Things You Can Do With Your Unused Attic Space
You woke up one day with the desire to do something different with your attic. Your stuff up there has been collecting dust for years. Not to mention that every year more garbage is introduced to a room that, come to think of it, can be used more effectively.
Your mind is beginning to wander. There are a variety of ideas that you’ve been dreaming about and all of which you want to pursue. It’s always possible to add a new bedroom to your home, and the attic is the most likely candidate for that. This could be helpful if you’re looking to sell the house in the future. Converting the attic into a bedroom is a smart investment and can also help improve the resale value of your home.
Or, you might devote your attic to a storage room. You’re not going to have to think about the additional cost of making it into a living space. You’re only keeping the status quo. But you’re going to have to clean the area once in a while to check if rodents or bugs have begun to make themselves comfortable up there.
And you’ve got a bedroom and a storage room. Another proposal would be a children’s playroom. Everything you need to do is clear the current attic of the clutter, clean the floor and the walls, and put down a carpet so that the kids don’t get hurt as they fall down the stairs.
Also, if you plan to make the attic a living room, you’ll need to change the insulation system if it’s built on the attic floor. This is not going to do. You’ve got to redo the insulation and get it mounted on the attic roof instead. If you’re worried about the cost, there are ways to keep it to a minimum.
When you redo the insulation, don’t forget to give way to the vents and the “breathing” ducts of the home. You will save money this way, too. You will see that, by properly insulating your attic and allowing natural air to circulate, it would no longer be required to provide a heater during the colder months. The hot air from the ground floor is going to be enough to heat a small room like an attic.
You can also turn the attic into a study if your house doesn’t already have one. You may put a bookshelf and a study table where you can write your papers, novels, or memoirs. This could be cheaper than converting the area to a bedroom. All you need are simple things, and you can set up an office there.
However, you need to look up a few items before you launch your little project. There are some construction standard protocols that you would need to obey if you want to renovate your attic. Some of these regulations include following the standard 50 pounds per square foot combined live and dead load for the attic floor.
Aside from lights and ventilation, the construction guidelines also require that an attic that has been converted into a livable space meets a certain measurement for the ceiling height. Smoke detectors are also required to be installed as well as fire exits. Even bedroom designs need to follow certain specifications.
How to turn your attic into a playroom for kids
The kids love to play outside. But when it’s raining or it’s snowing, they need another spot to play in, so why don’t you turn your attic into a playroom?
Will you turn the attic into a playroom? The response depends on whether the room is worth it. You can quickly find out by taking a tape measure to see how anything can be done. If you can walk in here without any squeaks or sounds, the chances are in your favor, since they can carry the weight of your children and their mates.
Before you hammer away, make sure you have all the permits you need from the mayor’s office. You’re going to have to get this yourself if you’re going to do it. But if you hired a contractor, they would take care of your leg work, then you don’t have to think about it.
One of the things you need to do in your revamped attic is proper lighting. Your children can not rely on the light that is already there during the day. What you can do is add a skylight to allow natural light to reach the room.
The proper design of the skylight depends on the sun’s direction during the day. You can also add a couple of them and make sure there are curtains so that space is not too hot to be in during the summer months.
If there is a backdoor, natural light may also reach the playroom. If there’s one, so that’s one thing you don’t have to think about. But if there is none, talk to the carpenter. It’s not meant to look like a traditional window. You can even use an oddly shaped or off the sized design.
The next two things to work on are the walls and the floors. You should make sure there is sufficient insulation on the walls so again it is not too hot during the summer. They should also be painted using light colors to add to the lighting already provided by the windows and skylight.
If the kids will be coloring in this room, make sure that you are using materials that are durable and easy to clean. A good example is laminated flooring and you can use either marble or painted wood.
The nice thing about turning the attic into a playroom is that you don’t have to buy new furniture. One plastic table and a few plastic chairs will do. If the kids want to sleep here, you can easily roll out a mattress and hide it by putting these inside a trunk. Should there older guests dropping by, then perhaps a fold-out couch will add a nice touch.
The playroom can also be used as a study area or a library by putting shelves on the small spaces. Naturally, you can place books here as well as stuffed animal balls and other things that will be within their reach.
Everything will now depend on which path you will take. Are you going for a bedroom renovation or are you going for an office renovation plan? Or are you going back to sleep and let your attic be?
