Too Much Weight In Attic

An uninhabitable attic not designed for storage can handle a 10 pounds per square foot live load.

Too much weight in attic.

If the roof structure of your home was designed with prefabricated trusses your attic was definitely not designed for any storage. First adding weight to the top of the bottom 2 4 that makes up the truss is a big no no. The woodwork is designed to take the weight of the ceiling but not a lot else. An uninhabitable attic designed for limited storage can handle 20 pounds per square foot live load.

Just dont stand on the sheet rock itself. Not sure how accessible getting plywood would be for you i only had a 2 foot x 2 foot access hole but you can just get a 2x4 and lay it as a walking path across the rafters. Joists that are 2x8 or larger can likely support more weight. The joists are what support the weight.

If you store stuff that s heavy the ceiling will bow underneath over a period of time. A floor structure that is not solid enough cannot hold up much weight and the floor structure can only be sturdy enough if strong and large joists support it. If they are 2x6 you can probably get away with some boxes filled with relatively light stuff. I assume if your attic has a full floor as opposed to a bunch of beams of wood running across it then it should hold a decent weight amount.

As a very general guide if the joists are only 2x4s don t plan on storing much in the attic other than very lightweight items. I put down a very thick plywood floor and use the attic for storage. I had two i did that way and moved em all over the attic as i worked. But there s no real way to know other than to test it.

A floor structure supported with 2 4 joists cannot bear much weight. Joe 90 7 jan 2008. How much weight your attic will hold depends a lot on the floor structure. Think empty boxes and suitcases.

I want to know how much weight i can put in the attic. I m guessing you don t have the plans and don t know what live load the attic was designed for. But i also weight half as much as you.