I know this isn’t the first time this has been covered so sorry in advance.

I’m planning on boarding the loft out using loft stilts and board on top. The existing insulation is about 100mm thick at most and some of it has been squashed down where boards have been chucked on top of it. Would I be best taking up the old insulation and replacing it or will it go back to it’s original depth once the boards are taken away?

The other thing is what to do around the loft hatch. Current loft hatch is in minimatt’s bedroom but I want to move it into the hallway. Can I just put some boards in around the hatch so the insulation won’t fall into or is it okay to just leave it?

Plan is to use loft stilts from B&Q at £15 for a pack of 12 then 18mm board on top of that. I’ve also seen this (http://loftzone.co.uk/) but it looks like it’ll come out more expensive for a given area.

Bump for you evening mob

Loft insulaltion will rise to original height give it a shake or leave it alone and in a few days will rise.

Loft stilts cheaper at tool station free delivery or local depot pickup.About 11 quid for 12.

Make the new loft hatch as long as possible and wider than at present , makes getting stuff in easier, also board over existing loft hatch and mark it as an existing hatch, worked in a loft stood on what i theought was a solid board, which creaked, lifeted it up and below was a large glass ceiling light only covered by thin ply, but plasterboarded over on the ceiuling side.

Big fan keeps you cool when working in there.

Is it worth using those loft stilts or would a couple of lengths of 4×2 cut down suffice? And would it be easy enough to fit the stilts/cut down timber once it’s insulated?

We have BG coming round in a few weeks to put in free loft insulation so I’ll need to reboard it.

Regs say 270mm depth of insulation so you probably need a couple of bits of 4×2 on top of each other. I’m going to contact BG to see if we qualify for free stuff as they’ll do it up to 270mm. If I were you I’d put the stilts in first and get them to work round them, it’ll save you having to move any insulation about to find joists afterwards.

I was looking at stilts as they’ll be lighter than timber and I’d rather not put too much weight on the rather antique looking joists that hold our ceiling up! Plus you’d need a fair bit of timber to clear that height of insulation.

I’m doing mine next week. I’ve gone for stilts as it’s cheaper than timber, and there’s a fuller insulation layer than laying it inbetween the joists. putting down jewsons lift boards in top. Should take a couple of days tops, then the garage is reclaimed for bikes!

I raised a boarded area in our loft the other week; I put solid 100mm insulation boards in then put the boards back. There were two layers of insulation that had been squashed into one, but it sprang back so I redistributed it around the rest of the loft. It’s a bit more pricey, but avoided faffing around with extra rafters or stilts.

I didn’t bother; our loft is part-boarded with T&G chipboard, which the builder nailed down with ringshank nails so they are a complete barsteward to lift. Having slipped a hand into the space underneath, which is packed with glass wool, and felt how much warm air was trapped there I decided to leave it alone and just insulate the open parts of the loft.