Attic Floor DIY Install for Storage Build - Heavy Duty!
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- Опубликовано: 1 авг 2024
- If you need to store stuff in your attic, here is one way you can build up the floor and install OSB or plywood. If you have insulation, typically it should be around 12" tall and insulated. It's important to not compress your insulation.
Steps
1. Install Floor Joists and Blocking
2. Install Plywood Floor
Attic Ladder DIY Solo Install Video
• Attic Ladder DIY Solo ... 
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You did a great job with the measurements. Minimal waste.
Awesome thank you Antoine! I did lots of planning to help there.
The young man was real good about staying off the ceiling. Hard to find good help. Nice job guys!
He was trying hard to help out and be safe indeed :) thank you!
Your Son straight for Life when he grows up!!!
Haha thanks. He does love working on projects as much as I do.
Brandon you are amazing at what you have taught yourself to do. You have been as long as I have known you a person who is self taught. You also are teaching your son to problem solve and learn how to do things. I love this video and the lessons you’ve learned.
Thanks Mom, I keep working at it. I have my limits, but this one was within those limits :)
I already fell through the roof running cables for our home surveillance system now my wife won't allow me in the attic 🤣 when I say I'll help her in the attic all I get is 👁👁
lol whoops. 1. I hope you are alright. 2. Yeah it’s very risky to get up there. Flawless stepping is required :)
@BrandonTran Thanks yes I'm ok but my shoulder haven't been the same since the fall, an yes flawless stepping is definitely required 😎
It’s ok bud, worked for a moving company and we had a no attic entry policy cause a mover fell through, in the new house, he was also a firefighter… goes to show it can happen to anyone.
My attic at home already has everything done except for the plywood floor itself. I have the joists and everything though. Planning on finishing it up sometime. Thanks for the video
Nice that’s a lucky situation! You should be able to setup
The plywood easily!
Awesome work
Thank you!
I really enjoy your videos, you are awesome!!!
Awesome thank you!
After all that work I would have used plywood not OSB. Nice job guys!
Good call! I wish I used a thicker wood as well.
As soon as the music started playing I knew I knew it as soon as I hear the drop… it’s dancing fruit
I do my best with choosing music. but this time, what was I thinking? Fruit!
Thanks for the great presentation. You made it look very easy--tells me you have a lot of experience with woodworking! I was wondering if using multiple nails with a pneumatic nailer would be good enough although I realize screws (self-drilling) are the best. I just use the attic for storage anyway.
Hi there! I’ve been a handy man for a while but certainly not a master :). Absolutely your nail gun will do a great job and faster. Also nails have better shear strength than screws. I just don’t have a nail gun :)
Great work and it looked like alot of work. I watched some other videos and an easier way I saw was just to lay down some furring strips or even some 2x4 laid flat on the joists with cut outs for the electrical that is laid long the joists so you don't squish them. But maybe the codes in your area required you to build a higher platform. I'm in California and I don't believe the codes require that.
Yes your plan is a great one. I would have done that however I needed to insulate which requires 12 inches of insulation. Is your attic over the garage? If it’s over heated space you are going against insulation code. Now days insulation code wants higher energy efficiency. So easy wasn’t my goal.
i hear you should use your attic for insulation. i’m here for my double storied shed lol
Dude that’s awesome! That shed is going to be epic! Update: My porch is now enclosed as a sun room and I’ve insulated the attic. I also built more shelves in the attic. Busy over here :)
Sun room is hot now, I need to come up with an AC plan. I need it to be cheap though. No more budget hah :)
Can yall come do this in our attic, whoever lived here first absolutely destroyed the attic, likes its horrible and I have no idea where to start. Not enough beams. HVAC is thrown everywhere, such a mess its just so overwhelming.
Hi Matthew, I’m sorry to hear about the rough shape your attic is in. Attics tend to be messy bc most don’t inspect. Matt Risenger is one of the best. He builds top notch only. He’s an active contractor and maybe can suggest someone.
What would you recommend?
Very good video. I am curious about your terminology. My understanding is that OSB is not plywood due to differences in shear strength. I'm considering doing the same conversion with my attic but with 7/8" thickness on OSB.
