However, using your attic for storage isn’t without its challenges. From the risks posed by fluctuating temperatures and pests to structural and accessibility concerns, it’s important to weigh these drawbacks carefully before making a decision.
Temperature and Humidity Issues
Fluctuating temperatures and moisture levels can damage sensitive household items, including electronics, paper/fabric goods, photographs and wood furniture. This is especially true if you live in a climate that’s prone to more extreme seasonal weather. While certain parts of your home, like your bedroom and living room, may have a central HVAC system to keep the temperature and humidity relatively stable, this doesn’t always apply to attics. Attics are often poorly insulated, meaning that temperatures can get hotter than the outside air during the summer. Lack of proper ventilation can also lead to extra condensation build-up, especially during the winter, when the warm air in your home rises and hits the cold air in the attic. This creates the perfect conditions for mold growth, which can ruin any items you store in your attic.
How do you get around this? One option is to insulate your attic and add the proper vents, though a project like this can easily run up to $3,000. The more economical option is to store your belongings in a climate-controlled self-storage unit, which creates a tightly regulated environment that preserves the condition of your items. Small units may only cost you between $30 and $80 per month, depending on where you live and the facility.
Hard to Reach
While attic storage is convenient in the sense that it is located in your own home, it’s not always easy to access the space itself. In many homes, particularly older ones, the attic door may be located inside of a bedroom closet — which is difficult enough to enter when the closet is empty, let alone when it’s full of clothes and other stored items. Even if the attic door is located in a hallway or more easily accessible part of your home, the size of the door is usually only large enough to allow a person and some small items to pass through. Put another way, if you want to store large or irregularly shaped items, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to fit them through the attic door. Keep in mind too that you’ll have to hoist whatever you want to store up a ladder, which can be dangerous and difficult.
How do you get around this? Self-storage units are a far more accessible option than attics, especially if you want to store bigger items. With a wide, rolling door (similar to a garage door) and options for first-floor/drive-up units that allow you to pull up your vehicle to the unit itself, self storage is a much easier and safer way to keep your things safe.
Potential for Pests
The humidity and lack of human foot traffic in attics make them an ideal place for all kinds of pests to gather, including mice, insects and even birds. While this may not be a huge problem if your attic is empty, pests like these can damage anything you might be storing, especially if they’re made of organic materials like paper, fabric or wood.
How do you get around this? You’ll need to frequently check your attic for signs of nests or waste, and take preventative measures like sealing any gaps, laying out pest traps and regularly inspecting your roof for leaks or holes. Instead of cardboard boxes, which pests can chew through, opt for plastic, airtight bins. You can also store your items in a self-storage facility, which is cleaned regularly, inspected for pests and strict about what can and cannot be stored inside of units to deter pests.
Weight Limitations
Some attics aren’t built to support heavy weights, limiting the type and amount of items that you can safely store without risking structural damage. Before you store anything in your attic, take the time to weigh or load capacity and plan accordingly to avoid sagging ceilings, cracked walls or even a complete collapse of the attic floor. The weight capacity of your attic is determined by the age of your home, the materials used for the joists (the wooden planks that make up the attic) and whether there’s damage or wear-and-tear to the existing structure.
How do you get around this? After researching and inspecting your attic, begin loading smaller items in. Distribute the items evenly around the attic and avoid stacking too many heavy objects on top of one another. For furniture and bigger items that won’t fit in your attic, rent a self-storage unit, which has concrete floors that can withstand much heavier weights.
