DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hello,
I've been reading this forum, but haven't found an exactly similar problem to mine.

I have a space in the roof that is above a first floor bedroom. I want to convert this space into a loft room for storage. I don't want to be taking guesses about what the existing joists can take in terms of storage weight and someone walking around up there... so i want to install new joists along the old 4x2 ones, free from them...so no cracks either.
The joists need to span 3,3 M or 11 feet, from the load bearing wall to the front wall of the house. This is also the direction of the pitch of the roof.
I am thinking of placing a wooden bearer along the load bearing wall, bolting it in along the width of the space, 3,7 M.
From this bearer I want to hang new joists with timber to timber hangers.
I will do the same along the front wall just below where the pitch meets the wall. I would prefer this method as slotting hangers into the bricks would be a long affair as the mortar lines are not exactly straight.

Now for the tricky part. About half way from load bearing wall to front wall is a large timber, 5x3, which sits in the brickwork of the two party walls on the sides and also sits on top of the existing 4x2 ceiling joists, going across them at a right angle.
I dont want to place the new joists above this timber as I'll be raising the floor too high up for adequate space.

Is it possible to hang the new joists, 6x2 or 7x2 if necessary, from the load bearing wall to this 5x3 and then again from the 5x3 to the front wall?
effectively the new joists would only span about 1,5 M ...but can the 5x3 take it? Also, unfortunately the ceiling is screwed to this 5x3 and so indirectly the floor would be touching the ceiling.

Going completely above this 5x3 also creates problems at the front wall hangings, in that I wouldn't have enough wall there to hang the joists above the 5x3. Hope this makes sense! And thanks to anyone who can confirm anything.

[quote="GPC"]Hello,
I've been reading this forum, but haven't found an exactly similar problem to mine.

I have a space in the roof that is above a first floor bedroom. I want to convert this space into a loft room for storage. I don't want to be taking guesses about what the existing joists can take in terms of storage weight and someone walking around up there... so i want to install new joists along the old 4x2 ones, free from them...so no cracks either.
The joists need to span 3,3 M or 11 feet, from the load bearing wall to the front wall of the house. This is also the direction of the pitch of the roof.
I am thinking of placing a wooden bearer along the load bearing wall, bolting it in along the width of the space, 3,7 M.
From this bearer I want to hang new joists with timber to timber hangers.
I will do the same along the front wall just below where the pitch meets the wall. I would prefer this method as slotting hangers into the bricks would be a long affair as the mortar lines are not exactly straight.




Now for the tricky part. About half way from load bearing wall to front wall is a large timber, 5x3, which sits in the brickwork of the two party walls on the sides and also sits on top of the existing 4x2 ceiling joists, going across them at a right angle.
I dont want to place the new joists above this timber as I'll be raising the floor too high up for adequate space.

Is it possible to hang the new joists, 6x2 or 7x2 if necessary, from the load bearing wall to this 5x3 and then again from the 5x3 to the front wall?
effectively the new joists would only span about 1,5 M ...but can the 5x3 take it? Also, unfortunately the ceiling is screwed to this 5x3 and so indirectly the floor would be touching the ceiling.

Going completely above this 5x3 also creates problems at the front wall hangings, in that I wouldn't have enough wall there to hang the joists above the 5x3. Hope this makes sense! And thanks to anyone who can confirm anything.[/quote]

I wouldnt trim between the 5x3 binder you have mentioned (not strong enough), temp support ceiling below at mid span point using acros or timbers, remove the 5x3, run you new 7x2 joists in, use a metal banding(try screwfix) and run it at 90 degrees to joists at the location of old 5x3, screw into top of new joists bend down to old ceiling joist and screw with 2" screw into top then back up to new joist repeating the step keeping band as taught as you can, looks like WWWWWWWWWW this sort of.
This will hold your ceiling up but in will not create vibrations to crack ceiling as band will flex slightly when standing on that specific new joist. Hope i've read your problem correctly and that you understand my reply.

Thank you dannyppp...your method makes sense and I'll be using it to carry out the work.