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Cozy, Comfortable Attic Lofts
By Steve Maxwell
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If your idea of a great house involves more than just a place to keep warm and dry, then you need to know about the value of an attic loft. Besides adding more finished floor space for a given size of new home or renovation, a well-appointed attic loft adds character, romance and an uncommon level of resale appeal. But the price of admission to this world of enhanced residential value involves building techniques that are different and more sophisticated than what’s required for success with regular, above-ground construction. And learning what these differences are is definitely worth the effort, beginning with the roof structure itself.
Loft-Friendly Roofs
The first thing to understand is that typical low-slope, truss-framed roofs cannot be transformed into any kind of successful attic loft. If this is what your home has now, and you’re not willing to change it, then flip past this article right away. Continued reading will only make you jealous and depressed.
On the plus side, loftable attics are often very possible in older homes that have roofs steeper than 35 degrees, or in new construction that uses rafters or any one of a handful of open-concept roof-framing techniques that are becoming popular these days.
Except in a very few custom-designed situations, trusses are out because they typically include webs of internal wood that take up all usable space under the roof. Sure, trusses are strong, they go up quickly, and they’re cheap, but you can’t walk through them, either. This makes all the difference.
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Cozy, Comfortable Attic Lofts
By Steve Maxwell
|
|
|
If your idea of a great house involves more than just a place to keep warm and dry, then you need to know about the value of an attic loft. Besides adding more finished floor space for a given size of new home or renovation, a well-appointed attic loft adds character, romance and an uncommon level of resale appeal. But the price of admission to this world of enhanced residential value involves building techniques that are different and more sophisticated than what’s required for success with regular, above-ground construction. And learning what these differences are is definitely worth the effort, beginning with the roof structure itself.
Loft-Friendly Roofs
The first thing to understand is that typical low-slope, truss-framed roofs cannot be transformed into any kind of successful attic loft. If this is what your home has now, and you’re not willing to change it, then flip past this article right away. Continued reading will only make you jealous and depressed.
On the plus side, loftable attics are often very possible in older homes that have roofs steeper than 35 degrees, or in new construction that uses rafters or any one of a handful of open-concept roof-framing techniques that are becoming popular these days.
Except in a very few custom-designed situations, trusses are out because they typically include webs of internal wood that take up all usable space under the roof. Sure, trusses are strong, they go up quickly, and they’re cheap, but you can’t walk through them, either. This makes all the difference. |
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