Flooring Your Attic For Storage

Design live loads will vary based on a number of factors but at a minimum 10 psf live load for attics without storage 20 psf live load with limited storage and 30 psf for habitable attics served with fixed stairs international residential code 2009 older or local codes may be different.

Flooring your attic for storage.

Flooring in the loft or attic how to lay tongue and groove board panel loft flooring. Alternatively your attic may already have some sort of floor but this doesn t necessarily mean you can build rooms. Before you start creating a floor for your attic you must make sure that it can handle the additional load. Doing so the wrong way means that you could weaken your structure squash your insulation or find yourself with one foot planted firmly through the sheetrock ceiling below.

If the attic has the potential to become a regular living space talk with a contractor about adding a fixed stairway. The previous homeowner may have simply covered the joists with plywood to use the space for storage. Attic dek flooring provides additional storage space that supports up to 250 pounds making it easier than ever to get those cluttered spaces organized. Adding a floor to an attic can increase storage space or create a new room.

Then you ll need to build a grid like structure that. We show you how to lay out tongue and groove loft boards in your loft supporting them on joists for a secure storage floor. If your attic joists won t bear the weight necessary to finish out a living space but the engineer cleared them to support floor decking for light storage you can install inch plywood or. If you want to use your attic on a regular basis or to store large items you may need to enlarge the access opening and install an access ladder or drop down stairs.

The attic in my house just has some plywood on the truss floor which serves as a great storage floor. Fortunately there are attic flooring solutions that work well in the often harsh and unheated. Just have to be sure not to block the air flow in the attic and realize that it may get very hot in the summer and cold in the winter. The best way to lay a floor in your loft for storage is to lay floor board panels.

Easy to install the only storage system designed specifically for the unfinished areas over a garage or under a roof.