Attic Storage
Attic storage space is very valuable to all families. If you're planning to remodel your home, you might want to increase the amount of useful space. This can be done by building closets, putting in shelving units, or clearing out your belongings and making room for new ones. If you and your family are growing and changing, you might need a place to put more of your things. You can find a contractor in your region that is ready and willing to help you create more areas for storing things in your home.
Some Ideas
Before considering how you're going to implement attic storage into your attic remodeling, you'll want to think about what kind of bonus room or rooms you want to create with your home improvement project. Some people remodel their attic into a guest room or a master bathroom. Either of these could easily include a closet or shelving as means of extra storage to place the items currently taking up you home. You'll also want to consider where you're going to put any windows during the building process. You don't want to end up with a window in the closet.
You should measure the entire area so you know how much attic storage you can afford to put in. You'll want to draw up some plans and possible view photos of similar projects people in your area or situation have completed. There is no reason you can't have a livable area and still have room for storage. You'll also want to consider how everything will look once the remodeling is complete. If you want, you can hire a designer to help you with the details; they may have some tips on organizing your items to take up less room.
Before Building Attic Storage
There area a few things you'll want to consider before readying your home for extra attic storage. You want to make sure your home in structurally ready for building and stable enough to hold the weight of furniture, fixtures, and boxes you'll be holding up there. An unfinished attic typically has no flooring, so you'll want to put down some flooring you can actually walk on so that you don't hurt yourself while trying to make your way through the storage items. If you're making the area into livable rooms, you might want to put down carpet or hardwood floors.
You'll also want to draw up some budget ideas before you begin building any attic storage. You want to include the cost of the raw materials being built in your attic. This cost will depend on whether or not you plan to completely finish the area or if you are just putting down flooring to create a space for storage. If you're putting in drywalls, windows, ventilation, fans, or any plumbing and electrical you'll need to include this in your budget. You'll also need to include the cost of any hired labor as well as any furnishings you'll use once the project is finished.
Finding Labor
There are a number of different people that can help you with attic storage. There are people called professional organizers who can help you take the items already in your attic, go through them and keep what you need, sell what you don't need, and create an organized area so your items don't take up too much space. You can also have an inspector come in and look at the attic to see if it is structurally sound. They will look for leaks in the roof, pests who have made your house a home and any other problems that might prevent building.
You can also get quotes from contractors in your area. If you answer a few questions about the remodeling and attic storage, you can receive free estimates. Contractors will work with you to create storage as well as work within your desired budget and timeline for the whole project. You can ask them any questions you have about what you can and cannot put into the attic. You can also compare estimates from different contractors in the area to decide which one is the best for your job. Then, you can have the contractor come out and make a more accurate estimate.
People want more attic storage for many different reasons. Perhaps you want to build a bedroom but make a closet big enough to store all the boxes you currently have in storage in your home. You might want to create a place for future homeowners to have attic storage if you're trying to sell your home. Having a proper floor in the space and an accessible ladder or staircase will make your home worth more money, and making the space into bedrooms or bathrooms will add even more value to your home.
State By State
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
