How to Board a Loft: A Step by Step DIY Guide

If you are looking for information on how to board a loft, you should check out this do it yourself step by step guide on everything to know and do about loft boards.

Have you been struggling with a lack of space in your home? Or are you interested in adding another room without a dramatic addition? Just look up—to your loft.

Learning how to board a loft isn’t as difficult as you might think. And it could be a simple and fast way to achieve your storage needs or design dreams.

If you have some time, patience, and a little DIY-savvy, you can easily follow this brief overview of loft boarding.

Reasons for Boarding a Loft

Lack of storage space is one primary reason why people consider boarding their lofts. But that’s not the only motivation for taking on this project.

Boarding a loft has several other benefits, such as:

• Creating a safer space for your loved ones
• Making it easier to access electrical connections or utility pipes
• Increasing the overall energy efficiency of your home
• Saving on utilities, such as heating, thanks to better insulation
• Adding to the resale value of your residence

How to Board a Loft: Five Simple Steps

Are you thinking about loft boarding for your home? It’s not necessarily a tiny project, but it’s certainly doable with the right tools and knowledge.

Use these five suggestions as a handy launching point for your home lofting project.

1. Prepare and Take Measurements

Like any project, it pays to take care to do things right. When it comes to figuring out what you need to board your loft, you first need to know how much space you’re dealing with.

Measure your space by multiplying the length by the width of the loft. Once you know this figure in meters, you’ll have an easy time buying the right loft board size.

The typical loft panel sizes, whether you’re buying Wickes loft boards or another brand, are 2,400 x 600 mm and 1,220 x 320 mm. You can also choose between thickness as well—usually 18 mm or 22 mm.

There are a couple of other very important considerations to tackle in the planning phase.

If you have pipes and electricity in your loft, make sure that these areas are easily accessible. That means you’ll want to avoid boarding over them and consider how you’ll lay your panels around pipes and electrical fixtures.

The other big factor is insulation. If you already have insulation in your loft, you might want to take care to remove it if it’s been damaged by water or is very old.

Maybe your insulation is fairly new or in good condition. If that’s the case, you could just factor in the thickness of your insulation into your plan for laying boards. In the UK, you’ll need insulation that is at least 270 mm thick.

2. Gather the Right Materials

Once you know what your space and insulation situation is, it’s time to compile your shopping and materials list. The big-ticket items include:

• Loft legs: This component is used to raise the floor so that insulation fits adequately beneath the boards—and without smashing them.
• Loft boards: These are wooden boards with a tongue-and-groove system for seamless installation.
• Insulation: Make sure it’s the right thickness depending on the requirements near you.
• Screwdriver and drill: Keep these tools nearby for screwing loft legs to your boards and securing the boards.
• Jigsaw and workbench: These will help cut boards as needed.

While boarding a loft isn’t too involved or dangerous, you will want to exercise caution. Make sure you include essential safety materials on your shopping list. Think gloves, a mask, and even protective overalls.

3. Install Your Boards

To ready your loft for the boards, first, create a raised floor. This is as easy as securing the loft legs into ceiling joists or roof trusses.  

Once the loft legs are in place, you can lay your insulation.

Next, you’ll install your loft boards. Laying the first board is a critical step. Make sure you start things off right by staggering the boards to create a stronger base. Also, take care to make sure the tongue-and-groove areas lineup.

Laying boards so that the joints are across the board can lead to weak and unstable areas in your boards.

After you feel satisfied with the placement of the loft boards, it’s time to secure them. Use screws to secure them into place by fixing them into the loft legs and along the joints.

You may need to add some finishing touches to fill in gaps in your boarding. Be careful when cutting smaller pieces and placing them.

4. Set Up a Loft Entrance/Loft Ladder

One final touch you may want to consider planning for is a ladder to your loft entrance. Rather than carting a ladder and setting it up when you want access to this space, a built-in loft ladder could make your life much easier.

You can find loft ladders of varying sizes to fit your particular entrance space.

5. Tying it All Together

Once you have your loft boarded, you can enjoy it. You might start by using it as an easy-to-access storage space. But you could also transform your converted loft space into an office, art studio, or bedroom.

Whatever you decide, you can feel confident that you’re adding value to your home with this project as well as making it more usable and efficient.

Get More DIY Tips for Your Home

Now that you know how to board a loft, look ahead to your next home project. Browse our latest stories for inspiration or other helpful step-by-step guides. Happy DIY-ing!