What can you store in the garage attic?

[tghoul]

Does it get hot for plastic items? How about luggage?

[Tbugs]

My "resale" home came with a solar powered fan in the garage attic. Costs nothing to operate and seems to keep the attic at a very reasonable temperature.

I have about 50 plastic storage tubs in that space and they are doing just fine.

In my (not so humble) opinion, the solar powered fan is definitely worth having installed. Also, there is a marvelous thing here called a solar tube. They lighten up interior bathrooms, master closets, and any other space that does not have enough light. My house came with 7 solar tubes, the solar fan in the garage attic, and 3 skylights. Highly recommend getting them.

Welcome to The Villages!

[Mikitv]

So far I've stored storage boxes, and Christmas decorations up there. We also put all our luggage up there and other odds and ends. We don't have any solar fans yets since new home so I am not storing anything plastic. My attic in Ark was extremely hot in the summer too so I store the same things here that I did there.

[logdog]

We lived in the Florida Panhandle for 11 years. Temps were comparable to TV. We stored luggage, Christmas decorations, old appliances, and a bunch of other stuff that we finally threw away before moving in our attic. We never had any damage due to heat. Some candles may have shifted a little but everything else was fine. I probably wouldn't store any explosives in the attic.

[jerseyvillager]

It is ridiculous that they build homes in FL without attic fans

[Larryandlinda]

It is ridiculous that they build homes in FL without attic fans

We put them in up north and had two on the bigger Villages home in September.

Within minutes after they were installed the attic was a new climate zone.
We drop the garage stair, crack open the garage windows, and that gets to a new climate zone too.
Since we don't use the ac (only for renters), we're putting in some 'whole house fans' in the ceiling to draw cool air in at night.

The attic fans are the first thing we would put into a home without them.
The convincer was the comparison between the existing 'ridge vents' and powered fans.
It takes three hundred feet of ridge vent to exchange the same air as one 20w attic fan

Keep Cool

L and L

[Yoda]

Does it get hot for plastic items? How about luggage?

A good rule would be: anything that you would leave in the trunk of your car in the Summer time.

Yoda

[robbie]

can anyone tell me if they automatically install floorboards in the attic of the new construction homes or do you have to request them as an upgrade???..thanks...

[Sherman931]

Robbie

Attic space for storage is standard in the designer home series; don't know about the other models

[bargee]

When you have attic stairs installed they usually put two 4x8 sheets of plywood in the attic.

[ladylake1]

We do not have an attic fan and I have some items have deteriorated in the attic over the course of several years. The webbing on handles of my luggage has deteriorated. I pulled out a piece of luggage and got only the handle. This happened twice. The items have been stored over the course of ten years. Also have had some misshapen candles - I don't put them up there anymore. It does get really hot in that concentrated space so just beware of more fragile storage. We put additional 4 x 8 plywood to increase storage space for seasonal tools.

[elevatorman]

The Designers have some flooring installed. Our Begonia has an area 8 X 8 with plywood. Some have more it depends on the roof style. We have a hip roof and the flooring does not extend toward the front of the garage, it is just in the center. The trusses that the flooring is on have 2 X 6 joists, most of the others are 2 X 4. Our neighbor does not have a hip style roof and his floor extends to the front. I guess it is all about headroom. There is a light installed at the center overhead. We keep all of the christmas decorations as well as luggage and other plastic containers with things my wife just could not part with. We also had attic stairs installed.

[Shimpy]

Been in Fla for 57 years, mostly in South Fla. and always used the attic. No problems with decorations, luggage etc. I even installed a pipe in one attic that I could hang clothes that we didn't wear much but didn't want to get rid of. One precaution though, anything paper seems to get eaten by bugs that I believe are called silverfish. Keep paper items sealed as in baggies. They will eat them. Photos are susceptible also. I've left instruction manuals up there for years and some were hard to read after the bugs got through. They start on the edges and work their way through.

[scrapple]

...if there is an attic fan installed?

[elevatorman]

Attic fans are not the norm in new construction. If it is not new ask the seller. If you can access the attic look for wires going to one of the vents in the roof. If it is a solar fan there is a small solar panel out on the roof.

[BlueHeronFan]

We just bought a new 7ft lighted artificial Christmas tree which we had planned to store in the attic in the box the rest of the year. After reading the instructions, it stated not to store anywhere damp or where the temp exceeds 100 degrees.

Oh great. A large box in a closet.

Just a heads up for any of you planning attic storage. Read the instructions.

[ladydoc]

Who would you recommend to install attic stairs and a solar attic fan? Thanks in advance for your help. Your answers to my questions have been awesome!!!

[k2at]

We had the Solar Boys install solar lights and solar fans in our attic. They did an excellent job and were neat and clean. ONe can get their phone number from the local daily paper.

[ljones190]

We installed solar fans and they do a nice job, I have been in the attic on very warm days and it keeps the temps reasonable. Keep in mind you need 1 attic fan for every 1000 square feet under roof so all of the homes require at least 2 fans.