Best Material For Attic Flooring

Joist lumber to match existing joists blocking lumber 10d common nails instructions.

Best material for attic flooring.

The most common attic flooring option is to use plywood. The thickness that builders use most often for subfloors is 3 4 inch and when they need extra reinforcement they use 1 inch material. Flooring your attic is the best way to add space to your home at a low cost. Standard joist spacing for the installation of attic flooring materials is 16 inches on center oc meaning the distance from the center of one joist to the center of the next joist is 16 inches.

Thick plywood sheets are durable but they re also heavy and. Plywood is less expensive than attic dek and is eco friendly. Attic space offers many options for building storage or living space especially if you already have a well built basic flooring in place. If you don t need additional storage think of flooring an area less than the entire attic such as a small section around the attic door opening.

Since the boards are sold in 4 foot by 8 foot sheets you may need to cut them into 2 foot wide strips to get them into the attic space. The wood should be at least 5 8 inch thick to handle a heavy load. Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new insulation on top of the old. Purchase half inch 1 27 cm thick plywood to act as your flooring.

It s possible to create a solid floor without investing a lot of money. You ll need to make sure that the plywood can fit through your attic door. 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. Learn how to build attic flooring on top of existing joists.

Take the measurements for your subfloor and measure enough plywood so that you can cover the entire frame. You can for instance use recycled materials. 1 x 6 3 spruce is a step up from pallet quality wood but makes a fine usable floor in an unfinished attic space. Carpeting with a good underlayment pad or laminate flooring with a dense foam or cork underlayment are good choices.

It may not provide enough support for some of the heavier items you wish to store in your attic though. Plywood or chipboard is the least expensive option for storage flooring. If more insulation is wanted it is also possible raise up the attic subfloor by laying sleeper strips across the floor joists before installing a subfloor thereby increasing the vertical space that can be filled with insulation. Flooring your attic is the best way to add space to your home at a low cost.