How can I use my rafters to store things?
May 22, 2008 7:09 PM Subscribe
Home DIY pros: I've just moved to a new house, the upper floor of which has exposed rafters. How can I use these to store my stuff? Details to follow.
The house is 2 floors, and is very open, but the tradeoff is there's no closet space at all. There're actually no rooms at all--it's a kind of studio house, if that makes sense. Anyway, there are exposed wooden beams, very thick, maybe four-by-fours on the second floor, all the way up to the pitched roof.
Importantly, I don't own the house--it's a rental. So anything I do can't be permanent--heavy bolts and nails are out, anything that's gonna scar. I remember seeing in a magazine years ago how someone had devised a rope (and pulley?) system to hang things from rafters, and would like to try out something like that. Does anyone have any ideas?
The house is 2 floors, and is very open, but the tradeoff is there's no closet space at all. There're actually no rooms at all--it's a kind of studio house, if that makes sense. Anyway, there are exposed wooden beams, very thick, maybe four-by-fours on the second floor, all the way up to the pitched roof.
Importantly, I don't own the house--it's a rental. So anything I do can't be permanent--heavy bolts and nails are out, anything that's gonna scar. I remember seeing in a magazine years ago how someone had devised a rope (and pulley?) system to hang things from rafters, and would like to try out something like that. Does anyone have any ideas?
If those beams go across -- that is, they are horizontal -- then storage is easy. You just put boards or plywood across them, and place your stuff on top of the boards.
If the beams are angled, then there aren't so many good options that don't involve bolts or other permanent fixtures. Particularly with things suspended above your head, you don't want to be relying on a hinky solution.
posted by Forktine at 7:52 PM on May 22, 2008
If the beams are angled, then there aren't so many good options that don't involve bolts or other permanent fixtures. Particularly with things suspended above your head, you don't want to be relying on a hinky solution.
posted by Forktine at 7:52 PM on May 22, 2008
The important thing if you're going to hang your stuff from the exposed rafters of a peaked roof is that you understand a little about trusses. Each pair of rafters that meet at the apex forms a triangle with a horizontal joist that connects their bottom ends. The joist is in tension, holding the rafter ends from spreading apart; the rafters are in compression.
Don't bend your rafters.
That is, don't hang anything heavy from the middle of a rafter, unless that point is supported by a strut that runs down to the joist and back up to the apex. The apex of the truss - the peak of the roof - is the only well-supported point in an open truss, and most trusses have struts that run from the apex down to support the joist about 1/3 of the way in from each end, and then have struts that carry that support back up to the middle of each rafter, making a "W" shape within the triangle.
If you want to rig hoists from the rafters, do so only from the supported midpoints or the apex. If there are horizontal joists, hang hoists only at a point that has support from the apex.
(This assumes that you're talking about suspending heavy stuff up there - if you're just talking about clothes or a bicycle, don't worry about this!)
posted by nicwolff at 7:57 PM on May 22, 2008
Don't bend your rafters.
That is, don't hang anything heavy from the middle of a rafter, unless that point is supported by a strut that runs down to the joist and back up to the apex. The apex of the truss - the peak of the roof - is the only well-supported point in an open truss, and most trusses have struts that run from the apex down to support the joist about 1/3 of the way in from each end, and then have struts that carry that support back up to the middle of each rafter, making a "W" shape within the triangle.
If you want to rig hoists from the rafters, do so only from the supported midpoints or the apex. If there are horizontal joists, hang hoists only at a point that has support from the apex.
(This assumes that you're talking about suspending heavy stuff up there - if you're just talking about clothes or a bicycle, don't worry about this!)
posted by nicwolff at 7:57 PM on May 22, 2008
You could put some kind of bookshelves up there: Apartment Therapy.
However, it may end up that all you can do without major, lease voiding alterations, is put down some boards and make a diy attic.
posted by mostly_impossible at 10:57 PM on May 22, 2008
However, it may end up that all you can do without major, lease voiding alterations, is put down some boards and make a diy attic.
posted by mostly_impossible at 10:57 PM on May 22, 2008
C-clamps with sufficiently large pads and attached to the rafters could have all sorts of stuff hung from them. Try Harbor Freight for cheap ones.
posted by mecran01 at 11:01 PM on May 22, 2008
posted by mecran01 at 11:01 PM on May 22, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
Some other ideas: wardrobes and chests. I'm picturing a loft over an open lower floor? Perhaps a wall on the lower floor can be fitted with one of those "hospital track" curtains and behind it an inexpensive shelving system with tubs and hanger rods for your clothes and sundry items. Check out this awesome space. There's another image of that storage as well as some discussion which might work for you on another post.
Also, don't forget under bed storage! And, if you have a photo of your conditions you might get some more helpful responses.
posted by amanda at 7:45 PM on May 22, 2008