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Cozy and 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 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 understanding these differences is definitely worth the effort, beginning with the roof structure itself.
The first thing to understand is that typical truss-framed roofs cannot be transformed into any kind of successful attic loft. If this is what your home has now, flip past this article immediately. 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.
If you’re converting an old, rafter-framed roof into a four-seasons loft, there are two structural issues you need to consider first. Are the rafters strong enough to avoid sagging while also holding a finished ceiling solidly? Is there an opportunity to admit fresh air into the rafter spaces, both at the eaves and the peak?
Any successful, four-seasons attic loft needs to be warm in winter and cool in summer, with enough light and fresh air to become an inviting space all year round. And you won’t get many of these qualities by stuffing fiberglass batts between the rafters and hoping for the best. Though convenient, this approach is thermally inadequate and prone to condensation, rot and failure. If your attic is framed with rafters, success depends on a more sophisticated approach than what seems obvious.
The more separate an attic loft seems to be from the rest of the house the better, and this welcome sense of isolation is mostly a result of soundproofing. But unlike other sound-resistance challenges, this one involves the floor and a whole different set of solutions than you’d apply to walls and ceilings. Be sure to use soundproofing underlay as part of your attic flooring strategy
Few attics can succeed as living space without unusual measures to admit generous amounts of sunlight and fresh air onto the scene. Stuffiness and heat are the ever-present danger with attic spaces, and that’s why round wall windows, skylights and roof windows must be part of your plans.
And considering the urgent need for ventilation of this kind of living space, an operable unit is really a no-brainer. What you might not realize is the extent to which roof window technology has advanced. Keeping rain out reliably isn’t an issue any more. Rubber weather skirts and factory-finished flashing kits make it very easy to achieve absolutely dry performance. Some roof windows actually perform as small balconies, tilting outwards and allowing you to safely enjoy the view as if you’re standing on the roof surface itself.
All things considered, you’ll have to invest more time, money and effort finishing a given size of attic space than you will most other regions of your home. But like other things in the homebuilding game, the more you put into a space, the more you get out. Attics are the forgotten jewel that can make good homes great, and it’s about time more people took time to look up and dream about the ‘lofty’ possibilities.
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Cozy and 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 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 understanding these differences is definitely worth the effort, beginning with the roof structure itself.
The first thing to understand is that typical truss-framed roofs cannot be transformed into any kind of successful attic loft. If this is what your home has now, flip past this article immediately. 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.
If you’re converting an old, rafter-framed roof into a four-seasons loft, there are two structural issues you need to consider first. Are the rafters strong enough to avoid sagging while also holding a finished ceiling solidly? Is there an opportunity to admit fresh air into the rafter spaces, both at the eaves and the peak?
Any successful, four-seasons attic loft needs to be warm in winter and cool in summer, with enough light and fresh air to become an inviting space all year round. And you won’t get many of these qualities by stuffing fiberglass batts between the rafters and hoping for the best. Though convenient, this approach is thermally inadequate and prone to condensation, rot and failure. If your attic is framed with rafters, success depends on a more sophisticated approach than what seems obvious.
The more separate an attic loft seems to be from the rest of the house the better, and this welcome sense of isolation is mostly a result of soundproofing. But unlike other sound-resistance challenges, this one involves the floor and a whole different set of solutions than you’d apply to walls and ceilings. Be sure to use soundproofing underlay as part of your attic flooring strategy
Few attics can succeed as living space without unusual measures to admit generous amounts of sunlight and fresh air onto the scene. Stuffiness and heat are the ever-present danger with attic spaces, and that’s why round wall windows, skylights and roof windows must be part of your plans.
And considering the urgent need for ventilation of this kind of living space, an operable unit is really a no-brainer. What you might not realize is the extent to which roof window technology has advanced. Keeping rain out reliably isn’t an issue any more. Rubber weather skirts and factory-finished flashing kits make it very easy to achieve absolutely dry performance. Some roof windows actually perform as small balconies, tilting outwards and allowing you to safely enjoy the view as if you’re standing on the roof surface itself.
All things considered, you’ll have to invest more time, money and effort finishing a given size of attic space than you will most other regions of your home. But like other things in the homebuilding game, the more you put into a space, the more you get out. Attics are the forgotten jewel that can make good homes great, and it’s about time more people took time to look up and dream about the ‘lofty’ possibilities.
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