I'm about to floor my loft and was looking at B&Q's chipboard loft flooring packs 3x 1220x325 (18mm) at 3.78/pack. Does anyone know if any of the other sheds / builders merchants are cheaper than this? Cheers, Josh
It's a bit cheaper and *much* quicker to use the 2440x600 boards. Buy one for a bit less than a fiver (from B&Q) and see if you can get it up through the hole. If you can't it's no great loss.
Markus
Don't bother with these, do a proper job with 2440x600 flooring chip board about £5 from sheds, much cheaper £3.50 from a timber merchant. My mate had to chop his in half so that they would get in the loft, but much cheaper (£2.40/sqm compared to £3.20/sqm B&Q). After starting this job my mate saw a big loft hatch door on sale in Wickes (£60) and fitted that before continuing. Made the job much easier and you end up with a decent sized loft hatch.
I boarded my loft using the big sheets, but I placed mine on battons screwed to the existing timbers so that you don't compress the insulation and allow suffient air gap underneath to breathe. I didn't sheet across the bathroom and ensuite areas.
I'm puzzled by all this. We used reclaimed floorboards, sanded and varnished them so that they glow beautifully and need no other covering. It was very cheap.
Mary
Check your joist spacing, I ended up cutting off about 30% from each board when I used these.
Pete
Thanks all. Checked joist spacing, and will lose 10% from B&Q boarding packs, or 20% from full size 2440x600. Also, B&Q boarding packs are £3.78/1.19sq m (or £3.17/sqm), whereas my local timber merchant sells 2440x600 at £4.87 (or £3.38/sqm), so (assuming my maths is correct), the smaller boards are cheaper to buy (6%), but more time consuming to lay. Josh
Don't bother with the tongue and groove boarding. The best approach is to use ordinary t&g floorboards. Easier to handle and significantly less wastage.
Cheers Clive
Ah! Someone else agrees with what we did:-)
I was beginning to think we were alone.
Mary
Why does there need to be wastage when using tongue and groove boards. If the ends of the boards don't rest on a joist won't they be adequately supported by interlocking with neighbouring boards - assuming you are only using this floor for light storage and access.
James
My 2440x600 sheets alway joined at the joists. My joist spacing was about
60cm except at the ends near the wall.
boarding
boards. If
No! Been there, done that, had to do it again.
MBQ
The boards are only T & G'd on the long edges. The instructions say to cut boards so they finish in the middle of a joist.
HTH
John
Aye. Great minds and all that eh Mary.
Always amazes me how people are prepared to struggle with sheets of chipboard in the loft, usually in the mistaken belief that it is quicker and cheaper than ordinary floorboards.
Cheers Clive
Yeah. We used proper floorboards in the conservatory. The base came (or should have come) with horrible chipboard, which is a pain to handle (being too large) and squeaks.
Christian.
In article , Clive Summerfield writes
I suppose it does depend on how easily you can handle the 8' x 2' boards but I found it quicker and cheaper to do it (do you really think housebuilders would put them down if they weren't cheaper?) last time I put down "proper" floorboards ISTR it wasn't a quick job having to clamp the boards before fixing.
We are talking about loft flooring here. There's a world of difference between banging down 8'x2' t&g floorboards to the living areas, and trying to get the bloody sheets into the loft of most modern houses. The 8'x2' sheets don't have to have their ends supported on joists, so in that application then I agree, they're quicker (which is a cost saving for starters) though not necessarily cheaper. But most people can't get an 8'x2' into the loft, let alone move it around once it is up there, so the fall back is those horrid loft boards that B & Q sell. And for sure they're not cheaper or quicker.
I used floorboards in the original loft which was a modern truss roof, but the extension roof was a traditional attic style with a large hatch (3'x3'), sufficient headroom over the hatch (7') and no trusses (6'x4' steel beams for purlins). In the extension loft I used the large sheets of chipboard.
Horses for courses, but most modern lofts would be better floored with floorboards.
Cheers Clive
boards. If
No! Been there, done that, had to do it again.
MBQ
I have had a loft floor done in this way for the past 12 years and there have been no problems. One difference is my panels are tongue and groove MDF - not chipboard. And I do only use the floor for light storage and very occasional access.
James
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