Attic roof storage, walkway and ladder

[Remarka6le]

Utilising unused roof space into a storage area & creating an easier to traverse roof walk space.  

Attic opening.

THE SCENARIO

Storage has always been an issue throughout our history in our previous rentals, but when we purchased a home we had the opportunity to utilise and improve on unused spaces. When we purchased this home, one of the defining features left out by the realtors was the amount of clearance inside the roof, at 1.8 meters at its peak, it easily allows for one to walk around without hassle and has plenty of room for storage, but the positioning of the beams made this difficult. Enter, an Attic space. 

THE GOAL

The goal is simple, create a working Attic space where we can store items that we don't use often (such as camping gear) so that our primary storage always has a use. This is the primary area we came up with and what will be stored there. 

(Note: Number 1 indicates the storage we are building now, Number 2 indicates the first expansion). 

The completed version will end up looking like this:

Red: Access Ports

Yellow: The first Storage Area
Green: The Second Storage Area
Blue: The Walkway

Why a walkway? One of the most annoying things I've done in any house is setting up stuff through the roof, having to carefully walk on beams gets old after a while, so the Blue Walkway is for us if we ever wanted to create additional storage areas, to connect our two access ports (the original one in the house is in our garage) and for trades to be able to access and walk through our roof much easier when they are here. 

FIRST STEP - LADDER

First up is the ladder, we didn't do anything too special with this, Bunnings do a really good Attic ladder Install video that you can follow to get an idea of how to do it, my dad has put hundreds of these things in so it was a 1 hour job for him. We placed it here to be out of sight, as we didn't want it to be noticeable down our long hallway.

SECOND STEP - ATTIC 

The next step is the Attic, we used various lengths of Blue Pine that were installed in the opposite direction to create a bit of a gap between ceiling timbers (allowing for cables to run underneath) and so the attic itself was more stable. Once these were in the places we wanted, we measured the sections and cut our Flooring Particleboard Yellow Tongue to size. As soon as the first bit is down and secured, the rest of the build is a breeze.

After about 3 hours of cutting, moving and installing, our first storage area was done. 

Again, this is the hardest part. With this completed (stage 1), I can now complete the rest of this project in stages, so every Bunnings trip I grab a length of blue pine and some yellow tongue, cut to size and just place it down according to our diagram. In time, it'll be complete, but as our focus was the first storage area, it's not a priority to do in one day.

The first storage area ending up being more than what we needed, as we thought we had more stuff than we actually had, but I've been expanding since these photos regardless. I bought a wireless lighting system from Ikea that is used for lighting up here and will expand it along the house as we go.

An extra benefit from this project has been a noticeable decrease in temperature below the yellow tongue, with my baby room and 2nd bedroom a few degrees cooler than it has been previously, which is great. 

[MitchellMc]

Neat project @Remarka6le! I'm sure you're loving all that newfound storage space. The walkway is an excellent idea, too, as there's nothing worse than not being able to access items you've stored away.

Many thanks for sharing.

Mitchell

[KatieC]

This is a great project and use of space @Remarka6le!

There is surprisingly quite a lot of space up there.

Great to know that doing a simple project like this can decrease temperatures as well. 

Thank you for sharing

Katie

[Bluetooth]

Great project. And you've done a terrific job with the photos and planning, so it's clear to see what you've done. 

How do the wireless lights work... Are they battery operated? Motion detected? I worry that you'll have to replace the batteries every time you go into the attic (ie every 6 months!)

[EricL]

 HI @Bluetooth

Let me tag @Remarka6le to make them aware of your question. I suppose if they did use battery-operated units, they would have made provisions on the floor for easy access. I agree with you and your concern that the unit will get trapped under the new attic flooring and become very difficult to access. 

Eric    

[Remarka6le]

Hey @Bluetooth! 

When we put the Attic in we had to take out the ceiling light that was there. When we reinstalled it just in front of the attic ladder, we took the oppurtunity to get a double power point installed that piggy backs off the light switch. We plugged the Ikea TRADFRI wireless control into that, which is operated using the TRÅDFRI remote control. The lights we use are the MYRVARV flexible lighting strip, I can install more of these as I need them. We've taken the time to do some cable management as well so it's nice and neat up there. 

We've only went with the Ikea lights because we've installed it a number of times for ourselves and our friends, it was the more comfortable option. 

[sachraj]

Would love to see how you wired/installed power point and lights please

thank you

[MitchellMc]

Hi @sachraj,

Let me mention @Remarka6le to see if they can provide that information or share some pictures of the lighting and powerpoint.

Have you got an attic you'd like to transform into a more usable space?

Mitchell

[sachraj]

Yes, been thinking of doing something like what @Remarka6le has done to his attic.

[Remarka6le]

Hey @sachraj , apologies for the late reply, been helping a ton of flood victims as of late. 

I need to stress that the double power point was hooked up by a qualified electrician, they make it seem easy but I'd never attempt it. It's installed securely to one of our vertical posts, as for the TRADFRI and MYRVARV, there's really nothing too special to the setup of it. It's close to the powerpoint  and I had my brother in law 3d print some screwable cable management clips that run the length of the cord connecting the lighting strip to the control point. The lighting strip itself is supported by a couple of these clips and gorilla glue on the back.