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Old 04-17-2008, 03:01 PM
 
172 posts, read 508,735 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by momof2dfw View Post
No, it is the opposite. Some people only go in their attic to get Christmas decorations down and put them back up. In the garage it is a LOT more accessible. You do NOT want it in the attic if it has a leak and no pan underneath it ! As for the filters, the air returns are located IN the house and not in the attic.
Yea, last thing you want is your water heater falling thru the roof of your home like a circus clown shot out of a cannon.

How about a tankless system?
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Old 04-17-2008, 03:37 PM
 
23 posts, read 106,687 times
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Wow! Thanks so much for all of the responses! Have had attics in all of our homes over the years - most with the pull-down stairs - and one with an actual staircase! Sounds like we won't have a problem finding a home there with some form of attic space. Would you say there is any difference in the attic space in older vs. newer homes? Or ramblers vs. two-story ones? Thanks again!
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Old 04-17-2008, 05:15 PM
 
68 posts, read 279,742 times
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Be aware that attics in TX do get very very hot in the summer months! So, you will not want to store those candles up there....or any other precious items like books and photos!

We were lucky, when living in TX, we had an extra room in the house we used as storage. We also stored a lot in our garage (having a 3-car garage really helps!!). We have now a storage room in the basement..and you cannot compare that to an attic in TX

In TX we also had our 2 water heaters in the attic and had a leak and had to fix several bedroom ceilings below

So, when when you are looking at homes....remember having water heaters in the attic can be very "painful"... and it helps to have plenty of garage space.

Good luck
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Old 04-17-2008, 05:56 PM
 
Location: la hacienda
2,256 posts, read 9,746,081 times
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We have a water heater in our attic, I don't like the idea at all. We also have another in our downstairs mud room closet.
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Old 04-18-2008, 08:17 AM
 
Location: Richardson, TX
8,734 posts, read 13,788,315 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rosie View Post
Be aware that attics in TX do get very very hot in the summer months! So, you will not want to store those candles up there....or any other precious items like books and photos!



Good luck
No kidding, I put in a radiant heat barrier and it worked very well, and was immediately cooler.
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Old 04-18-2008, 10:26 AM
 
172 posts, read 508,735 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PanTerra View Post
No kidding, I put in a radiant heat barrier and it worked very well, and was immediately cooler.
Lot of builders are now putting that in as a standard feature.
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Old 04-18-2008, 10:27 AM
 
3,810 posts, read 8,721,324 times
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I have no data to back this up, but I suspect the newer homes have more attic space than the older homes. Mostly due to the higher pitch roofs meaning more accessibility.

Although you have to watch out for companies like Grand that will create "niches" and cute "cubbies" by sheetroocking in some of that space. They get to add "square footage" and it looks neat but in the end you've got space you can't do anything with in your game room or kids room that could've been put to better use as accessible attic space.

I will say you need to check that out when you are looking at homes. We love the storage features on this house. We've got a walkout attic over our bedroom from the game room which makes it nice for me to store all of our many holiday decorations. And then we've got space over the garage which will be more accessible this summer when DH adds a walkway from the walk-out attic over to the garage (it's the same space but not walkable yet). And then an attic over the third floor for the stuff we are storing for the long term.

Oh and one other thing we love is the closet under the stairs. We've got the curved staircase, but because it's in the center of the house, we actually have an access door on the back from another hallway. So I can actually access things at both ends without climbing around in there. And it came in handy at the Halloween Party when we turned it into a haunted house.
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Old 04-18-2008, 10:37 AM
 
Location: Richardson, TX
8,734 posts, read 13,788,315 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GHJohn View Post
Lot of builders are now putting that in as a standard feature.
That's the best time to put it in. Wednesday, I was in a day long conference on the future through environmental innovation, hosted ny the North Texas Association of Environmental Professionals. One of the course tracks was on innovative designs in residential and commercial buildings. Some facinating stuff.
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Old 04-18-2008, 05:13 PM
 
Location: Texas
37 posts, read 106,822 times
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You can store boxes and such in the attic, however it can't be converted to a room. I would look at homes with extra storage some where else in the house. Some homes have a large closet under the stairs (if it is a 2 story) that can be used for storage.
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Old 04-19-2008, 07:45 PM
 
134 posts, read 1,220,620 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GHJohn View Post
I'd think that having the hot water heater in the attic would allow it to get lot more attention than just sticking it in a closet in the garage. Especially since you have to go up there to swap out the filters on the AC.
Thank goodness my current home doesn't have any air filters in the attic. One of my homes does have a filter in the attic and because we hated going up there it never got changed as often as the others. In that house the water heater is in a closet in the garage but in the home I live in the water heater is in a walk-in section of the attic which is above the garage and has a drain pan that leads out the side of the house. There shouldn't be any overflow of the pan with good maintenance.
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