Is there anything special I should consider when finsihing my attic? I purchased some 5/8″ plywood, and plan on installing it myself…….just wondering if there is anything I should be considering.
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
By considering things like energy-efficient mechanicals, window orientation, and renewable energy sources, homes can be evaluated to meet the energy codes. Here's what the IRC has to say.
Featured Video
SawStop's Portable Tablesaw is Bigger and Better Than BeforeHighlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
1. Check with engineer to make sure your attic space will carry the load you are planning.
2. Get a building permit.
3. Hire a contractor to do it right.
Sam
3. Hire a contractor to do it right
wadda ya think this site is, a hvac-talk.com clone - git off'n your high horse.
No personal offense meant, but you hit my 'hot' button. A lot of competent DIYs frequent this site, which you will likely note after additional visits and posts.
Edited 12/25/2006 9:42 pm ET by junkhound
Get yourself a couple of milkcrates and fill them with bricks. Take them up to the attic storage area (you can fill them there). Go downstairs and drink heavy - real heavy - then drunk dial someone who will rip you up one side and down the other. Now that you are good and beligerant, go back upstairs. Close the attic and maddly push, slide, drop, tip, and drag those "packages" all over your storage area. Note, you could also do the prevous steps in your head - it's just more fun to do it for real.
This should accuratly show what wear and tear you can expect the things in your attic. Not the boxes, but the flooring, lights, wiring, piping, ductwork, and vents. Anything unprotected will get dinged up. After the floor is in, just make sure you protect everything from the drunk with a box of bricks and you should be fine.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
I "finished" an attic for a client last year. First thing we did was install sleepers on top of the ceiling/floor joists. This allowed room for the blown-in insulation (you have enough insulation dont you?). Then we laid the flooring down. The HO wanted something to stop boxes from falling off the deck and into the abyss so, we then ran 2x4's around the edges of the deck where the roof pitch came too close to for flooring.
She was very pleased.
BTW we also put in a Werner pulldown stair and lights for her.
Welcome to Breaktime.
When you say attic, it means different things to different people around here.
Please give a little more detail, and you will get more specific advice.
1, What is the construction, stick frame or trussed roof?
2. How do you access the space, scuttle hole, pull down stairs, stairs built when the house was built?
A lot depends on the answers to those and other questions. A stick framed roof with 2x6 ceiling joist on bearing walls wlli carry a certin load, depending on the span of the joist. A trusses roof may have been designed for small or large loads, and it is important to know that before you load them up.
Post some pictures if you can.
Lots of advice and some smart asss answers will follow. Take heed of the first, and ignore the latter ( or give it back in kind).
Again, welcome to Breaktime.
Dave
5/8 ply is a little thin. 3/4 wpould be better. And on the chance your floor joists are on 24" centers, even 3/4 will be a problem.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
>> And on the chance your floor joists are on 24" centers, even 3/4 will be a problem. <<
As far as I know most 3/4" floor sheathing is rated for 24" OC joists. It says it right on the stamp. Not saying it is optimum - but not necessarily a problem either.
Yes it is rated for that, but it will be bouncy
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
I agree with FastEddie....I built my own home a few years ago using floor trusses all built out of 2 X 4 material and at 24" o.c. We used 3/4 and I cussed myself for doing it for 3 years till we sold the house. Wifes curio cabinet and armois would shake and rattle as you walked from across the room. Next time it will definately be 1 1/8" material.
Sam
It was more likely the design of the floor system rather than the thickness of the sheathing.
Ron:
You are our local floor vibration expert. Do you have any thoughts on the effects of using 3/4" floor sheathing on 24" centered trussed floor systems with respect to floor vibration?
Personally I find that most open webbed truss floor systems are designed and installed at >16" centers and these floor systems more often than not give superior performance (all having 3/4" sheathing). Of course any floor will have bounce and vibration if the joists are overspanned.
Thanks, and Merry Christmas
The 24" O.C. with 3/4" ply doesn't bother me - That's how the "Spec House from Hell" was built. The plywood doesn't contribute to "bounciness" as far as I'm concerned - It's all in the floor members. If the plywood is undersized, I think you'd be more likely to feel some "spongieness" rather than "bounciness". Like when you walked across the floor you could tell where the floor members were. I've never been in a new house with 3/4" ply where that was the case.
Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. [Benjamin Franklin]
Dave R and Boss pretty much have said what info you need to add to get any decent/valid advise.
That said, have converted a couple of attics (really spaces between trusses) to storage. As Dave said, figuring out the loading allowable is the biggie. Not trivial in most cases -- on son's house, the main need was to double the strength of the 6x12 glue lam over the 16 ft garage door opening that suported one end of the trusses - another whole subject on how to do that.
Really, it depends on how much space you have up there, and how often you use it. Me - my attic and garage storage space is sheathed in 7/16 OSB... on 24"! Of course, my roof is 4:12 and I have at most 4' of height anywhere up there. 7/16" Is plenty thick enough to be crawling around on all fours with.
I really have to question using 1 1/8" flooring to hold boxes of books and Christmas ornaments. Are those boxes dancing up there too? Back when we built platforms for theatrical stage work, it was 3/4" plywood on 24" centers... and it was built out of 1x4. Very solid. Not to say we would load it up with 20 or 30 engine blocks mind you!Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Most important first is to be sure the existing cieling joists that will now become floor joists can handle the loads expected without serious deflection - or worse. We would need more detailed information to begin to help in that area.
When you say "finish", do you mean as a living space, or just the floor tostore stuff?
Next on the liost would be wiring and insulation/ventilation package, but again, not possible to comment intelligently without more details of what you have now and what you intend it to become
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
just wondering if there is anything I should be considering
This question comes up so often, someone should write a canned answer to just cut and paste into the response - lol
The single biggest issue with using an attic (house or garage) for storage is knowing what the structure can handle.
Attic floors are the ceilings for the rooms below and they may (or may not) be designed to carry much additional dead load. If you have trusses, there should be a stamp showing the manufacturer and they can tell you what additional load the trusses will handle. You can spot a truss roof right off because there are pieces of lumber going in all directions - lol. Never, never, never start cutting any of them away without talking to the maufacturer - or a structural engineer - first. The consequences can be pretty ugly.
If you have "stick framing" (joists and rafters), it's going to depend on how far the joists are spanning now and what additional load they can carry as-is.
since I had just done the research on this myself I was going to post a nice long reply and help ya out but since you haven't bothered to reply to any of the questions the pros have asked ya well.....
Daniel Neuman
Oakland CA
Crazy Home Owner
Looks like he read the first couple of replys and hasn't been back.
Sometimes we all forget to check to see if a post is from someone new. Maybe he got what he needed in the first couple of replys, maybe he thought we're nuts, maybe he went out of town for the holidays,....
We'll just have to wait and see.
Dave
saw the word engineer and keeled over...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Yea - sometimes I take the time to write a long description, etc for someone who never comes back. Sometimes it POs me, but on the other hand 1/2 the fund is for someone to toss a topic in the ring and let us all "discuss" it :-)
Then you have your other kind of thread where someone has an eccentric idea and they are just looking for someone to agree with them - whatever anyone else says doesn't matter to the OP - it's all part of it :-)