Lofty ideas

Adding an attic bonus room hinges on roof pitch, stair access and load support

An old Drexel table and chairs are among the eclectic furnishings in the converted attic in the home of Aaron and Chantal Roberts.
An old Drexel table and chairs are among the eclectic furnishings in the converted attic in the home of Aaron and Chantal Roberts.

Attics are supposed to be dark and cobwebby, repositories for dusty boxes crammed with Christmas decorations, tangled strands of lights that haven't worked since the mid-2000s, forgotten toys and bags of clothes that never made it to the thrift shop.

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Aaron Roberts in the spacious and bright attic of his Governor’s Mansion District home in Little Rock.

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Ductwork is hidden behind bead board and books are on display in Roberts’ attic.

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Dormer-style windows allow for plenty of natural light in the converted attic space in the Little Rock home of Aaron and Chantal Roberts.

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Squeezing furniture and other items up the stairs is one of the challenges of having a converted attic.

In most attics you can see exposed rafters and joists -- the wooden skeleton of a house -- insulation, ductwork and wires. It's unbearably hot up there in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter.

They're not always easy to access, these attics. The best way up is often by climbing a creaky ladder that unfolds from the ceiling. And not to mention all those creepy stories about haints and ghouls skulking around in attics that would make one think twice before going up there in the first place.

This attic, though, is not one of those attics.

Perched atop a more than 100-year-old, late Victorian-era house on a quiet, leafy street in Little Rock's Governor's Mansion District is an attic filled with natural light, an eclectic mix of furniture, shelves of vinyl records, books and a fantastic stereo. This attic is the sanctuary of cyclist, radio host and avid music geek Aaron Roberts.

"This is similar to some of the houses where I grew up in Iowa, in downtown Cedar Falls," he says. The attics his family had when he was a kid, though, were more likely to be occupied by bats than people.

He and wife Chantal, who both work at Affirmative Risk Management where she is a managing partner and he is a senior claims adjuster, bought the roughly 3,000-square-foot house in January, after their sons moved off to college. The converted attic, which not only had additional space but a half-bath as well, was a major selling point.

"I love music, so having an attic space that was just for me, where I could have all of my music out of Chantal's way, and also have space to entertain, that was a big thing," says the 44-year-old Roberts on a cloudy afternoon last month. No need to fret about Chantal, though; she has her own space in a spare room painted a bright yellow, on the second floor.

They looked at a house down the street, but its attic wasn't finished.

"That would have been a whole lot of work," says Roberts, who co-hosts the show Heartbreakers and Rumpshakers from 7-9 p.m. Wednesdays on community radio station KABF-FM, 88.3.

He's right. Converting an attic space into a living space such as an office, bedroom, playroom or studio can be a challenge.

"You're probably talking a couple of months," says Rick Smolicz, owner of RS Custom Builders in Greers Ferry. That's a rough timeline, though, for a simple job with no complications. "There are so many dynamics" to an attic conversion, he says. And it's always best to check local building codes before getting started.

One of the biggest issues with an attic conversion is the pitch of the roof. Something about 45 degrees is ideal, says Burt Taggart III of the architectural, interior design and construction firm Taggart Design Group in Little Rock.

"A steeper roof pitch will enable you to get more space to make use of," he says. "With a lower pitch, there's not as much head height."

For a conversion, the attic must have been built with rafters instead of trusses, which close off most of the space that could be used for a proper room.

According to the book The Complete Guide to Attics and Basements by Philip Schmidt and Matthew Paymar, habitable attic areas must be at least 70 square feet and measure at least 7 feet in any one direction. Also, half of the floor space must have a ceiling height of at least 7 1/2 feet.

There's no problem with any of these stats in the Robertses' attic, which has about as much space as a comfortable efficiency apartment.

The couple regularly host cocktail parties, and guests inevitably make the trek upstairs.

"The men usually end up here, and we'll have Scotch and whiskey," Roberts says. "The women usually come up here, too. It's good to have about eight to 10 people up here. That's about how many can fit comfortably."

The Robertses are ardent estate sale shoppers and much of the eclectic mishmash of furnishings in the room was bought at sales.

"You find all sorts of neat stuff," he says, as Complete Music by the band New Order spins in the background and spills from two red speakers from Zu Audio in Ogden, Utah.

Among the items are a '60s-era table and chairs made by Drexel, a console radio and record player from the '40s, and stackable shelves once owned by a retired art professor that are perfect for storing his record collection. A roomy new sectional and ottoman look perfectly at home with the vintage finds.

All of those things nod toward another bonus for having this kind of bonus space -- decorating in a way that maybe wouldn't fit somewhere else in the house, but makes perfect sense in a special area.

"We like our own things," Roberts says of his and his wife's decor preferences. "Our tastes are different. Some of it connects, but some of it doesn't."

While furnishing, though, one must consider the route upward, because that old ladder that drops down from the ceiling simply won't do.

"That's the key thing if you like it, can it go up the stairs," Roberts says.

The Complete Guide to Attics and Basements says that the stairway to the new attic space must be at least 36 inches wide with room for a 36-inch landing at the bottom and top of the stairway.

Accessing the attic "depends on the design of the house," Smolicz says. "Sometimes you have to go through an existing access panel, or maybe you can make new steps or reframe it and move it against a wall."

Adding stairs also takes up space on the lower floor.

"You have to consider what kind of space you want to lose to gain access to the attic," he says.

"Sometimes people do spiral stairs," Taggart says, "but that's not always desirable."

With a way to get to the renovated attic and things to put in there comes the need to make sure it doesn't all come crashing back down through the ceiling below; after all, most attics were designed with "dead loads" -- things like boxes and trunks that don't move -- in mind and not "live loads" -- people, pets and accompanying accoutrements.

"You need to check to see whether or not the ceiling will support the additional weight of the room above," Smolicz says. "Now that you're going to have people walking around up there, the ceiling joists will need to be reinforced."

Adding extra joists is the simplest way, but "it depends on how tricky the framing is or how heavy the loads are," Taggart says.

Even on a relatively comfortable October afternoon, the two ceiling fans in Roberts' attic hideaway were working hard. The attic is served by the same heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system that operates throughout the house. The ductwork (as well as the chimney) are hidden behind bead board walls. It can get toasty up there if the air isn't blowing, Roberts says.

"You'll need to contact an HVAC contractor to see if the existing unit can support the additional square footage, and if you can tie into the existing ductwork," Smolicz says.

Proper insulation will also help to keep things cozy in the winter and cool in the summer.

"I always recommend spray foam" over rolled insulation, says Smolicz, who believes the foam does a better job.

Latching on to existing water pipes can also be a way to get water to the new upstairs space, but there are variables to that as well, and all-new plumbing may be needed. "You have to make sure whatever you tie into is compatible and can take the extra water," Smolicz says.

And if there aren't windows already, code will require an egress or exit to the outside because attics are especially dangerous during a fire. Installing dormer windows is a way around this.

For more natural light, "Skylights are another good option," Taggart says.

Back in the Governor's Mansion District, the music is cranked and Roberts is showing off his collection of albums -- discs ranging from '80s college rockers The The to rare soul by Alice Clark.

"I listen to everything," he says, and he's got the perfect place to do just that.

HomeStyle on 11/12/2016

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