Adding Plywood To Attic

Maneuvering heavy 4 x 8 sheets of plywood or osb oriented strand board up to an unfinished attic is sometimes like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Adding plywood to attic.

Attic flooring consists of materials as basic as sheets of plywood as well as more elaborate interlocking floor systems. Adding shelves around the perimeter of the room is a lot of work but can make it much easier to organize your things in the attic. Two shelves made of 1 x 4 lumber with plywood decking and leaving some open space below work out to be just about ideal for storing most household goods. Then you ll need to build a grid like structure that can hold up the plywood flooring.

But if the floor is covered in plywood you can t stuff enough insulation beneath it to do the job sufficiently not even in warm climates. To properly add an attic storage deck start by measuring the largest area available that is not hindered by any ductwork. Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new insulation on top of the old. Cut the plywood into manageable strips about 10 inches wide to make the job easier.

To make the job easier use a circular saw to cut the plywood sheet first into 2 2 8 strips which will be much easier to handle. Adding a floor to an attic can increase storage space or create a new room. And preferably can avoid any existing roof support. It might seem impossible to haul it up to the attic.

Install two by four blocking between joists or wherever needed to support edges of the plywood that do not have support from the bottom. Before you start creating a floor for your attic you must make sure that it can handle the additional load. Stop using your attic for storage. To eliminate any potential problems with wiring or insulation use two by four or two by six lengths to create a subfloor system for the new decking.

Flooring your attic is the best way to add space to your home at a low cost. 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. Plywood comes in large sheets. Because the simplest and cheapest way to insulate an attic is to add material to the floor.

The solid base allows you to store items in the attic as well as to walk.