[Holpat39]

If your garage attic has a true floor in it you can store almost anything that will fit through the stair opening. We had our garage insulated and flooring put down when built and added an attic fan.. Plastic tubs up there for 17 years. Nothing damaged. Extra floor tiles, luggage, shop vac, etc. Only thing that disintegrated was a large black plastic bag containing a suitcase which wasn't damaged. Now nothing up there due to my age and difficulty getting up the ladder. If your garage has any of the enhancements then it is safe for just about anything.

[egmcaninch]

Originally Posted by em8tee

We are close to closing on home in Polo Ridge. What can safely be stored in the area above the garage? What do you store up there?

We mainly store Christmas, but we do have some things that we use infrequently (vases, etc), but we don't want to get rid of. We had a Versa Lift installed to help take things up & down. Wish we would have done it when we moved in!

[peggyb]

Have been here for 10 years. All of my Christmas/Halloween/Easter decor has been up there, as well as suitcases and a few other miscellaneous items. I have them stored in plastic totes and cardboard boxes...no problems at all.

[Guitarman1951]

Originally Posted by em8tee

We are close to closing on home in Polo Ridge. What can safely be stored in the area above the garage? What do you store up there?

Nothing with soft rubber. We've found after living here 11 years that even lawn chair material will disintegrate after awhile. My old golf sets are up there too and when I got them down to use with my grandsons, the material was starting to fall apart. Hard plastic, metal, cardboard or ceramic items seem to be able to withstand the 120+ degree heat in the hot summers here.

[Annie66]

Originally Posted by skip0358

All my Christmas Decorations, Suitcases, Old Tax Returns, Walker & Commode from old surgery another coming, wire & wood shelving. In otherwords anything that wont melt and items we rarely use. I've added additional shelving to accommodate storage bins.

Agreed …. anything that is not sensitive to heat.

[RonGee]

Originally Posted by em8tee

We are close to closing on home in Polo Ridge. What can safely be stored in the area above the garage? What do you store up there?

We put a plywood flooring in the area close to the hatch (4 or 5 ) and are able to use the space for storage in containers. Do not put anything that would melt in 120 degrees, also NO cardboard. The bugs love cardboard.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Holpat39

If your garage attic has a true floor in it you can store almost anything that will fit through the stair opening. We had our garage insulated and flooring put down when built and added an attic fan.. Plastic tubs up there for 17 years. Nothing damaged. Extra floor tiles, luggage, shop vac, etc. Only thing that disintegrated was a large black plastic bag containing a suitcase which wasn't damaged. Now nothing up there due to my age and difficulty getting up the ladder. If your garage has any of the enhancements then it is safe for just about anything.

Having plywood on top of the 2x4's will help to spread the load of what you store there, but it still is not a "true floor". It is a ceiling. So, if you put too much weight on it, the ceiling structure will sag and cause the drywall below it to crack. As another poster said, the drywall ceiling may crack anyway. Many of the garage and lanai ceilings have developed cracks in The Villages.

[jh214]

After I had radiant barrier installed in the attic, it dropped the temp about 10 degrees. Store plastic containers and miscellaneous items with no problem.

[DLJ1657]

Originally Posted by Northerner52

Get one of these

https://majicstairsinc.com

Would you mind sharing a ballpark cost including installation of these stairs?

[Agentjanhusak@gmail.com]

Christmas Decor.....luggage....most everything, however, we did store out white artificial christmas tree and it turned yellow, most likely from the heat.....congrats on your new home.

[boobear51751]

I put three levels of shelves on either side of the walk area. We have a high pitched roof. I keep things made of metal and wood up there. I do have some Christmas decorations and other things that might mildew so I put them in plastic bags and put them in totes. We have a set of golf cart tires that are for our golf cart that a friends gave us up there as well. Two sets of extra golf clubs and bags for when we have guest. They seem to be okay even after nine years. One has a pot of de-humidity jell in it because I don't want to take a chance on those items for my Easter decoration to get musty. If you have a lower head clearance like most of my friends than I would highly suggest that you wear a helmet when you are up there because the nails from the shingles with hit your head every time. Remember, it does get well above 100 degrees up there. I also put a fan in the peak to keep the air moving after it hits 100 degrees. The ceiling in the garage and lani also did crack, but that was from the settling of the house since it was brand new. That is an easy fix too.

[BHWitcher]

I have anything that won’t melt. Christmas, Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations.

[Marykess1802]

Be careful. Palm rats chewed a hole and got in. What a mess 🤮

[mjkspear]

I keep Christmas things, just not candles, as well as some books, jelly jars, paint tools, lots of stuff. We installed an attic fan, which helps keep the temperature down.

[bob47]

A lot of folks store things above the garage. We do too. But if you dig into with The Villages, you may be told that the bottom of these roof trusses is not designed for weight bearing.