Attic Access for cold storage

[garagemahalpharoh]

Good day all, I am in the final phases of planning for my 20x20 garage build and had a question about attic access. I am making the garage with a peak height of 16' 9" which will allow me to have 10' ceilings inside with enough of an attic that I can use for cold storage, x-mas tree and such. After trolling around this forum for ideas my head feels like it is going to explode from information overload. I was wondering if anyone had a cold storage attic and how they accessed it? I have looked at a wooden ladder with access door and think that is pretty much my only option to save space, any ideas out there on what to use?

I will document the build on here as I see the feedback from fellow members is tremendously helpful for everyone that chooses to use it. I have an attached 24x26 right now and this one will be just for me in the backyard. I am going to call it "The Judge's Chambers" as I have a 69 GTO that I will be housing in it.

 

[85Ram]

I ended up with a full interior staircase. It does take up some room but i can store stuff under it. The other option is to have the stairs on the outside of the building. I din't want to be climbing a ladder with boxes in hand. The stairs make things much easier. How much weight can the attic floor support?

 

[Kels]

We have a loft that is used for storage it has very steep stairs that go up to the loft and they are over a work bench. I am really thinking about changing them so they are not so steep, I get really nervous moving things up and down because of how steep it is. something to think about, falling is not fun especially if carrying a Christmas tree

 

[bgarrett]

I sure would like some of your cold storage down here in the Deep South

 

[gearheadglen]

I used the standard fold down attic stairs, not sure if they come in 10 foot height, they work great and hide away for a clean look

put them between joists at the edge of my loft so I can lean really large items against loft edge and then go up stairs and pull item into the storage area

 

[garagemahalpharoh]

I am leaning towards the Werner wooden ladder that Home Depot sells here in Canada. I phoned the place that sold me the attic truss' and asked them to look into how much weight I could put on them. They called me back and said 15 lb per square foot on the bottom and 100lbs per square foot on the top? This was a person that told me this info and couldn't really explain what that exactly meant as they didn't understand it. Does this sound about right for attic made truss's? Does anyone have an explanation about what exactly she meant? I will find out where they were made and call them myself if I can't get a clear answer here. Thanks guys

 

[finn]

I've got the Werner wooden stairs in my home garage (and house attic) and the aluminun ladder (10'6") in my shop.

The Aluminum unit is sturdier / rated to a higher load. I sprung one wooden unit so it no longer folds flush and the second wooden unit has developed a crack in the framing and will eventually have to be replaced.

I wouldn't recommend either one. They are too narrow to safely manuver a decent sized bin to the attic and the stairs themself are so shallow near the top that you are hanging on with just your toes.

Go with permanent stairs, either outside or in the garage.

 

[Krash Kadillak]

Fold-down Werner aluminum ladder. Was easy to install. Be sure to measure your height from floor to ceiling, as they have different models to fit different heights, with some adjustibility built-in. IIRC, they also have some 'heavy-duty' models that will support more weight, but I just bought the standard one, which I think was rated for 300 lbs.

If you want to store larger sized items up there, you may want to consider a large hatch with platform/pulley system. There are even electric winches you can buy and hook up for this. There's a post or thread around here somewhere on that.

 

[rednecklimo85]

I like the idea of an external stair case, just might want to put a door near that stair case so you don't have to walk outside and around the whole building to get there. Put a nice big landing, big door and then you can set up a hoist for heavy items.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Definitely go aluminum! Stronger and safer!

Jim