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Beyond the Loft Hatch

97K views 331 replies 75 participants last post by  MrFlippant 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi All,

I thought it was time I posted about my 'lofty' ambitions to upgrade our loft into a space that will have a slot car track along with some storage and a bit of space for other fun stuff, or even a temporary extra bedroom for when friends come to stay.

I'd like it to be clean, bright, warm and a decent space to spend time in, along with being a decent constant temperature so my slot stuff doesn't get ruined by excess heat/cold.

It will be as low cost as possible, so no Velux windows or anything like that, but we will be insulating the space because that should benefit the whole house

So that's the plan.

We moved about 2 years ago and I started the project last year. I'll start by bringing us up to date with photos of progress so far, spanning the last year of hell fixing plasterboard solo at 45degs above my head, (discovered 'Her in Lane 2' is allergic to plaster dust so couldn't help out), rewiring and re positioning a lot of the upstairs lighting while I had access from the loft above before boarding over the loft floor, and generally being frustrated at not being able to have a good old play of slot cars for fear of getting thick plaster & fibreglass dust on my beautiful slot things!

To start with here are some 'before' pix, from when we looked at the house before buying. Obviously a decent sized loft was a buying factor!

Bumper Automotive exterior Gas Automotive tire Motor vehicle


Wood Table Floor Hardwood Flooring


Wood Beam Tints and shades Wood stain Ceiling


Wood Tints and shades Flooring Hardwood Gas


Building Wood Window Brickwork Flooring


Sorry for poor quality, they're vid grabs. More updates to follow.
Richard
 

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#3 · (Edited by Moderator)
Don't forget to insulate the roof panels... keeps heat down in summer and warmer in winter...

If you want to save the need for all that plasterboard cutting to get it in the loft hatch... this product both insulates, stops dust and comes in easy to use panels...

You just push them into the gap between the rafters and they just shrink to fit... Finish "looks ok" and flame retardent... used by a friend and me soon(ish).

Wickes "Concertina" type insulation

Sean
 
#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi, Here's the next few pix...
We got the eves insulated with the foil covered hard foamy stuff, which works brilliantly, but left quite a lot of mess in the loft.
You can see it at the back of some of these pix. It pushes between the rafters, looks similar to what you're talking about there Sean.

It's quite a bit more expensive than lagging the floor with rolls of Glassfibre, but so far seems to be worth the cost as it's keeping a fairly even temperature summer & winter. At the moment I definitely need a jumper up there, but there's no heating other than leaving the loft hatch open, (and warm hand controllers/motors) which I reckon is pretty good.

I then plaster boarded over it, doing a fairly rubbish job with the wrong type of plaster board. One of the most hateful DIY jobs I've ever done... just gritted my teeth & kept my eyes on the prize!

Wood Floor Flooring Composite material Gas


Automotive exterior Gas Tints and shades Composite material Wood


Wood Automotive exterior Hardwood Gas Lumber


Wood Floor Flooring Hardwood Beam


Wood Flooring Floor Gas Hardwood


Floor Wood Flooring Gas Automotive exterior


Flooring Floor Road surface Tool Asphalt


Shipping box Package delivery Audio equipment Wood Carton


Wood Brickwork Brick Flooring Gas


More to follow,
Richard
 

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#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
Yeah, those bl**dy bits of wood in the way! I've whacked my head on them sooo many times trying to duck under them.
AND a cold water tank right in the middle of the loft... whoever designed these houses 60 odd years ago wasn't thinking about the future needs of geeky slotters.
Jimk, they're at waist height, so the boards for the track will lay across them. Works out to be a good height, as the layout is long and thin, so 'reach over' isn't a problem.
Richard
 
#12 · (Edited by Moderator)
At about this point the new loft ladder went in, with a larger loft hatch for ease of access.

Property Fixture Wood Stairs Flooring


Wood Floor Flooring Gas Electrical wiring


Electricity Wood Electrical wiring Gas Electrical supply


And while it was still a mess up in the loft, I alleviated my frustration with a bit of rug racing in the spare room.