That’s a great call out. I did say the OSB is very weak in this application. If you have bigger plans and a bigger budget I recommend upgrading to a plywood. I did this on the cheap. I blocked the subfloor to counterbalance the cheap OSB. 2x4s are cheap
I watched this video hoping to figure out how to get the plywood sheets into the attic. Unfortunately that part was skipped. How did you get those massive sheets into the attic? I have just the small hole for the fold down stairs like you did in this video and I'm stumped. Your flooring looks great though.
Oh no, I’m sorry about that. I cut the hole. I then lifted the plywood sheets through the large rough opening. I then installed the attic ladder. You may need to cut the plywood in half now. 2’ x 8’
@@BrandonTran thank you! :)
Hey Brandon! I want to do this to my attic as well. Our home has a ladder installed and all the joists as well. How did you measure all the plywood for step 2? I’m new to all of this 😅
Awesome! You just need to make sure the plywood lays on top of the joists. If you have 24” spacing of the joists that should be your smallest cuts. You may be asking about Notching to get around obstacles. You just have to transcribe for that. Hope this helps!
For storage of light boxes could you put the boards directly over the original smaller floor joists?
Great question! Some do that, and yes you could get away with it. If the ceiling is Sheetrock then it may move a little and crack which will cause more work. I like to build a little more rigid. Another idea is to lay 2x4s on top of the joists. It will be a middle approach! Best of luck in your project!
First of all great job on responding to all the messages. I noticed you said you are using 2x6 as your floor joist that go on top of the ceiling joist & load bearing walls. Are the ceiling joist 2x4? If so wouldn’t that be 10 inches plus the osb ? Were are you getting the extra 2 inches you mentioned? And last question are you screwing nails at an angle to attach the floor joist to ceiling joist?
Hi Christopher, the 2x6 are on top of load bearing walls and I used scrap blocks to raise it to 12”. I did not rest the joists on the 2x4 ceiling joists. Yes sometimes the screws are at an angle. Toenail angle. Thank you!
Ahh I had to rewatch the video now I see what you are talking about. Thank you 👍🏼
Awesome! Good luck in your project! You got this!
If I’m just using my attic for storage so I even need to do all this or could I lay it across the joists already there ?
If the joists are decent in size then that is possible. I’d have to see it
I’m thinking about doing this. I have one question though. I’m curious why you didn’t put insulation down, before you put the plywood down?
Ah great question this is above an open porch. Also if I do enclose the porch the inspector wants to see it before insulation so I would have to remove it :) . Lifting the plywood is easy
@@BrandonTran oh okay, got ya. That makes sense.
Any issue with heat? You might need vent fan.
Sure in the summer. But here in Asheville mountains it’s fairly cool.
Can you please post the link for the plywood that you used please?
It was 7/16” OSB
If you attic have insulation do you have to let air circulate with the insulation?
Air circulation is important for the soffit vents to the ridge vents. So definitely don’t cover the edges of the attic. There are better videos for this info in detail.
How did you get the sheets of ply into the attic?
Great question! It was not easy. I set them tall on top of a table. Then climbed ladder into attic. Then pulled them up 1by1. My 10 year old pushed a little. 2 adults would make it much easier.
Is it ok to put insulation underneath the plywood?
Yes you can put insulation there. I did not because this is exterior similar to a garage.
How in the world you get those plywood sheets on the attic??????
Great question! I guess I didn’t get video of that. First I set them so they were tall. 8ft. Then I climbed into the attic via a 6ft ladder. Next I grabbed one at a time. And I remember my little helper helped lift 5-10 lbs of each board to make it easier.
I am planning to do the same, a lot of work I guess? You have a little helper :-) My two boys never join me, unfortunately
Hi NIKO, it was a lot of work to install floor joists but once you are done with that, the plywood is easy. Hah yeah little Jett loves to get involved with most projects.
Best of luck for your project! You got this!
@@BrandonTran thanks
My attic is so dusty and dark. I want to start similar project but i think theres an oppossum up there and im scared shitless to go back up
That opossum will be so scared from the saw and all the noise. You could set a trap? They are medium sized so I’m not sure how they get up there without a large hole. Good luck!
