Loft Utilisation

The attic is a fantastic storage space, but it can be all too easy to forget you’re in a room with a big hole in the ground, you might see old photos of friends not seen in years, school books and little clothes of now grown children, the shoes you wore on that holiday, your mothers old collection of.. now, what was I talking about again? Oh yeah, don’t get distracted while in the attic. It’s not just about the safety of the person in the attic either, but also the safety of people down below, pushing boxes around could push something into the hole falling on whoever is below.

Photos left for a long time are going to be at the mercy of the elements. Light, heat, moisture and critters can all damage a photo. Unfortunately using the wrong storage container can also damage photos as acids and other chemicals used in the manufacturing process could react badly with the photos. Generally containers made specifically to avoid these problems can be expensive, but there is an Irish company supplying archival boxes that are Lignin free and have a neutral PH. These kind of containers are ideal for the storage of not only photographs but any important paper document as they won’t react with the contents and slow the decay process.

Place the box in the darkest part of the attic away from any windows, sunlight will bleach the colours out of photos and just about anything else given enough time (even photos hanging on your wall). So avoid transparent boxes as they do nothing to stop the light getting at the photos. Even if the photos are in a good opaque container the heat generated by the sun hitting the box could damage the photos within causing curling or inks to become tacky.

NB: Many professionals will tell you that the attic isn’t the ideal place to store photos due to temperature variations and the fact that many attics are outside of the insulation bubble of the house. Many of those people live in America where they get hot summers and cold winters. This article isn’t about the right or wrong of storing photos in your attic. This article is for people who have already decided to store photos in the attic and how to protect those photos from the environment of the attic space.

The next way to reduce the risks in attics is to install a railing around the opening. This at the very least highlights the position of the attic hatch, a proper railing will allow people to hold onto it in the attic and stop them walking into the hole. It will also prevent larger items from falling into the hole if it has additional railing halfway down.

Most manufacturers of loft ladders/attic stairs provide an optional railing that can be purchased when buying the loft ladder. The advantage of these railings is that they are often very close to the size of the frame size of the loft ladder they came with, this means you won’t lose any additional attic floor space. The disadvantage can depend on the manufacturer, the railings can seem somewhat expensive, or sometimes a bit flimsy. At the very least check that the railings have an additional railing half way down. The higher the bar is the easier it would be to have a foot get in under it and slip into the hole.

There are also grabrails that attach to the floor of the attic but are solely intended to be used as a handrail to aid using the ladder. They do not surround the opening. However sometimes a full railing isn’t an option, the structure of an attic and its utilitarian uses means compromises have to be made. When using these types of grabrails some extra caution needs to be practiced and I will talk about keeping cleared walkways and landing areas as a safety measure later.

The final option is a custom-made railing. If you are making the railing yourself it can be an economical option and provide the best railing for your attic. The one thing to ensure is that any posts that will be pulled on as a handrail or could be leaned on should be fixed to the joists, not just to the chipboard floor. The chipboard floor will not provide a solid fixture for a railing and it’s likely that screws could rip through the relatively weak chipboard.