loft flooring

[Kris Dawson]

Can anyone tell me the best stuff 2 use for loft flooring? i.e mdf r chipboard. and where is best 2 buy? i.e focus r b&q prob abot 7 r 8sq metres

[Don Spumey]

It is relatively cheap, and not too difficult, to lay a proper floor in a loft. You can get `loft grade' chipboard flooring for a few pounds per square yard from most sheds. If you are lucky, your joists will be of such a spacing that the flooring will fit without cutting. However, even if you have a solid floor, don't assume that you can necessarily use a loft as a `proper' room (for people and heavy furniture). The joists in a loft are often designed to support only the weight of the ceiling below, not a room above. To make habitable rooms in a loft may well require strengthening the timbers. Before deciding to lay a floor in the loft, check how any electrical wiring has been installed. If cables have been run along the top of the joists, then you'll have to re-route them before putting the floor down.

Don.

[Phil Anthropist]

I have used packs of loft flooring chipboard - the edges were machined so that they slotted together. I wouldn't know whether Focus or B & Q are cheaper, or whether Wickes do a better deal. Once you have wasted time and money driving round or trying to phone them any saving will probably be cancelled out. If you know someone who is over 60 they can apply for a Diamond Card which gives 10% off at B & Q every Wednesday.

[Phian]

Focus do a similar one, 10% off on Tuesdays.

Phian