Putting loftboards in attic of garage

Uncle Pierre

Hi all. Probably pretty basic questions coming up, but they're coming from somebody with only a pretty basic knowledge of DIY stuff.

Am considering putting OSB boards across the rafters in my garage, to create some extra storage space. Can get a good deal on boards 18mm thick from somebody who has enough left over from a big job he was doing himself, so am not really flexible on the material. If I was paying ordinary full price to buy the material myself, I probably wouldn't bother with this job at all.

So, questions...
1 - Any particular type of nail that would be best for this job? In terms of length or anything else? Considering it's 18mm OSB, would two inch nails be okay, or maybe three inch, or somewhere in between? (apologies if needed for mixing metric and imperial!)

2 - Should I leave a small gap between boards to allow for swelling/expansion/whatever, or line them up tight to each other?

3 - Anything else to be aware of?

Bear in mind that this is just for the garage, so the job doesn't have to be particularly neat. And there wouldn't be anything heavy stored up there - mainly a selection of old paint cans, some offcuts of carpet/lino, and various other stuff from the category of "might come in handy sometime".

Thanks in advance.

Are you going to be walking up there?
I just lashed a few boards up into mine,gravity with hold them.

seamus

Get some T&G boards and then there's no need to nail or screw them down. Maybe, at a push, stick some nails in along teh outer edges to avoid shifting but otherwise it's not necessary.

GreeBo

I would at least secure the outer board otherwise you risk them slightly moving over time until you get to the point where they are no longer supported on one end and that ends badly...

Uncle Pierre

Thanks for replies so far.

I definitely want to nail them in. Would be walking (or crawling, depending on head space!) up there a bit, to get from one end to another. Maybe should have said before, but the garage is 30' x 20' overall, so there's a fair bit of space involved.

Getting T&G boards is not really an option because these boards I'm getting for next to nothing are not T&G, and as I said up top, if I had to pay full price for new materials then I probably wouldn't bother with this right now at all. But am taking it that if T&G would be okay, then there's no need to leave a slight gap between boards?

Dr_Colossus

I'd use 60x4 screws, you'll get a box of 200 for about €7. Can always remove or rearrange at a later date if needed and no hibrations to existing structure installing.
I'd line the board's up tight against each other also, OSB shouldn't be expanding/contracting much in a dry attic

PhilOssophy

I was about to say just that, screw them down rather than nailing for exactly the reasons Dr_Colossus has said.

Uncle Pierre

Thanks again, all.

Screws it is, and 60 mm. This'll keep me busy for a while next weekend.....

LenWoods

Uncle Pierre wrote: »

Thanks again, all.

Screws it is, and 60 mm. This'll keep me busy for a while next weekend.....

There's a socket adapter driver available for a dril;
I bought one with some Philips heads in my local Woodie's for under 15 euro
The outer DeWalt branded casing can be held while the parts inside the shell rotate; makes it easier to hold the screw in position while drilling.

Pinoy adventure

Where are you getting the 18mm boards from and how much are they costing ? I'm currently looking for boards myself too do our own attic.

Uncle Pierre

Pinoy adventure wrote: »

Where are you getting the 18mm boards from and how much are they costing ? I'm currently looking for boards myself too do our own attic.

This is a real case of knowing somebody who happened to come across something in the right place at the right time.

Brother-in-law is a builder and happened upon a place with a lot of leftover OSB boards from a job. They're four feet square (basically 8' x 4' boards cut in half), and about 35 of them altogether, so just about enough to do my job with maybe a few left over.

Am picking the whole lot up for €100, but it really is a once-off deal. And yes, it's above board (pun intended)

AnRothar

Distance between joists is important.

Say your boards are 120cm by 120cm
Say joist span is 40 cm.
Say each Joist is 5cm wide

When placing the boards across the joists make sure that the end of the board is only half-way (2.5cm) across the last joist.
That way when you lay the next board it will be on part of the joist (2.5cm) too.
That way it will have some support.

Pinoy adventure

Uncle Pierre wrote: »

This is a real case of knowing somebody who happened to come across something in the right place at the right time.

Brother-in-law is a builder and happened upon a place with a lot of leftover OSB boards from a job. They're four feet square (basically 8' x 4' boards cut in half), and about 35 of them altogether, so just about enough to do my job with maybe a few left over.

Am picking the whole lot up for €100, but it really is a once-off deal. And yes, it's above board (pun intended)

Ok.ive being looking around on adverts and the likes of it for sumthing similar too.best of luck doing it.
Are you considering installing a sky light or going with a plug for lights ?

Uncle Pierre

There certainly won't be a skylight involved. At least, not unless the brother-in-law happens upon one of them for half nothing as well. Oh, and then offers to put it in for free.......

I don't expect to be spending too much time up there. It's really just for storage, so a couple of minutes at a time, to put something up or get something down. So won't be going to any great trouble with lights either.

There are a few spare sockets in the garage and I'll just run a cable reel up from one of them, to be able to plug in something "upstairs". And I'll just bring a torch with me whenever I go up there too. Keep it simple!

LenWoods

Pinoy adventure wrote: »

Are you considering installing a sky light or going with a plug for lights ?

Since he's not fitting any lighting up there and you expressed an interest in attic lighting ideas;
This may be of interest; I've fitted two Osram Ledvance 20w LED floodlights there a magnetic 3000 Kelvin
Fitted in the Apex on both ends of my attic plugged in to a socket loom which is fed from a fused spur switch fitted close to the entrance,

I first had a TimeGuard Segment switch fitted but there was a trickle of power passing through to the floodlights allowing them to remain dim,
So I changed for a fused spur instead.
There 20W LED = 150W Halogen Equivalent & is 86% More Efficient than 150W Halogen,
Also alot less heat output

I plan to relocate the header tank to a coffin style variant and sheet the beams to create more storage space.
If I was fitting again;
I'd fit a small strip of C-Rail to the wall then attached the floodlight to the C-Rail using C-Rail nuts,
This saves ever drilling the wall to fit a replacement light again in the future as the bracket would fit to the C-Rail with the nuts being fully adjustable to the required width of the floodlight bracket.

I might get a short length and fit it in the future; however i expect these lights to last a very long time as I'm probably up there around twenty hours per year.