I thought with framing, you’re supposed to use nails over screws because of their flexibility?
Yes that is accurate. Nails have better shear strength. My issue is I didn’t want to crack my Sheetrock over the bedroom. So if the inspector requires nails I’ll add those in.
It isn't structural so no nails needed
you used 7/16 osb but how big where the total sheets you got before you cut them down to size
Traditional 4’ x 8’ sheets.
@@BrandonTran and did you use a specific wood screw size
Ah yes, those are cabinet screws. #10 x 2-1/2 in. Star Low Profile Washer Head Cabinet Screw (50 Per Pack)
Rather than the music, I could do with some explanation! I came here to learn, not to jam!
Thank you I appreciate the feedback. I will try that in the next videos.
Please play George Jones..."The Grand Tour" !!
One question, how did you get full sheets of plywood up there? I only have the opening where I installed the ladder and I have been cutting the plywood up into 4 2’x4’ pieces and carrying them up. Do you have another larger opening?
whoops, well, I carried the plywood up before installing the ladder. It may fit if you have the wider ladder but not the 24” wide laser.
Do you add any type of vinyl floor on that too?
Maybe I haven’t hit the right level in life but every attic I’ve been in has plywood floors :) have you seen that kind of upgrade before? I think that if you start to add flooring in an attic, you might be converting to actual living space. I could be wrong though.
Thank you. I am new to the whole DIY process and was thinking that I might want to add an actual peel and stick 🤡 or vinyl floor just in case I want to make it to be my own office (I’m small so even though my attic is small, it’s still doable 😂😂). Thank you so much for your video- it’s super helpful for me
Hey that will be awesome! When you get ready to share, let us know! I'd love to check out the before and after.
So with a truss system like that you can’t just lay the plywood on the truss? You had to build floor joists to transfer the weight to the wall studs? Interesting.
No, the trusses are not rated for any load other than supporting the roof. Could you get away with it? Maybe. I did climb up there put lots of wood on it and walked around. It's highly not recommended for any significant load.
So I just moved into a house that has an attic like this. It appears the OSB up there is just laid on the floor 2x4s. So is that not good enough? I know absolutely nothing about this sort of thing.
If it’s in the garage that’s totally ok. But there is code that says you need 12” of insulation. So if it’s your main attic over a hallway you would have little insulation. Not to code but also less insulation = more energy loss :)
The reason for the code is to build efficient, safe, and quality houses
@@BrandonTran Ok thanks for the replay. Yeah it is a pull down ladder leading to the attic over the garage. Makes sense after your explanation. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't for additional support or something ha.
Right on! Best of luck on your project!
wheres the build up of insulation before putting the floor down?
Insulation needed to be inspected. I needed storage before the sun room project. :) I’ll put it down soon
Why didn’t you put down insulation ??
That is a great question! Because it requires an inspector to be legit. I want to get a permit and enclose our back porch. This attic space will need to be seen by the inspector before and after insulation. I will get to it :)
Why not just add the osb directly to the existing joists instead of add the additional raised joists. Wouldn’t installing thicker osb or plywood be easier than all the additional framing.
Great question! This is to meet code as I’m going to install 12” of insulation. That’s another project to enclose our back porch to a sun room.
The framing applies the load to the outer walls. The raised joists stops any bend movement from the floor from flexing and cracking the plastered ceiling underneath
What are you doing, and why are you doing it? I’m here to sort out how to strengthen the attic floor for storage.
You never explained what or why….
Agreed my video is lacking extra detail. Basically I installed 2x6 lumber as floor joists. Those joists should sit on load bearing walls. Every attic will be different. If your span is more than 8ft, you will want to use larger lumber. 2x8 or more if it’s a longer span. Before these trust systems were designed, carpenters would use 2x8 joists to go from wall to wall. That was my goal. Best of luck on your project!
shldve used 3/4 plywood
Agreed! I went by price to keep this as economical as possible. It works, however I agree and recommend thicker plywood to handle more weight.
Music is way too loud.
Thanks for that feedback. I’ll make sure I adjust music for new videos. Thank you.