To floor an attic you ll need to install a sub floor for support before laying your plywood floor.
Board for attic floor.
Stop using your attic for storage.
Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new.
First you ll need to measure the area you want to floor so you can calculate how much wood you ll require.
You don t want lots of different floor heights or walking in the attic will be difficult.
You can install inch plywood or oriented strand board osb in 4 foot by 8 foot panels over existing 16 inch oc joists.
If you ever need to cover them with finished flooring you can always nail down another subflooring before installing tile or hardwood.
Use the tongue and groove feature to lock multiple boards together and improve the organization of your storage space.
Sistering is the process of adding a new joist next to each existing joist.
Osb attic decking has a convenient tongue and groove design for easy installation.
What size plywood for an attic floor.
If the attic joists are not adequate one way to strengthen the floor for live loads is to sister the old joists.
Attic dek 4 5 out of 5 stars 63 ratings.
Strengthening attic joists for live loads by sistering.
Modifying an attic floor s joist system is a job for the pros.
Enjoy a clean look and increase the usable square footage of your attic by multiples of 8 sq.
You ll have to construct a wooden frame or sub floor with boards 16 inches apart to provide extra support for the floor.
But if the floor is covered in plywood you can t stuff enough insulation beneath it to do the job sufficiently not even in warm climates.
Also if the attic insulation is thicker than your ceiling joists you can raise the height of the joists to above the insulation by attaching 2 3 s to their top edge before you attach the attic floor boards.
The decision regarding the thickness of plywood to use for the subfloor in the attic has a lot to do with how you intend to use the attic and it also.
Use old boards that are close to the same thickness in a given section of the attic however.
Walk to one end of the attic by carefully stepping only on the wooden ceiling joists.
Start with the attic floor.