best flooring for a loft conversion
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Best Flooring for a Loft Conversion

There are lots of options when it comes to flooring and floor coverings for your home and most of these can be applied to loft conversions too, so what is the best flooring for your loft conversion?

Let’s assume that the floor in your loft is made from joists (which hold up the ceiling below) with another two layers on top of them; one is a structural flooring to bridge the gap between joists, the top layer is a covering which you will walk on and see throughout the loft.

Structural Flooring

The ‘Structural’ flooring isn’t structural in the sense that it is holding up the house, it is just there to hold you and your furniture up and the floor covering you decide to use in your loft.

Typical flooring for lofts can be:

· Plywood

· Chipboard

· OSB (oriented Strandboard)

· MDF

· Floorboards

Chipboard and OSB are generally quite cheap and easy to work with.

Plywood comes in lots of different thicknesses and varieties, so if you are building a bedroom with an ensuite, you might want to take a marine plywood which is specifically designed to be moisture resistant.

Tiled / wet areas may also benefit from having a rigid / cementitious board like HardieBacker or similar to reduce the chances of the flooring under the tiles from warping.

Floor boards are likely to be the most expensive option but can produce a very aesthetically pleasing look when done correctly.

If you have thick rolls of insulation between the joists in the loft, you may choose to raise the flooring up by putting pedestals on every joist and fitting the flooring at a higher level to preserve the depth (and effectiveness) of the insulation.

Floor Coverings for a Loft

What should my loft floor be covered with?

The answer to that depends mainly on what you want to use your loft conversion for, but there are other considerations too, such as:

· Personal material preferences

· Budget

· Heating method

· Insulation requirements

There are some types of room where the decision almost makes itself; a bathroom will need something moisture resistant like tiles, lino or vinyl; but you probably wouldn’t put carpet or laminate flooring in there.

Laminate flooring could be perfect for a Gym / Yoga studio whereas carpet might be less practical.

You may also want to consider heat and sound insulation and heating in general when choosing a floor covering.

Laminate or solid wood flooring can be cold underfoot unless it is very well insulated or even heated with underfloor heating, so if you are not planning to use a system like that then carpet might be a better choice for a bedroom or office.

Sound insulation and acoustics are also worth considering if you are planning to use your loft conversion for a home office, or studio where audio will be recorded or streamed. A wooden or tiled floor is likely to echo a lot more and might make things like zoom meetings and recorded audio very echoey.

If you want expert advice about your loft conversion and how to floor it, please get in touch with us!

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