Transform the attic into a bedroom
Let’s say you’re living in a one-bedroom apartment, and you’ve got visitors to sleep. You might give up the bedroom and sleep on the sofa, but if this is going to happen every time, maybe it’s better to turn the attic into another bedroom instead?
The attic is going to make a good bedroom since it’s above the ground. Not only that, but the study also shows that homeowners who convert their attics or add additional living space to their homes will bear a considerable weight at the time they decide to resell it.
The first thing you need to do to make this happen is to improve the insulation in the room. Most people do not separate this part of the house from the bedroom or the dining room, since it is mostly used to store old stuff.
For people to sleep comfortably here, you would need to install additional insulation layers as well as drywall to cover the wooden frames.
It’s one thing to battle the cold and the other when the summer is here. To do this, you will also need to provide sufficient ventilation by setting up roof racks and windows so that air can flow in and out of the room.
Second, you’re going to have to repair the walls using either drywall or wood paneling. Choosing what to use depends on your budget.
Since most attics are dim, you’re going to have to light up to this place by adding a skylight. You can put one or a few that will also save on the cost of power when someone is up here during the day.
You can now concentrate your attention on the floors after roofing and walls. You may use existing wood already on the floor or cover it with tiles. Another choice is to place a rug on it.
If a pull-down stairway or trap door is all right to gain entry to your attic, this can also be changed because there’s already a bedroom upstairs. This is because it is a prerequisite that the building is accepted. The stairs shall be two feet by six feet with single or double hand railings.
As far as lighting is concerned, you can easily position a few more bulbs by connecting them to the nearest power source. The same goes for heating and plumbing if you have a bathroom upstairs as well.
Homeowners who decide to employ a contractor can look for a few, ask for an estimate, and compare each. As much as people want to invest too much to make this renovation look amazing, there are limitations on how much he or she can do to make it happen.
Many that have the right contractor to work should ensure that the building permit and other conditions are in order so that construction can begin. They should also be able to keep you up-to-date on the progress of their work and be contacted if there are any issues since this is your home.
To turn your attic into a bedroom is one of the best choices you’ll ever make as a homeowner, and when everything is finished according to your requirements, you’ll be able to have friends come over and sleep there without ever having to give up your bed.
The Do-It-Yourself Attic Renovation Guide
Everyone has a dream home, but people can’t help that if they already have one, they want to keep it changed or updated. Change is good since this will not only enhance the appearance of your home but will also reinforce it in the process. If you’re doing a do-it-yourself attic renovation, here are a few notes to check out that could help you determine what to do and what not to do.
Attic Renovation may be the solution for homeowners who want extra space in the house to be used as rooms and to make use of its purpose. But you can’t just go ahead with the improvements without looking at the project from any angle.
Room and the system
These are the main elements of your Attic Improvement Strategy. First, you need to know how much space will be available if the required improvement is made and whether that space suits what your local codes need.
Rafters should be used as a frame for your roof, not trusses, since it would not give you enough room to achieve what you have in mind. If your attic is the open kind, the roof should have braces that are either cross or support links. This would also be perfect to be used as a ceiling ventilator system for additional ventilation.
Security
You can also refer to the local building codes for the appropriate number of exits, windows, and attic entrances. In most situations, one outside escape is enough, but space needs to get enough ventilation through the windows and lighting.
The Headroom
This is the first measure to be considered when deciding to convert your attic to a functional space. Make sure people can stand and move freely in space, or else they will be cramped, dangerous, and not fit for anyone. Again, building codes have a connection to the matter, and one has to abide by that.
The Global Look
If you plan to renovate the attic, consider every aspect of the house. Decide how the change will affect each of them. You can let a professional see your home and make sure that you can continue with the project. Before following any strategy, one should always think of protection.
So before you can adjust the attic, you first need to improve the base. See if the first floor has any cracks or leaks that can lead to the robustness of the overall building. See if it’s possible to move electrical elements from the main floor to the attic and research the best way it could be achieved.
It is important to look for anything that can lead to the success of the program. You could also seek the aid of building inspectors to be sure of what you’re doing. In the end, you’ll benefit from all this, because your money won’t be wasted, and you’ll have an extra room in the house that’s fully usable.
The most important thing to consider when you want to do-it-yourself attic renovation is to learn all the stuff you need to know about before you even draw up a plan.
Learn through design manuals, read through the local code standards for safety and security, and check the web for practical ideas about how to do this.