Electrical wiring Cable Wood Gas Auto part


Wood Motor vehicle Art Automotive design Flooring


Electrical wiring Motor vehicle Gas Automotive tire Cable


Bumper Electrical wiring Gas Cable Auto part


Aaah, thats better - putting some laps in...
It was at about this point that I realised my knees might not approve of having a track on the floor of the loft...

Richard
 

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#13 ·
yihaa rug racing rocks \m/ (Except for the knees issue)
Looking forward to see what you'll come up with for the loft.
 
#15 ·
Oh my God! Abbo THAT is a loft track! Nice pic.

QUOTE yihaa rug racing rocks \m/ (Except for the knees issue)

PSRRFH- would that... \m/ ...be horns or is it me on my knees trying to get up?

I believe 'The Horns' were invented by the Dark One to measure the distance between slots using index and little finger.
It was only much later that it got taken over by Metalists.

Low voltage rock n roll!!!
 
#16 ·
Ya I understand about problems with knees. my loft is too low for anything much, I suppose you could always stand on the ladder and race from there, of course that would only work if your a lone racer.

Anyway great job so far, cant wait to see the end product.

Athrlyth
 
#18 · (Edited by Moderator)
Er... no. To be honest, there's a chance we'll do a proper loft conversion in a few years, so it's not quite as 'permanent' as the title suggests. The investment in insulating the eves was on the basis that it will stay if we do convert, but the plasterboard is just screwed to the eves, and will be left bare. I don't plan to cover joints, paint, etc, so it should be fairly easy to remove when (if) necessary.
This project is more about making the loft a useable/warm space for storage and fun and games over the next few years.

Thanks for the tip though, and thanks to you all so far for your nice comments. Seeing what others have done to their lofts on the forum has been inspiring to me, so I hope that documenting what I'm doing might be useful to others too.

Richard
 
#19 ·
Keep looking at your loft pics and thinking you must have the same design house as me!

Here's what I've got up there now - sorry about the rubbish photo montage, I'm waiting for someone to buy me a new camera




There's room for four drivers and three marshals... just wish those damn beams and the chimney weren't there. Still it's surprising how well you can make yourself drive so that you don't have duck about to get to the far end.

Still got a lot to do (especially changing to some decent controllers), but it's generally there. Perhaps I should ask the Mrs if we could move to someplace larger - I've got about the same amount of track to use again


Lap times are around 4.75 secs (non magnet) with a slot-It or Ninco.

Just been up there for a few laps... brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr freezing


ABBO
 
#20 ·
QUOTE Keep looking at your loft pics and thinking you must have the same design house as me!

Hi Abbo, ours is a post war 3 bed Semi, so I guess it will look similar to most people's loft!
I don't think I'll be spreading the track out like yours, as I've go to pretend that the loft is for more than just slots.
At least for the time being.
Richard
 
#23 ·
Have started on my loft now Richard so will be getting a thread up soon. After speaking to a builder I am removing the large wooden beams through the middle and adding loads of smaller ones above head height. Just taken delivery of all the insulatiion and plasterboard.

Pics up soon!
 
#24 · (Edited by Moderator)
A bit more rug racing...

Bag Bumper Wood Luggage and bags Table


Textile Wood Font Rectangle Metal


Rectangle Wood Cable Jewellery Wire


This started me thinking about including a high speed oval type track, with the main track cutting through it using cross roads. Two tracks on one board with separate power & control, but intertwined. Maybe a pacer on the oval, to get hours of endless drifting.
Just a thought at this stage. Might give it a try though for fun.
Richard
 

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#25 · (Edited by Moderator)
Rug racing fun over, too much of a distraction and too much still to do in the loft!

Here's some more pix showing the plasterboard detail at the very top.

Wood Floor Flooring Brick Brickwork


Wood Material property Gas Tints and shades Space


Amber Wood Electricity Shade Tints and shades


Stairs Wood Tints and shades Gas Space


Wood Wall Floor Building Ceiling


The rather fetching lights were in the lounge when we moved in, but 'we' didn't like them.
I think they look lovely in the loft, which at this point is starting to look a bit like a useful room. How exciting!

Richard
 

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