My Loft HC

BigB@dJ@y

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I moved house a couple of weeks ago and began converting the loft at the new house into a HC. Following Gary Lightfoots website pretty closely. The room was already cleared and was being used for storage. The Floor joists however had not been strengthened (4" x 2"). I am lucky in that my Dad owns a small civil engineering firm and I was able to borrow a couple of joiners for a few days. They thought the easiest option to strengthen then Floor joist was to screw lengths of 2" x 2" onto the existing joist and then hang these from the purlins for extra support...this worked a treat as did removing the old short loft floor boards and replacing with bigger boards.

In this pic you can see the new flooring and the 2 x 2 hangers:-

BigBadJay-IM000425.JPG


Whilst in the loft we noticed a major structural problem where the second chimney breast had been removed. It had been cut off in the loft and simply propped up on 2 pieces of 4" x 4" sticking out from the wall...which were in turn resting on the ceiling joists!!!

Here's a pic :-
BigBadJay-IM000424.JPG


We cannot put a steel support beam across as the rear outer wall is much lower than the central party wall (if that makes sense). We have decided to make a metal support shelf which will be bolted to the wall underneath the chimney breast, also as an extra support the 9" x 3" purlin directly above the stack will help to take some of the weight.

Anyway, back to the HC. I have now insulated the roof using 8' x 4' sheets of 25mm Kingspan insulation and then 12.5mm plaster board over the top (no pics of that yet).
I bought 2 Slider Glider chairs for £99 each and have set one up in the loft. An absolute bargian IMHO...very comfy indeed

BigBadJay-IM000427.JPG



I'll post more pics as work progresses (sp?)
 
Bought them from here m8 :-
Click Me

available in Black, Blue, Cream or Green

I'll post some better pics tomorrow (now that I have the lights working :) )
 
Hi this looks like a great HC room will this method of strengthening the floor pass building regs i thought the actual floor joists had to be upgraded?. Can you please post a link to gary lightfooots site. I am also looking into converting my loft and would like clear info on how to do so
 
Im pretty sure the building regs are less stringent when only using the loft as an 'occasional room' . You are allowed to strengthen the joists by sistering/coupling the existing joists with 4x2 or 6x2 joists (doubling up if you will). The way ive done it will have a similar effect.

Here is gary's site :-
http://www.g-lightfoot.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/myht.html
 
Looking good!

Can't wait for the finished photos. :)

What did you do about the diagonal purlin supports? I've left mine in as they don't affect anything, and it saved me having to get any structural work done, but I'm curious how you did yours.

Glad that my site was of help to you. If you get half as much fun out of the room that I do from mine, you should be very happy! :)

Do you need to do any soundproofing at all? I filled in my chimney area with insulation and made a flat wall all the way across. That's about a foot thick in isnulation, and two layers of plasterboard for stiffness and mass to help reduce bass transfer.

The rear wall is a stud wall with insulation and two layers again. Seems to work OK as the neighbours have never mentioned the noise or anything, even after I asked. :)

What colour scheme do you have in mind?

Gary
 
Hi Gary,
The cross beams had already been removed when I moved in, the rafters are resting on 4 purlins (9" x 3"). There are areas where the ceiling joists above the bedrooms (loft floor) had sagged a little but the long lengths of 2x2 screwed into the top of the existing joists, then lifted and screwed to 2 x 2 hangers suspended from the lower purlin, seems to have done the trick...that along with using larger loft boards for the floor has made it very strong.

Im going to put up a stud wall infront of the chimney, once the support bracket has been fixed (going in today)..the chimney has been a nightmare and Im so angry that the building survey didnt pick it up (ah well...£220 for bugger all). Im going to put insulation up behind the stud wall but probably just more Kingspan but may go the same way you did if sound transfer is going to be an issue. I am more concerned with sound leakage through the floor. Maybe some decent underlay will help. (ive been told the laminate underlay is quite good too)

I fancy carpeting the screen wall (gable end) and maybe the storage walls to as you've done..any tips on which type of paste is best?

Havent really looked at the colour scheme yet but I reckon a really dark screen wall and storage wall (carpet hopefully) and a contrasting colour for the roof (matt all the way)


Your website helped me choose the house :D and has been very helpful.

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated :smashin:

BBJ
 
For the screen wall, I used a cheap (thin) foam backed black carpet (probably more dark charcoal) from Carpet Right, and used thick wallpaper paste to glue it to the wall - any should do, and I used Fads own brand, so it probably doesn't matter too much. I put it onto the wall first, let it soak in then pasted the carpet and fitted it. I did that so that if it ever needed to come off, all I had to do was use a steamer. The carpet will probably pull off and leave the thin backing anyway, which makwes it easier still to remove.

It wasn't too tricky to do provided there is two of you. I trimmed it as I went, leaving a little overlap which I trimmed with a Stanley knife.

So far it's stayed stuck very well, and I used it for the lower side walls to help remove the clap 'echo' I had. It seems to have worked quite well too. :)

To stop sound leakage (other than deep bass - that's a bugger to stop), makes sure you seal all edges with silicon rubber or similar. Where air can go so can sound, and you'll be surprised at how much sound can leak through a small hole (15db gain through a 15mm square hole IIRC).

Using a high density underlay will help with sounds going through the floor, and make sure you have a good layer of insulation under the floor in the joists. The hatch may be the biggest problem. I'm thinking of using a 4inch 'plug' to puit into the hatch when the hatch is closed to prevent any sound going through.

Don't forget progress pictures! :)

Gary.
 
