Over 36,000 deaths occur in American homes as a result of falls. When you clamber around your un-boarded loft looking for a stray box of belongings, are you safe?
Boarding your loft has many benefits. When you know what they are, you’ll wish you’d had your loft boarded years ago. Read on to learn about 7 impressive benefits of loft boarding.
What Does Loft Boarding Mean?
Many homes have a loft space above the ceiling of the top floor and below the roof. This loft area is often underutilized. Loft boarding seeks to make the most of this valuable space.
Placing loft boards directly on to the joists does not provide sufficient insulation as the joists are often too low to provide enough space under the loft boards for the insulation material. There are several alternatives to placing loft boards on joists.
When properly done, boarding your loft releases the potential of this hidden space in your home.
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Improved Insulation
Loft insulation is an easy way to reduce your fuel bills. Heat escapes through your ceiling and then through your roof via your loft. If your loft is not insulated already, when you’re installing loft boarding, it’s the perfect time to do it.
If you already have insulation, adding to the insulation could improve your energy conservation. The loft boards with insulation under it provide an excellent way of trapping the warmth in your home.
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Improve Safety
Have you ever tried to retrieve a box that you’ve stored in your loft space? You may have clambered about in the space trying to step on the joists hoping that they will bear your weight. You may also have found the joists difficult to walk on and feared slipping and putting your foot through the ceiling.
The damage a stray foot can do to your ceiling is unsightly and expensive to repair. A patch is difficult to hide, and so a full ceiling repair is the only realistic solution to a foot through the ceiling. The inconvenience and cost are annoying.
Worse than the inconvenience and cost of a repair is the potential harm you could do yourself. A fall through the ceiling could be more than inconvenient. It could result in a serious injury.
Boarding a loft provides a safe environment for you to move around in the loft space. You will have an even surface to walk on reducing the likelihood of slips and trips as well as falls. It will support your weight together with that of the things you store in the loft without fear of damage to your ceiling.
When fitting loft boards, you can also fit a loft ladder. This purpose-designed ladder makes getting access to your boarded loft easy and much safer. It’s a sensible alternative to using temporary step ladders which can be unstable and difficult to move.
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Noise Reduction
Noises from the external environment can be an unwanted intrusion into your life. Traffic noise, aircraft noise, and even the noise made by neighbors can be irritating and stressful. It can disturb your sleep, intrude on your family life, and be a relentless irritant.
One solution is to fit double glazing. As much of the noise from outside comes into your home via the windows, double glazed windows can make a big difference to the soundproofing of your home. Once you have it fitted, you may still find that noises from outside your house are disturbing your peace and quiet.
The reason double glazing does to resolve the noise problem is that noise can get into your home through your loft. To achieve a more effective soundproofing solution, install loft insulation and loft boards. Just as it reduces heat, insulation also insulates your home from external noises.
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More Storage Space
How often do you get frustrated with the amount of storage space you have in your home? You can never have enough space. The trouble is that while you are using spare bedrooms, your garage, and hallways to store things, your home feels cluttered, constricted, and smaller than you would like.
Release some of the useful space in your home by boarding your loft. Move your belongings into the loft, and you’ll be able to enjoy the increased living space in your home.
Boarding your loft creates useful storage space. You can store boxes easily and safely. You can move things and find things because you have a sound and even floor to work with.
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Additional Room
Adding an extra room to your home may not be an option. Perhaps you can’t extend, or the expense would be unaffordable. Boarding your loft might be a solution for you.
You may need to consider planning and building regulations, so it’s not a simple as just boarding the loft. A little research and a discussion with a builder is the best place to start. If viable, you might be able to add a spare bedroom, study, man-cave, or hobby room.
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Added Value
If you are considering selling your home at some point, your boarded loft might be a tremendous asset. Buyers like to have storage space, and a loft provides that. It also means the buyers are getting more floor space than the house might appear to offer at first glance.
Advantages like this might give you an edge over neighbors in a competitive house selling market. It could be worth a few more dollars or encourage a buyer to choose your home rather than another.
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Earn Money
You can sell the space in your loft. The storage space in your loft may be valuable to you, but it’s also potentially valuable to other people.
Just as Airbnb has allowed ordinary people to make money by renting out a spare room, so you can rent out your storage space. Boarding your loft could earn you money.
Raise Your Eyes
Raise your eyes and look at the potential above your head. That space could be better used. Loft boarding might make all the difference.
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