Attic Conversion Floor Joists

If the attic joists are not adequate one way to strengthen the floor for live loads is to sister the old joists.

Attic conversion floor joists.

Most floor joists are typically spaced 2 by 8s 2 by 10s and 2 by 12s. Fortunately this is a fairly easy fix. If your attic joists won t bear the weight necessary to finish out a living space but the engineer cleared them to support floor decking for light storage you can install inch plywood or. A new floor system is installed using a frame trimmer joists to support the floor joists that span the width of the loft.

When joists spacings are wider they should be deeper as well to limit stress and deflection under the load. Sistering is the process of adding a new joist next to each existing joist. A basic floor system is installed in about 10 stages from preparation to boarding the floor. This is part 2 in my series of loft conversion videos.

All meeting up on the load wall. In the case of 2x6 joists you can pair them up with additional 2x6 joists by nailing them together side by side. I m wanting to remodel our attic to add a few bedrooms. Clearing the loft area of all debris insulation struts and temporary boards to expose the ceiling boards.

The new floor joists of your loft conversion will need to offer at least 30 minutes worth of fire protection which could mean replastering the ceilings in those first floor rooms below. New homes install i beam shaped joists. There are many ways of altering roof structures for loft conversions but they all have one common element the ceiling joists will almost certainly be inadequate as floor joists. All our current 2x6 joist are spaced 16 on center.

We currently have 2x6 floor joist that span 16 on one side and 18 on another. You might open up your attic and find bare joists with fiberglass or cellulose insulation between the joists. In this video i show how i cut my my joists make packer plates get the joists from the garden up int. We were going to sister 2x8 to the existing 2x6 but are worried about the extra weight and the huge amount of pain it will be.

You can sister the joists by cutting 2 x8 boards the same length as the joists applying construction adhesive and affixing each to a joist with nails.