It is difficult to achieve beautiful interior design in your home without addressing storage. Without an adequate solution, our rooms soon become cluttered, spoiling the whole ambience. Storage is a dull subject, but a necessary one to address nonetheless. Today, we will take a look at how to use your loft to make life easier. There is a massive wasted space up there, and you can put it to use.
Planning Permission
As long as you do not convert the loft into a habitable room, you do not have to seek planning permission. You can continue with this project without fear of prosecution.
Dealing With Light
Natural daylight is valuable in the loft, helping you find what you seek quickly. The answer comes in the form of roof windows from Alsford Timber and other online sources. I spoke to a friend who told me that they come as pre-assembled units. You only have to remove some roof tiles and create an internal frame between the rafters. Then you fix the unit in position and add some flashing to make it watertight.
Install the cables for the lights before you lay the floorboards or cover the underside of the roof. The number of fittings will depend on the size of the loft, but it will benefit from at least three.
A Sound Floor
Even though you do not intend to live up there, you cannot skimp on the flooring’s quality. Safety is an issue here. Luckily, you can buy packs of chipboard that are for this purpose. They are cut into 600mm sections so that they will fit through the hatch. Cut them to size where necessary and fix them to the joists. Make sure there is plenty of insulation below them because you cannot add it afterwards. Drill holes in the boards and use screws to secure them. If you try to knock in nails, you are sure to damage the ceilings below.
The Roof
I advise you to install insulation panels between the rafters before covering them with boards. Plasterboard is the perfect product for the internal cladding, whether you intend to skim it over to a good finish afterwards or not. It is inexpensive, and you can cut it with a saw or craft knife. I think that if you went to all of this trouble, you should employ a plasterer for a day to finish the job.
You can now turn the lights on and use the room as an ideal storage space. Search online for high-quality racks that come in kit form or have a professional company install loft boarding. Remember that anything you take up there must fit through the hatch. Because young children won’t be able to access this room, it is a perfect place to hide all of their Christmas presents away from prying eyes. That is an issue we all wrestle with at the end of the year.
I converted my loft in this way, and it is by far the best home improvement. Our house is clutter-free, and I know where to find things when I need them. It is an enjoyable project, so why not take a look at your loft? It could change your life.
