Piggyback Joists to Extend Width of Loft Hatch

[guitarwizard93]

Hi all,

I do apologise if this has been covered elsewhere, I did look but couldn't find my answer!

I need to extend my loft hatch ever so slightly to be able to accommodate a new ladder (and my shoudlers..). At the moment the hatch is just an opening cut between the joists, so is about 420mm wide. I only need an extra few inches width to fit the ladder, and that will also be sufficient to gain comfortable access.

A friend suggested that I secure a piece of timber to the outside of each joist on either side of the current loft hatch, and then cut out a length of each joist to give me the extra width of the now cut out joists. Does that make sense?

Is this a good idea? Will it be structurally sound if I use a a like-for-like size of timber and overlap sufficiently with what joist will remain? Is there a better/more efficient way to do this? If this is a good idea, are there any tips/tricks that I should note to make sure it's done well?

Thanks in advance for any input!
Liam

[Raymondc]

Tricks of the trade help as im ten years in the loft ladder installation biz. First cut 2 timbers long enough to support your existing joists the ones you want to cut and extend. This will support your ceiling while you reframe your opening.regards