Desks Built Into Attic Joists

Attic joists for live loads.

Desks built into attic joists.

Sistering installing new larger joists next to the existing ones is one way to bring your attic floor up to code. According to the nationwide building society adding a loft conversion to your home can increase the value of an average property by more than 54 000. Attic joists that are made from 2x8s may be acceptable for building your attic floor but because every room is variable there are no absolutes. When a load is applied to a joist it creates a tension in the wood along the top edge.

Joists carry the weight of the walls furniture and people on them. Positioning the new joist adjacent to the existing preserves precious ceiling but it does come with some potential complications. You could create a desk in the space under your staircase on the landing at the top of your stairs in a larger hallway or the nook meant for your laundry appliances. The missing piece of information is those miserable little beasts called the building and energy codes.

Nook built in desk ideas. Even a little drill in the wrong place can cause the structure to weaken resulting in annoying bounce and sag you experience every time while crossing the weakened floor. Even though townhouse loft conversions have become extremely popular in the last couple of years the process of transforming a common truss into an attic truss isn t as easy as it may sound. That means you ll need 2x10 floor joists or maybe 2x8 in rare circumstances and at least 2x12 roof rafters.

Standard joist spacing for the installation of attic flooring materials is 16 inches on center oc. Hire an engineer to inspect your house s foundation and framing to ensure they can carry the extra load. I think the building department will want detailed structural calculations. At a minimum you may need to strengthen the attic s floor joists which are often too shallow or spaced too far apart for the job.

We extended into the loft and didn t need fire doors or escape windows. Joist dimensions are only part of the equation. Once you convert attic space into living space you need to bring it up to the standards of modern building codes. You also need to ensure that the joist spacing is adequate.

If you re building a stair case from scratch consider a switchback layout. Please read disclaimer at end of description sorry this is my first video and i do a terrible job explaining but. Take a look around your home and look for unused or wasted space. It needs more.

You can build your desk into this small nook and create a built in desk. Beyond the size of joists the spacing between them should also be taken into consideration.