Hayloft flooring?

USAFpj · May 28, 2015

Our 75 year old barn is in need of some new flooring for storage of household items up in the hayloft. The space I would like to cover is 16ft long, and 8ft in width. The true 2x8 joists are not perfectly spaced, but average between 26in and 29in in between them. I'd like to run 2x6 boards for ventilation, looks, and spacing, but the 3/4in plywood option would be much cheaper as I could get her done with 4 sheets. Would I be facing any regret with the plywood option?

zzvyb6 · May 28, 2015

In my experience (my barn hayloft is plywood), if hay ever gets put up there or its open to dusty air, the plywood can get VERY slippery. That's good for workers wanting to slide bales along the floor, but bad for people who may slip and fall while carrying Gramma's hand painted glass slippers.

Slippery plywood makes a great dance floor, too. (in my case).

IMHO that span is kinda wide for any material.

USAFpj · May 28, 2015

Does the slipperiness not occur with pine boards as well? That's not something I had even considered:scratchchin:

RedNeckRacin · May 29, 2015

I'd replace it with rough cut lumber in case you ever wanted to store hay up there in the future. It will also cut down on the dust and may possibly make it less inviting to critters?? Does that area get humid or have a potential for moisture? If so I would stay away from anything manufactured. Are you going to be storing anything heavy up there like furniture or something with higher concentrated loads?

USAFpj · May 29, 2015

RNR- Our area does get humid, but there's a lot of airflow through the barn. I don't 'plan' to store anything heavy, but you know how that goes. No one 'plans' to need a larger size shop, either:laughing:. Why, you concerned about the joist span??

RedNeckRacin · May 29, 2015

Yes with the ply wood and moisture, i would think it would deteriorate rapidly vs a solid piece of wood. I'm not an expert, just thinking outloud a little bit! I would say that the original boards lasting 75 years should speak pretty well to their durability.

Creamer · May 29, 2015

If you can get slab lumber from a local sawmill it will give you the a lot of advantages. 1) it is thicker so it will withstand the weight even on that spacing, 2) it is rough so it is much better from a slip perspective. 3) there will be gaps as the edges are rough which allows better airflow, 40 It will last virtually forever, and 5) it should be cheaper than plywood.

This is not what you would want to use if you wanted an enclosed finished dustfree area but it is great for support and allowing airflow. If you ever sell it would be a selling point for the barn. I had a friend that put in slab hardwood from a local mill 20+ years ago in an old bank barn that was structurally sound except for the hay mow floor and has used it for hay storage ever since. It looks almost like when he put it in.

USAFpj · May 29, 2015

Thanks, guys! Plenty of saw mills around here, and one of the owners is a relative. I'll take pics once I'm finished.

EddieWalker · May 30, 2015

I would go with plywood or even better, upgrade to tongue and groove. I think Advantech has it over an inch thick, which would be even better for your spacing. Since you are not putting hay up there and it's just storage, I wouldn't worry about it being slippery, seems to me that it would be easier to keep clean and you would have fewer bugs up there if they can't get through the gaps in a floor made of boards.

Eddie

EddieWalker · May 30, 2015

I would go with plywood or even better, upgrade to tongue and groove. I think Advantech has it over an inch thick, which would be even better for your spacing. Since you are not putting hay up there and it's just storage, I wouldn't worry about it being slippery, seems to me that it would be easier to keep clean and you would have fewer bugs up there if they can't get through the gaps in a floor made of boards.

Eddie

PRF · May 30, 2015

I've been tinkering with our old barn for a few years now.. We had a local saw mill cut the same sized 3"x5" floor joists that were in there (2' on center) and we're using 3/4" T&G AdvanTech plywood..One side is done now and it feels very strong..

USAFpj · May 31, 2015

PRF- may I ask how you hung your joists? Our joists are still solid (unless post beetles know better), and they were nailed to the 4in portion of the true 2x4 studs. The (2) nails are immense, and more of a spike than a nail:laughing:. I need to research if this is proper for load bearing, or if hangers should be installed.

jim_wilson · May 31, 2015

EddieWalker said:
I would go with plywood or even better, upgrade to tongue and groove. I think Advantech has it over an inch thick, which would be even better for your spacing. Since you are not putting hay up there and it's just storage, I wouldn't worry about it being slippery, seems to me that it would be easier to keep clean and you would have fewer bugs up there if they can't get through the gaps in a floor made of boards.

Eddie

Advantech is great stuff - and might be a good choice for a hayloft. I've used it on the floor of the addition I put on my house - and for the floor of the 2nd floor of my barn. In both cases - it was exposed to water for extended periods of time and the worst thing that happened was that it turned grey a little. Because it's a "chipboard" type construction - it does have a semi-rough finish - especially if you expose it to the elements for a while. I even used 3/4" Advantech for what was supposed to be a "temporary" deck off the side of my house. Put the stuff down and painted it with grey deck paint. After what has turned out to be 13 years - there is one place where the paint wore away that I didn't get after quick enough - and it's started to wear/rot thru - but that place is the highest wear point of the entire deck - right at the top of the stairs where everybody puts their foot when they step up. The rest of it is solid.

I believe you can get Advantech in 1.25" thickness - which might cover your span. Around here that thickness is special order. If I remember correctly - HD or Lowes was carrying Advantech at one point.

jim_wilson · May 31, 2015

USAFpj said:
PRF- may I ask how you hung your joists? Our joists are still solid (unless post beetles know better), and they were nailed to the 4in portion of the true 2x4 studs. The (2) nails are immense, and more of a spike than a nail:laughing:. I need to research if this is proper for load bearing, or if hangers should be installed.

Hangars are probably the better bet - most of the newer building codes specify the use of hangars for structural strength. The stuff that typically gets carried at HD or Lowes is but a small subset of what is available. If you can't find exactly what you need there - or at your local lumberyard - find the Simpson catalog online and go thru it - they make a huge assortment of stuff.

The other option is to get custom stuff made - there's lots of guys out there now who have CNC plasma tables available and can custom cut steel braces and so forth.

bigtiller · May 31, 2015

I would go with 2x8 tongue & grove form Menards. Is 1 layer of plywood enough? The floor of my house has a layer 3/4 OSB and a layer of 3/4 T&G plywood over it.

PRF · May 31, 2015

USAFpj said:
PRF- may I ask how you hung your joists? Our joists are still solid (unless post beetles know better), and they were nailed to the 4in portion of the true 2x4 studs. The (2) nails are immense, and more of a spike than a nail:laughing:. I need to research if this is proper for load bearing, or if hangers should be installed.

We just butt joined them on the 6" wide beam below and used a framing nailer to toenail them in.. It's not going anywhere anytime soon.. At the ends we used joist hangers to tie into the sill.