Create Extra Home Storage Space with a Garage Attic
No matter how much storage space you have in your home, sometimes it still never feels like enough. The longer you live somewhere, the more items you tend to accumulate as the years go by, and the last thing anyone wants is a house full of clutter.
If you find yourself in need of additional home storage space, you may be overlooking the perfect spot to create it: above the garage. With some DIY care and attention, that unused space can become a perfectly workable garage attic for year-round storage. Here are some helpful tips for creating an overhead garage storage space.
Determine the weight capacity of your garage roof
Before you even get started on your garage attic, the first and most important step is to determine the weight capacity of the roof by evaluating the trusses. The easiest way to do this is by examining the original blueprints for your home, which will show the number of trusses the garage roof has and where they are located. If you find that the roof is unable to support any additional weight, you may be able to add extra trusses to create the proper support.
Since this is such an essential step, we recommend consulting a professional if you aren’t completely certain that the weight capacity is high enough for a garage attic.
Create your garage attic
Once you’re confident that your garage roof can handle the weight of garage attic storage, you’re ready to start creating your garage attic. Here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Create an access point. Cut a square out of your garage ceiling to serve as your garage attic access point. Purchase an attic ladder to attach to this access point, following the instructions for installation.
- Install floorboards. To ensure that your garage attic is safe enough for storing items and walking around, you’ll need to install floorboards. You can do this by nailing pieces of plywood side-by-side over the floor joists.
- Ventilate. If your garage attic isn’t properly ventilated, you risk your items becoming damaged by mold. Ventilating your space could consist of anything from installing vents to placing attic fans in problem areas.
Plan your garage attic storage solution
Once your garage attic is accessible, safe and ventilated, you’ll be ready to start planning out how to best utilize all that extra space. Just like in other storage areas, you can maximize the space by storing items on the walls, ceiling and floor, using a combination of hooks, shelves, racks and other common storage solutions.
Since it will take a bit more effort to get into your garage attic than simply walking down the stairs into your basement or opening up a storage closet, we recommend using it for items that you don’t need to access regularly, such as holiday decorations, beach chairs or other seasonal belongings.
A garage attic is just one of the many garage projects you can take on as the weather gets nicer. There are so many different ways to use such a versatile space. For other ideas, be sure to like Champion Overhead Door on Facebook.