Loft Conversion Beams

Many newer homes don’t have internal load bearing walls and sometimes those older properties that were built with strong internal walls still don’t have sufficient strength to support the extra structural stress created by a loft conversion.

In most loft conversions steel beams are used to take the extra load and they are typically installed running from side to side of a property, i.e., from one party wall to another.

The positioning of the beams is of course vital and this is where an architect or structural engineer really earns their fees by making sure they draw plans that provide maximum load bearing support from the new beams.

The architect will most likely decide to site any new loft conversion beams as close to the edge of the rooms as possible.

They will be placed above the old ceiling joists with a gap of around a centimetre between the tops of the old joists and the new beams.

The most common type of steel beam is an RSJ or Rolled Steel Joist.

The thing that distinguishes RSJs is that they are always taller than they are wide with tapered flanges.

It is those tapered flanges that differentiate an RSJ from the similar universal beam (UB).

Rolled Steel Joists and Universal Beams are most commonly used when converting the loft though a universal column, which has a shorter depth than a UB, is generally used in shorter lengths when space is tight.

The final steel beam that is sometimes used in loft projects is the PFC or Parallel Flange Channel but these are usually used as replacements for roof purlins.

Steel doesn’t have to be used and more and more builders and architects are looking to use beams made from timber.

There are some advantages in using timber, not lease the fact that they can span longer lengths whilst unsupported and they are light, but steel is relatively cheap and is still used extensively.

Loft Conversion Ideas

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Skylight Windows

Loft Conversion