Too Much Weight In Attic

The woodwork is designed to take the weight of the ceiling but not a lot else.

Too much weight in attic.

Just dont stand on the sheet rock itself. 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 had two i did that way and moved em all over the attic as i worked. There are several reasons for this.

Think empty boxes and suitcases. 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. But i also weight half as much as you. I wanted to put self standing shelves up in the attic but a few people have asked me if this will add too much weight up there by allowing more storage space plus the weight of the shelving units.

Joists that are 2x8 or larger can likely support more weight. First adding weight to the top of the bottom 2 4 that makes up the truss is a big no no. The joists are what support the weight. 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.

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. But there s no real way to know other than to test it. I m guessing you don t have the plans and don t know what live load the attic was designed for. I want to know how much weight i can put in the attic.

If the roof structure of your home was designed with prefabricated trusses your attic was definitely not designed for any storage. I put down a very thick plywood floor and use the attic for storage. A floor structure supported with 2 4 joists cannot bear much weight. An uninhabitable attic designed for limited storage can handle 20 pounds per square foot live load.

If they are 2x6 you can probably get away with some boxes filled with relatively light stuff. If you store stuff that s heavy the ceiling will bow underneath over a period of time. Joe 90 7 jan 2008.