're 22% thicker (and hence they are stronger).

Can you do that in the UK, then? I'm not sure I could get away with it
here in the US - I think "bare" wiring in an "unfinished" attic space is
OK, but as soon as flooring goes down the wiring would have to adhere to
the electrical code here - which means running it through the joists a
certain minimum distance from the edges.

When I did a similar thing, I cut holes in the flooring big enough for them
to sit over the cables where they crossed the joists.
That way you can still see them.


Boarded a mate's loft and he didn't want the cables up through the boarding
so I marked where all cables ran and all terminations were. Mind, as it was
T&G chipboard it's not that easy to get at anything.
--
Peter.
2x4 - thick plank; 4x4 - two of 'em.