Been working in the loft over the weekend but forgot to take pics!! (I'll get some tonight)

The chimney support is in place and is a serious piece of hardware.
This means I can now point up the chimney and seal with PVA and water. Then put up a stud wall.
I have boarded up the 2 vertical sections (storage) leaving an access point to get in/out to the eaves. I havent installed any insulation behind these yet as it was red hot up there over the weekend, I can always add it later as I have acces to the rear. There is a noticable dip in the floor (more noticable now I have put the cupboard walls up).
My dad's got some self levelling floor compound which he reckons will do the trick.
Im unsure whether to put plasterboard over the brick wall where the screen will go, may just use high density fibreboard and paint it.

I'm getting sky+ fitted on friday and my existing digibox is going in the loft (er indoors wont let me have the sky+ up there :(

Need to make a PJ mount for my AE200 too

I'll post some pics tomorrow (still havent got my broadband sorted at the new house..should be tuesday)
 
Quick tip... I used self levelling floor compound in my cinema...

Make sure you have sealed the floor incredibly well, you have to mix it up very wet and it will seep everywhere.
 
Thanks for the tip m8.. Its only in one place really so Ill be sealing it up with silicon tonight...
I have now painted the purlin beams with matt black paint and taken down the old flourescent lights and replaced with a couple of spotlight bows...looks much better.
Ive tried some of the matt back paint on the screen wall and it looks okay, I think I'll paint the whole wall with this and see how it looks with the screen up.

Must get some more pics tonight :rolleyes:
 
Okay!! Update time.

Took a couple of pics of the screen wall with the black matt paint on!! I painted the beams black too.
As you can see there is no reflection at all from the flash on the camera :-

BigBadJay-screenwall1.JPG




Please excuse the junk :blush:

BigBadJay-screenwall2.JPG



Im going to carpet the side walls after Ive put doors on for the storage space :-

BigBadJay-sidewall.JPG


Still waiting for the rear stud wall to go up and the ceiling ( may have a go over the weekend)

Did throw some latex self levelling compund down where there was a slight dip and didnt get a single leak :smoke:

BigBadJay-levelling.JPG



Thats it for now...just had sky+ installed and relocated my existing box to the loft..in readiness

also bought a gramma pad for the sub and some mopads for the fronts.


More pics soon!
 
Here's a pic of the base of the Slider Seat for Gary:-

BigBadJay-Base.JPG


If you need any measurements just let me know
 
Hi BBJ,

It doesn't look like they'll suit where I need to fit them - the side arms come down too low unfortunately, and in order to fit on the platform they would have to be removed. I can't put the seats where I want them either, as there are two purlin supports (like the front two in my web site pics) which take up some of the floor space.

Bummer really, as they look very comfortable. :(

Gary.
 
Thats a shame Gary as they are quite comfy (unless you fall asleep in one and wake up with a numb bum as I did last night!)

Ive finished all the plaster boarding now and will be sealing the joints later today, then papering hopefully tomorrow (found some lightly textured vymura which should do the job nicely...painted afterwards of course).
I should be getting a carpet this weekend but I couldnt resist setting everything up to watch Last Samurai last night :D

Here's a pic of the rear studwall which hides the chimney breast...did this all myself which Im quite chuffed with.

BigBadJay-STUDWALL.jpg


I'll post some finished pics next week

Oh.. the grammapad works a treat under the sub..havent had a single complaint yet (fingers crossed)
 
Looking good! :)

I found one of your seats in Makro - managed to sit in it and they are very comfy indeed! Pity that they won't suit my loft though. :(

A friens has some seats which are similar to those in Argos - they recline etc and are very comfy too. They can be made to fit onto my seating base too. They cost £250 each though. I'll have a look on ebay and see what I can find.

Cheers.

Gary.
 
A can of Stella.........................the end is in site
 
Almost there now. Carpet is down, just some wallpapering and general cosmetic touching up. Hopefully ready for the footy in a fortnight (must remember to pick up one of those little fridges from Index for the stella) :clap:

Will take some more pics soon
 
Hi Ajax,

They look as though they would have fitted onto my base as well - I've just bought a pair of these though:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4303566676

I've managed to fit them in with the feet connected, so all I have to do now is fit the bass shakers to them.

The Malatas would have fitted onto my existing shaker/seat bass once the bottom ring assemblly was removed - I've an Ikea just down the road from me so maybe I should have gone there first... Would have saved some dosh too if they'd measured up (makes a point of not going there again..). :)

Cheers,

Gary.
 
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Glad you got sorted Gary...those look really comfy too :D
 
Cheers,

They're similar to yours, except I can fit them close into the rear purlin supports. I had a wooden box/frame with two recaro style car seats which I was using before, with bass shakers bolted to the frame. The car seats were surprisingly comfy - even after watching Lord of the Rings. :)

I just felt something more 'normal' would look better. :laugh:

Gary.
 
Okay...update time :)

Floor carpet is down and also around lower half of rear and side walls.
Wallpaper on roof and rear walls is up (found some matt vymura the previous owner had left behind!)


Ceiling mount is up (cost me £8 from the local ex-catalogue outlet, it works but isnt great but for £8 who cares!!)


On a hot day it does get very warm so I put a little extractor fan on the rear wall and have a dehumdifier/fan up there too.
As you can see from one of my daughters after dancing around to MTV, it gets a little warm!! I think a Velux is necessary sometime in the future.



Made a cover box for the hatch so the kids cant fall down (I think you can just see it in one of the pics)

Just need a general tidy up etc and I can settle down to some serious viewing.....Come on England!! :thumbsup:
 

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Looks very good, this has spurred me on even more to get my cellar complete, oh why is the builder not available until Oct :rolleyes:
 

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