Too Much Weight In Attic

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.

Too much weight in attic. 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. Think empty boxes and suitcases. Joists that are 2x8 or larger can likely support more weight. Basically i dont want to fall to the attic floor through the kitchen.

I want to know how much weight i can put in the attic. Adding flooring and storage on top of fiberglass insulation will compress it squeezing out trapped air rendering it virtually useless. Inspect the space for storage more the load anticipated sturdier should be the attic flooring. If they are 2x6 you can probably get away with some boxes filled with relatively light stuff.

I put down a very thick plywood floor and use the attic for storage. My art studio is in the basement and i want to move it into the attic so we can get a pool table downstairs. Also since the attic insulation rests on top of the drywall it will be much thicker than the bottom 2 4 chord of the attic truss. If your attic joists won t bear the weight necessary to finish out a living space but the engineer cleared them to support floor decking for light storage you can install inch plywood or.

Joists of 2x8s or larger are able to support more weight.