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With this guide, you can get information about loft boards, their advantages, types, and factors to consider while choosing a loft board for installation. Moreover, you can also learn what tongue and groove structure is.
What are Loft Boards?
Loft boards are flooring materials that create a flat, reliable, safe, and stable surface in loft spaces to walk or store items.
The thickness of loft boards varies from 18mm to 22mm, providing extra strength to the space for storing different items and walking around there. Typical panel sizes for small and large loft boards include 120mm x 320mm and 2400 x 600mm sheets, respectively. The larger boards are cost-effective and can be installed quickly.
Advantages of Loft Boards
The following are some of the advantages of installing loft boards in your home:
- Keeps your home warmer in winter and cooler in summer.
- Saves energy costs by providing better insulation and reducing bills.
- Allows you to install shelves for storing items above the loft’s floor level.
- Creates a valuable storage space in the loft to declutter the rooms and store suitcases.
- Increases the value of your home as there is more storage space and the property is energy efficient.
Types of Loft Boards
You should install durable, solid, and supportive loft boards to have a safe storage space in your home. Therefore, exploring different types of loft boards is crucial to finding the most suitable one based on your requirements. The following are some of the common types of loft boards:
Chipboard
Chipboard comprises reconstituted wood, such as chips, shavings, or sawdust, which are compressed and held together with a natural or synthetic resin to form boards. Its grades vary from P1 to P7, in which a higher number indicates a stronger board.
It is a commonly used material for loft boards because of its affordability, strength, and easy availability in the market. Moisture resistant chipboards help you to deal with humidity and moisture problems in your home but are relatively expensive to buy.
Oriented Strand Board (OSB)
It is manufactured by compressing multiple wood layers and holding them together with adhesives, including synthetic resin or wax. The deliberate placement of wood strips in each layer helps to create a strong panel.
OSB has 5 grades, from OSB/0 to OSB/4, out of which grades 2 to 4 are load-bearing and suitable for loft, providing enough strength.
Plywood
It is one of the stronger, stiffer, and more durable options for loft boards as it is made of thin veneer sheets. The veneer sheets are taken by peeling wood layers from fallen trees; therefore, these are recyclable. The adjacent layers are placed at right angles to each other and are held together by applying glue. However, it is expensive to buy.
It would help if you used structural plywood, which has more significant load-bearing characteristics and is suitable for walking on. It comes in alphabetical grades starting at A, where A means the best surface finish and a limited number of knots. Its sheets are usually bigger and must be cut down to get smaller pieces.
Factors to Consider While Installing Loft Boards
Before you purchase and install loft boards, several factors are required to be considered, such as:
Downlights
You should cover the downlights with a loft lid if they are in the ceiling below the loft. It helps you acquire the needed space around the lights and reduces the risk of overheating and fire.
Insulation
Before purchasing the boards, you should ensure the correct insulation depth in your loft. According to the updated guidelines given by the government, it is suggested there should be a minimum of 270mm of mineral wool or quilt insulation. It will help you attain a U-value of 0.12Wm2k for efficiently retaining heat inside the rooms. Moreover, you should ensure not to compress the insulation while installing loft boards as it can reduce their thermal performance.
Staggered Placement
It would help if you lay the loft boards in a staggered pattern so that they can be counterbalanced against each other. It leads to making the floor more robust.
Ventilation
There should be adequate ventilation and clear vents in the loft space before you start installing boards. Moreover, all the work should be completed carefully to not interfere with the existing ventilation. It helps you to avoid different issues, such as condensation of warm, moist air on the cooler surfaces of the attic’s roof and insulation. Proper ventilation also saves your loft space from mould growth and other damage.
Weight Capacity
You should consider the weight capacity of loft boards to ensure they support the weight of any stored items.
What is a Tongue and Groove Structure?
A tongue and groove structure indicates that the boards’ edges have a recess on one side and a section sticks out on the other side which slot into each other as the floor is laid. In smaller boards, tongues and grooves are usually on the long sides, while in larger boards, they can be on all four sides.
The tongue and groove help to enhance the deck’s stiffness and ensure that joints are levelled across the deck. They also allow easy lifting of the boards to access the wiring or pipes installed under them.