Hello, im new to your channel also purchasing my very first home! We fell in love with this house partly due to the potential of the very large, completely unfinished attic. The house was built in 1920. I think my main concern is load bearing on the floors i want to install...i am doing a ton of internet research and trying to figure this out myself because there is a serious lack of contractors in my area as most have retired. I really want to make this large attic 2 bed and 1 bath. It is at least 1200 square feet! Staircase is already in place as well. I am going to keep watching your videos to hopefully take on this project with my husband as a DIY lol 😂
Yeah, this house was built in 1913 so it wasn't exactly the best in the rafters, but on the flipside the 2x4s were actually 2x4 which makes it a bit stronger. Either way I reinforced a munch of it to make the floor stronger. Good luck with your project!
What size was the window? How about the glass above the window? I noticed you were able to install window from the inside did you cut out wood to access for that? Did you hire a structural engineer to help with calculations to strengthen the room and floor / ceiling joists?
Yes. So window is around 42x48 or something like that. Found that little window as well at a retail store of some sort. Yes, I’ve had advice for the structure. It’s just making sure what’s under it that matters and what size. So it worked.
From an engineering perspective how would adding those cross members help add support to the 2x4s? I would think floor joists need to be atleast 2x6s with the span of that room. Or is there a load bearing wall under to reduce the span?
So the 2x4 cross was for two reasons, the floor had 2x6 already. Back then (100 years) they were farther apart so that helped dived the wight better and to keep it more stable for moving around. There was also a wall for the master and bathroom right underneath as well. Also 2x6 then was true 2x6 means much thicker wood than these days 2x6 as well. So anything usually helps when reinforcing it.
Very nice job! Did you add a staircase to get to the attic? I would love to transform my attic someday. One of my biggest issues is the pull down stairs being so small. Having an official staircase would be a tremendous help getting things up and down from there.
No, luckily the upstairs had a little stairway up, just up to nothing finished. So I ended up finishing all of that. Thank you, and thanks for subscribing!
Great content! Now that time has passed, any problems maintaining temperature? Or moisture? I'm told by contractors I need to place plastic baffles to maintain airflow otherwise roof will rot quickly. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
No temperature issues overall. The air flow from the HVAC isn't great. I don't have zone with it though. No issues overall. I will be redoing the roof, so I will add better ventilation soon there too. One side of the roof does have another roof slanted on it as well. So that gets plenty ventilation. We also don't live too far up north for that to be an issue. According to some research I've done if you live in colder zones then it'll be more problems in the winder time if winters are longer too. Over all, I don't disagree. It's best to add those features.
Thank you! Yeah, so it depends on a few factors and right now prices are a bit higher as well, but if you did it yourself I'd say it would be $2500-5,000. Again, depending on size and what all kind of flooring you do. Thank you, and thanks for subscribing!
@@HomeMadeNew super nice! I asked because my attic space is quite the same to this here video and looking forward to doing this project in the new year! Thank you for following up to my comment it is well appreciated!
Looking great! How thick is the OSB subfloor sheet that you're using? And are you using this area strictly for storage? Or, as additional living space?
Hi,first of all, great video! I am about to add an attic to my small house and I plan doing something like this. Can you please tell me your dimensions (width and height)?
Did you say that your trusses were 2x8? I currently have trusses that are only 2x4 and I’m wondering if I can lay 2x4 on top like you did or if I need to beef up the trusses first?
Mine - Not quite, they are old school 2x6. Which means they are a bit bigger than the current ones you buy. It gets a bit tricky with 2x4s. You’ll need some more strength to it. It’s doable, but not if it’s a room that’ll be used more often and lots of weight on it it’ll need some more 2x4s or 6 or so. The span from how long it’ll be makes a difference too.
I didn't cut any of that. I wanted to be sure the structure was as strong as possible, but still making it useful, so if anything I added support to the floor and side wall. Good question though, thanks, and thanks for subscribing!
@@HomeMadeNew His point was that your 2x4s don't really REINFORCE anything. Make it more rigid and solid laterally, maybe, but not reinforce. What I noticed was your roofing trusses. Did you or someone else cut the centers out of those? That would be REALLY bad!