Attic temperatures in the Dallas summers. (Murphy: new home, inspector, storage)

[Texan2008]

Has anybody actually measured their attic temperature on a typical 98-102 degree summer day in Dallas? I miss having a basement for storage (68 cool degrees on a hot summer day)from my home in St. Louis and often wondered what the temps are in attics here in the dead of summer. I would guess 130-140 degrees as an estimate. Not too good for storing a number of items at that temp.

[ggolf]

You're right. For example, you don't want to store your Christmas ornaments up there because the heat will negatively affect them. Any kind of liquid? Nope. Furniture, nope.
Even though we have a radiant barrier (which helps, a bit) we only store things that might have been in our garage, eg, chicken wire, moving boxes, cull lumber, basically junk that we may or may not use ever again but want to hang on to if we ever need it again.

[little elmer]

The key is circulation.

[MurphyPl1]

There's a reason we have so many storage places around. ;-)

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by Texan2008

Has anybody actually measured their attic temperature on a typical 98-102 degree summer day in Dallas? I miss having a basement for storage (68 cool degrees on a hot summer day)from my home in St. Louis and often wondered what the temps are in attics here in the dead of summer. I would guess 130-140 degrees as an estimate. Not too good for storing a number of items at that temp.

Yes as an Inspector I have seen them as high as 175 Degrees. Even with good ventilation they can still reach high temperatures.

[skids929]

Originally Posted by MurphyPl1

There's a reason we have so many storage places around. ;-)

Is this what people do down there? I still can't get my head around not having a basement for storage. And the thought of putting my belongings in storage is a real turn off. A three car garage seems like a pre-req for someone used to basements.

[Johnhw2]

Originally Posted by skids929

Is this what people do down there? I still can't get my head around not having a basement for storage. And the thought of putting my belongings in storage is a real turn off. A three car garage seems like a pre-req for someone used to basements.

Yes the garage temp is better than the attic. Building a larger than standard 3 car garage with storage would be the way to go on a new home. My basement in NJ was damp however, but at least not hot. By damp I mean high humidity not water in the basement.

[Pete53FR]

If you have a basement in Dallas it is likely to flood when we have lots of rain.

[ggolf]

Originally Posted by Pete53FR

If you have a basement in Dallas it is likely to flood when we have lots of rain.

If you have a basement in Dallas you have a lot more to worry about than flooding. Like your house's frame will be compromised. There's a reason there are no basements here with this garbage clay soil.

[Double-G]

Originally Posted by ggolf

If you have a basement in Dallas you have a lot more to worry about than flooding. Like your house's frame will be compromised. There's a reason there are no basements here with this garbage clay soil.

Not true.

You can easily build a basement in Dallas if you want to. To do it properly is eye-wateringly expensive for the vast majority of builders and customers.

The last one I saw had quadruple-rebarred concrete that was several feet thick to start with.

It was sweet but it wasn't what most of you would call affordable.