Staircase into Loft

How many joists to cut, and at what spacing?

BTW, look out for an absolute rampage of pen-pushers and their apologists. "It's illegal". "You won't be able to sell your house", etc.. Don't tell 'em where you live!

True

Depends how much they want it and what you are asking (as with anything else).

Wise words

Well I am showing my ignorance here. What is it that is that is illegal?

BTW I would have to cut through maybe 6 joists(Gulp) I reckon about 18" apart- I am losing confidence already :-(

What size are the existing floor joists in the loft?

The usual way would be with a stringer across the cut ends as you describe. You may need to double up the joists that are carrying the stringer however since they will now be picking up significant extra load.

i.e. existing joists

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

New layout with doubled up joists at D:

D D # ## # # # ## # # ## # # # ## # # ## # # # ## # # ####################### # # ####################### # # ## ## # # ## ## # # ## ## # # ## ## #

The stairs can be made mostly self supporting if required (with a dwarf wall or full length newels that reach down to lower floor level), or also be partly carried on an adjacent load bearing wall if there is one. If the loft floor has been upgraded to a "real" floor (as it ought to be if you are fitting a permenant staircase), then the stringer joist would usually be strong enough to carry half the stair load (the floor below carrying the other half)

Details on the ones I built may be of use to you:

As a matter of interest, isn't there already a way up to the loft? Couldn't you use this?

It is not illegal as such, however the work will have to be structurally sound, fully comply with building regulations, and be conducted after submission of a buiding notice. A building control officer will need to issue a completion certificate when you are done. If you jump through these hoops then you will be legal, and should have no difficulty selling the house etc. If you ignore these aspects then you may end causing grief for yourself at a later date.

Someone else refered to pen pushers getting in the way etc. While this may be true with some building tasks, loft conversions attract a bunch of regulations that are in the whole very sensible and not that onerous to comply with, so you amy as well do it by the book. They seek to ensure that you don't end up compromising the structural integrity of the property, or creating a deathtrap should the place catch fire.

It depends a bit on what you want to achieve. If you are thinking of creating permenant access to a new story that you will use as habitable space, then you need to do it right. If you are talking about a posh ladder to make getting at storage space in the loft a bit simpler, and you plan to put it all back how it was should you move, then it is a different ball game.

He mentioned putting a staircase into a loft rather than a ladder. The general rule of thumb for a habitable loft room is that there is a fixed staircase into it. Doing this in the absence of all the other requirments for a habitable space (30 min fire protection, escape routes etc) which he didn't mention, would put it in breach of the regulations and therfore illegal.

As to selling the house, you are right, if he put it all back as it was that would be fine (though I suspect that's not the plan!).

I thought that is what I had said ;-)

The starcase is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to problems, which may include

fire escape from loft make all dorrs in the house 30 minuite fire proof how to stop all the heat going up there

Rick