“Never build an attic - this is evil! Better make a full-fledged floor ": the categorical opinion of the FH subscriber
The attic is considered a cheaper option for the upper floor. Indeed, it is very profitable to turn the attic space into living square meters - here you can equip a wonderful bedroom or nursery. But not everyone thinks so. For example, our subscriber Igor is sure that the attic as a constructive is evil. What is his opinion based on - read on.
From my own experience
Once I made the folly to build an attic floor instead of a full-fledged second. I regretted this after three cold seasons of operation of the premises. Two years later, I decided to remove the attic and build a full-fledged second floor.
My main complaint about this part of the building is that it is an endless consumption of heat, most of which "goes into the sky"! That is, it heats the street. Attic - this is a huge and absolutely unjustified heat and energy loss.
It is impossible to insulate the roof on the attic floor with high quality, inexpensive and at the same time, it is safe to insulate. Any insulation on the attic floor sooner or later slips down and it is almost impossible to repair it. To do this, you need to disassemble the entire ceiling or the entire roof and only from there redo everything.
Many people told me - insulate the roof with sprayed thermal insulation or EPS and there will be no problems. But I absolutely do not want to arrange a poisonous gas chamber in a living room. It is no secret that these materials emit toxic substances when heated, and the roof is the place where the insulation heats up well.
My list of attic floor cons
Here is my list of attic disadvantages:
- Unrepairable wall / roof cake due to its complete inaccessibility (roof top, bottom finish). In order to carry out repair work, you need to disassemble or break something. Somehow I needed to inspect the ventilation duct passage - I had to open the metal tile on the roof.
- Sophisticated technology of insulation and vapor barrier in individual nodes: abutments to the wall, Mauerlat, in places of fracture surfaces.
- The deliberately difficult operating conditions of the rafter system and the entire wall / roof pie. This is due to the peculiarities of the microclimate: conditions near the dew point and problems with the ventilation of the elements.
- Short life of attic floor interior decoration. Even if you make a high-quality and correct repair, various cracks and deformations will still come out. The rafter system is a living organism that reacts to changes in humidity, which means there will be a change in the geometric dimensions of the room.
- Extremely inefficient use of living space. With low walls, not all furniture is suitable, and if it does, it is very inconvenient to use it.
- Complexity of control over builders. If a team is building an attic for you, then it is very difficult to control the quality of work. Many "shoals" are hidden during construction, and then come out with unpleasant surprises.
- Large heat loss. They can be eliminated, but at a price it will come out, how to build a full-fledged floor. So why is this attic needed? I consider her to be evil. Never build an attic! Better to make a full-fledged second floor.