Loft Project Fun!

[Scythe13]

Hi everyone

Let's have some crazy fun with this one.

I've got a huge project on at the moment, but it has occured to me that I need a winter project. Imagine you have a loft space, the size of a terrace house floorplan.

What would you do with that space?

Go as wild as you want, but some realism would not go amiss. Stuff like sliding roof tiles to peek through: realistic (doable). Stuff like gun turrets: doable, but not realistic with old ceiling beams haha.

So, go on then, inspire me. Feel free to add floor plans and diagrams.

[Highlander]

Well I have that kind of loft space, but there is a lot going on up there, all the pipe work from the heating system in there for instance

I have two skylight windows one either side I can use to good effect,... but roofs are built different in Scotland to houses in England, [ or so I understand ] here they have to be built to hold heavy loads of snow,.. so many house like ours have cross beams about chest height which spoils it a bit

[Barneyboy]

I would celetex it so the heat cant get in and make it into a big store room with a pull down ladder for easy get to ,oh put a floor in or you will fall through

[Scythe13]

(10 June 2013, 17:26)Barneyboy Wrote: Put a floor in or you will fall through

That's first on the list...obviously haha

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Completely forgot to mention, because it's an old house and the wife and I are 'unconventional' we don't have gas in the home and we have nearly 100% open space up there!

[I-K-E]

depending on what you want to store up in a loft I would look at strengthening the ceiling joists

ceiling joist are just that they are built to hold up the ceiling not a floor just compare the sizes of both. If you add a floor your adding weight then anything else you put up there just adds to the weight.

Just think about a loft conversion the first thing they will do is add some RSJs the hang new floor joists, this may be a bit of over kill for our uses but I would look at sistering the ceiling joists as a minimum. I'm having to have a think about my house (a terrance) as we have two solid wall in the middle house and I'm think about how we can use that to support excess weight

The last thing you want is to sort a mass of tins or water in your loft only to get home one day and find them in your bedroom along with the remains of your ceiling

[Skean Dhude]

Nice place for your aquaponics project, use up the heat from below and you can grow your maraj..... carrots up there.

[Grumpy Grandpa]

Think - the last redoubt... think - Rorke's Drift with Lt Chard, Lt Bromhead and the strains of Men of Harlech in the background... think - Thermopylae and Leonidas... (select your own ending)

[Skean Dhude]

A loft as a stongpoint? You just burn them out.

[Scythe13]

I'm not thinking as a stronghold. As SD said, you'd get burnt out.

I was going more along the lines of, storage, lookout post, maybe planting area, or whatever anyone else could think of. It's literally an open space waiting for ideas.

[MCavity]

My loft is big enough to walk around and i'm keeping it simple by boarding it out to use as storage space. This prepping lark eats up space at a frantic pace.
Sorry to be boring but i'm keeping it simple.