Turning Loft into a Hobby Room and Storage Space Information and advice on lofts and loft conversions. Find solutions and post your questions here...

[tpimms]

Hi there!

Looking at boarding my loft up to use for storage anyway but what would need to be done further if I wanted to be able to walk on the floor more and possibly even build a model railway up there.

The house is 6 years old.

I know the joists are just for the ceiling below.

Could I add timber to the existing joists to strengthen them? Could I use joist hangers in the brickwork to hang a new set of joists so there is no pressure on the ceiling joists?

I don't want to turn it into a full blown room, just a little hobby space!

Any advice/ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[thedoctor]

See our page on loft conversions https://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/lo ... rsions.htm

You cannot have people in the loft for anything other than placing suitcases etc or it becomes living space. As such it is subject (for your own safety) to fire regulations and other building regulations. If anything happens up there you need to be able to either escape quickly or be rescued quickly and either way this means that you must be able to get from your loft to outside without passing through any other room.

These buiding regulations are law and must be adhered to

[tpimms]

Ok great,

Thanks for the link!

Think I'll look to utilise the garage instead!

[michaelbailey]

there is a similar posting about using loft spaces anybody using loft space must do it properly and think about future usage who will use it how will they get out in an emergency