Stop using your attic for storage.
Using plywood for attic 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.
It might seem impossible to haul it up to the attic.
Heat rises so the insulation in your attic is the most important part of your home s insulation.
1 x 6 3 spruce is a step up from pallet quality wood but makes a fine usable floor in an unfinished attic space.
These lightweight easy to manage panels can be installed by even the most inexperienced homeowner in about 15 minutes.
Another option is to skip the plywood flooring altogether and use dimensional lumber.
Here are the steps to consider when flooring an attic.
Installing plywood for example will create a smooth floor to lay carpet in the future.
Cut the plywood into manageable strips about 10 inches wide to make the job easier.
Attic flooring panels are easy to install with their interlocking edges.
But there s no real reason to use plywood thinner than 3 4 inch.
Before putting the flooring in take a look at your insulation.
Find or buy 1 2 inch plywood or particleboard sections.
The cost savings is insignificant compared to the extra support offered by the thicker material.
According to the us department of energy your home s attic should have an r 38 insulation valued for homes in the southern part of the.
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.
But you know i would rather see you just sort of map out the area in the center of the attic that you re going to use for storage and fill up the rest with insulation because that.
The decision regarding the thickness of plywood to use for the subfloor in the attic has a lot to do with how you intend to use the attic and it also depends on the spacing of the ceiling joists.
It s possible to use other materials but plywood or particleboard on sale is likely to be less expensive than other wood materials or products.
What you could do is you could put insulation down in the floor joist first then plywood over it and then you could add another layer of unfaced on top of that.
Plywood comes in large sheets.
Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new insulation on top of the old.
Even before you start working on your attic flooring ideas check to see whether the ceiling will be able to handle the weight of the new floor along with storage and people walking around.
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.
Because the simplest and cheapest way to insulate an attic is to add material to the floor.
Determine limitations of what finish materials you can use for plywood subfloors.
