Loft boarding

Raised, not flat

This is the whole point, so it is worth two minutes.

Boarding a loft is simple work that is very often done badly. The difference is whether the boards sit on the joists — crushing your insulation — or on legs above it.

Boards laid on the joists

Quick and cheap, and it squashes the insulation underneath to the depth of the timber. Compressed insulation does not insulate: you get the storage and you lose a good part of what the insulation was doing. It is also where condensation problems start, because there is no air gap left above the material.

Boards on a raised system

Legs lift the boards clear, so the insulation keeps its full depth and the loft keeps its airflow. It costs more in parts and the same in labour, and it is the only way we fit it.

Also while we are there

Hatches

An old hatch is often too small to get anything through, and leaks heat around the frame. We can fit a larger insulated one.

Ladders

A fixed loft ladder, sized to the hatch and the drop, so getting up there is not a job in itself.

Lighting

A switched light at the hatch. A loft you cannot see in is a loft nobody uses.