Hello!
There is a small attic above our garage. There is no type of flooring, just the roof trusses and some longitudinal wooden planks (very thin and narrow) that the ceiling is screwed into. The wooden pieces are attached to the roof trusses, so they can be walked on, but it's really awkward, and I've been thinking about utilizing the space a bit better.
I was thinking if I could lay some type of floor/board between the roof trusses so I don't have to constantly watch where I step, and so I can screw and attach things to the ceiling from inside the garage without being limited by whether there is a roof truss or not. The ceiling is made of gypsum and therefore can't support much weight.
There are a variety of boards, like MDF, OSD, plywood, etc. I would appreciate tips on boards that I can place in the attic. It can get a bit humid up there, so they should be able to handle that, and they should be suitable for fastening screws from inside the garage.
Thanks in advance!
There is a small attic above our garage. There is no type of flooring, just the roof trusses and some longitudinal wooden planks (very thin and narrow) that the ceiling is screwed into. The wooden pieces are attached to the roof trusses, so they can be walked on, but it's really awkward, and I've been thinking about utilizing the space a bit better.
I was thinking if I could lay some type of floor/board between the roof trusses so I don't have to constantly watch where I step, and so I can screw and attach things to the ceiling from inside the garage without being limited by whether there is a roof truss or not. The ceiling is made of gypsum and therefore can't support much weight.
There are a variety of boards, like MDF, OSD, plywood, etc. I would appreciate tips on boards that I can place in the attic. It can get a bit humid up there, so they should be able to handle that, and they should be suitable for fastening screws from inside the garage.
Thanks in advance!
Thank you for the answer, but since I want to be able to fasten things from the inside, I need giant screws if I'm going to fasten them to boards that are on top of the rafters.
I will see if I can place these boards between the rafters instead.
I will see if I can place these boards between the rafters instead.
It is probably not advisable!
The sparse paneling is neither dimensioned for nor attached strongly enough to support weight for walking on. It might hold for a while, but sooner or later you will crash through the roof, and it could go really badly for you. If you need a floor to walk on and perhaps place items on, it should be on the roof trusses.
In that case, you can use 22mm floor chipboard (it should actually be glued, but for this use, it might manage without gluing, though you shouldn't place pianos there). You can use tongue and groove pine flooring, byggmax has something cheap, 22mm raw tongue and groove, or 16mm plywood. If you have 60 cm between the roof trusses, you will get a decent floor, not super stable with these material dimensions. If you have 120 cm between the roof trusses, you might need to increase the dimensions even more.
Regarding attachment from below, if it only concerns light items, you can purchase an 11mm OSB board and place it between the roof trusses on top of the sparse paneling, but then you should not hang particularly heavy items.
Before you start with this, you should also check whether your roof trusses can handle a load on the lower frame at all. Some types of roof trusses are not dimensioned for more than their own weight on this part. I'm not the right person to say which roof trusses this concerns, but for example, I seem to recall that w-trusses should not be loaded on the lower frame.
The sparse paneling is neither dimensioned for nor attached strongly enough to support weight for walking on. It might hold for a while, but sooner or later you will crash through the roof, and it could go really badly for you. If you need a floor to walk on and perhaps place items on, it should be on the roof trusses.
In that case, you can use 22mm floor chipboard (it should actually be glued, but for this use, it might manage without gluing, though you shouldn't place pianos there). You can use tongue and groove pine flooring, byggmax has something cheap, 22mm raw tongue and groove, or 16mm plywood. If you have 60 cm between the roof trusses, you will get a decent floor, not super stable with these material dimensions. If you have 120 cm between the roof trusses, you might need to increase the dimensions even more.
Regarding attachment from below, if it only concerns light items, you can purchase an 11mm OSB board and place it between the roof trusses on top of the sparse paneling, but then you should not hang particularly heavy items.
Before you start with this, you should also check whether your roof trusses can handle a load on the lower frame at all. Some types of roof trusses are not dimensioned for more than their own weight on this part. I'm not the right person to say which roof trusses this concerns, but for example, I seem to recall that w-trusses should not be loaded on the lower frame.
thanks for the reply!
yes, there's quite a bit to think about. the heaviest thing I will probably set up is a "hoist" for the roof box so it can hang from the ceiling, and I don't think the weight is so high.
but now I know that if I lay a floor, it should rest on the rafters.
yes, there's quite a bit to think about. the heaviest thing I will probably set up is a "hoist" for the roof box so it can hang from the ceiling, and I don't think the weight is so high.
but now I know that if I lay a floor, it should rest on the rafters.