Workshop Phase 5.
Installing Ceiling Insulation & Chipboard Mezzanine Floor.

Two rolls of 'Rock Wool' insulation were purchased. These are made from recycled glass. This product comes partially cut into three widths of 400mm which is ideal for the 405mm joist spacing adopted for this project.

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A roll of 100mm thick insulation. The partial cuts are clearly visible with options for either cutting in half to give two rolls of 600mm width, or making two cuts giving three rolls of 400mm width. The 400mm width option was the preferred one for this project.

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The best course of action before using the insulation in the confines of the loft, is to use some scissors to completely cut through the partial cuts so that three separate rolls of the correct width are ready for use - as shown in this photograph.

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Work in progress installing the loft insulation between the joists. Work carried out in tandem with chipboard floor installation. The unfixed sheets of chipboard flooring provide useful temporary supports whilst the insulation is unrolled in position.

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Loft insulation completed and work well under way in installing the overlying chipboard flooring (See details below).

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Estimated that ten boards required, delivered on the 20^th July 2015.

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After marking out, the boards were easily cut to size using a hand-saw. The boards are just manageable to move by one fit adult but two people make handling much easier.

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This was very similar to the installation of the plasterboards. The positions of the underlying joists were marked out in pencil on the boards and then the same wooden template was used to mark the positions of the screws at 150mm intervals (this worked out at 4 screws across the boards for each joist). Screws were 4mm diameter, 45mm long. Where two boards join, it is essential that the joint is above a joist (as for the plasterboard sheets), and also essential that the tongue & groove is also on the joint.

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The last narrow row of boards were difficult to install because of the constraints of the tongue & groove contacts with the other boards on one side and the garage wall on the other. It was found that the easiest way to fit them was to slide the boards in from the open (garage door end) of the loft, tapping them gently into place using a wooden mallet.

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Photograph of the completed chipboard floor (bottom) compared to the floor as envisaged in the Sketchup design (top).

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This sketch plan shows which two collar ties were removed (pale brown), after the replacement ties (pale green) had been bolted in place. It also shows the front collar tie (pale brown, right of sketch), was moved and replaced (shown in dark green), one rafter forward. This was to improve ladder access to the mezzanine floor.

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This photograph shows the two collar ties to be replaced and, at the front, the collar tie to be moved.

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Photograph of one end of a replacement Collar Tie (45mm x 95mm). The joists were cut to the correct size and pre-drilled (with one 12mm diameter hole at each end), to take M12 coach bolts. Bolting was the preferred option rather than nailing.

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The new collar tie is temporarily held in place with a clamp. Note that the original collar tie is still in place (nailed to the rafter), and was only removed after the new collar tie had been bolted in place.

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With the new collar tie temporarily clamped in place, a 12mm hole was drilled through the rafter using the 12mm pre-drilled hole in the replacement collar tie as a template.

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Replacement collar tie bolted in place. The old (higher) collar tie, nailed in place, can now be removed.

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Two new collar ties bolted in place and the old ties removed.

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Collar tie moved forward by one pair of rafters and fixed in position by two M12 coach bolts. This gave much improved ladder access to the Mezzanine floor.

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