[NoRoadtrippin]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I think breaking down TR's post will be the most efficient way to respond.

Originally Posted by The Reaper

Interesting concept.

1. How are you going to use that space in the summer outside of the insulated and conditioned space? Many things, including ammo, do not like being stored in warm areas. Guns don't like humidity, either. My attic used to hit 140 degrees plus in the summer here in NC, and about five minutes was all I could stand.

This space will be fully insulated obviously. The walls will have fiberglass in them, and of course the new ceiling areas will as well. AC/Heat will run off of the system already in the house. I had it looked at earlier this year when it needed a refill and the HVAC pro confidently said it was a ton larger than I needed and that my plans for additional space would not stress it. There will not be a separate zone and thermostat installed. Therefore it will always likely be slightly warmer or cooler than the house below with respect to whatever season we are in. I also plan to install some combination of either a double sided radiant foil film or sheathing to keep the uninsulated space from getting quite as hot during the summer months which should assist with keeping the new construction a bit more comfortable.

2. Packed or compressed insulation loses a lot of its R value.

I am not packing or compressing any insulation whatsoever. This is why I cleaned off the current 2x8s before installing my new subflooring. There is of course some sporadic compression here and there as I stepped across some beams or laid a piece of wood down and it might have fallen between two beams and squished a bit, but nowhere is there anything compressed by design. The R-30 is rated to loft 9 3/4", IIRC, which is why I then added a couple of inches of cellulose back to each cavity after putting down the 2x12s to fill the remaining space.

3. I would be very careful of the loads you are adding to the truss system. The manufactured ones are normally built to a small safety factor. A room full of guns and lead, probably not a good idea.

My house is not built on trusses at all. That's why I am able to do this. If I had trusses in the attic, I would have no open space. Especially if it were that manufactured crap. As far as my load on the ceiling below, the new main room has a number of load-bearing walls running below it. Those 2x12s I put in have a quite a lot of support up under them. Above, there are some strong backs here and there that provide some support to the roof joists that are running longer spans, but those have been taken into consideration and will either be left in place or compensated for by the new walls going in--which in most cases will catch those beams at a very similar spot. The laminated beam across the garage is actually my weakest link. Its about 16" tall but spans something like 23'. I have talked with the local lumber shop to get numbers from the data sheet on it. I will be close to my limits on it, but I am doing some things in that area to avoid going past the boundary. Of course those limits are, in reality, based on a very heavy snow load. The other 99 years ouyt of every 100, I will be good to go. It's an acceptable risk in my mind. Global warming, right? The other weak link is the safe room span. The room of "guns and lead" sits on (2) 2x12s pattern nailed together to effectively serve as beams across those open areas between two walls in the house below. Those (2) 2x12s don't span more than 8' in either case and as such should be well within the limits for holding up that room. The 2x12s I put in that area also have been supported along their length so that they do not flex and sag without having to first flex the ceiling beams below them. It could happen, but I also don't have as much ammo as some might.

4. Fire egress from the multiple areas?

I don't suppose there will be much fire egress honestly. This is a space in which you would only be up there wide awake and aware of what is going on. Now I understand that doesn't totally eliminate the need to get out in a hurry, but I guess I mean that to say that it won't be the type place where you might wake up after the house has been burning for a period and now you have no way out. At the end of the day, I will admit there are some concessions made as it isn't "living space." And I live in the country...codes? What codes?

5. How do you protect your safe room from an intruder? Are you going to reinforce the walls?

The safe room is protected from an intruder by its very nature. No one knows its there. It isn't really meant to provide security like a safe does. A safe has to be inherently secure because anyone who comes into your bedroom/garage/workshop sees it sitting right there asking to be busted up. My room will be in my inaccessible attic, and even then will be hidden from view to anyone that I don't care to show it to. When someone breaks into your house, you think they look at the attic pull down and think, "Let's go get his Christmas decorations!"? Again, it could happen, but the risk reduction measure here isn't secure-ness, instead is out of sight, out of mind. With all that in mind, I have been looking at putting additional sheathing on the outside of that room so that it would take pulling panels off rather than just kicking them in to get into there if someone were ever in the rest of the attic and trying to force their way in from there.

6. Make sure that you are not keeping the attic ventilation system from working. Soffits and ridge vents need to be clear.

There is literally no place in the current layout that I will conflict with soffits or ridge vents. And ridge vents were put in by the builder as expected and necessary.

7. Consider the need for electrical drops, outlets, etc. in your finished spaces. Hopefully, there is no running water going in.

No, I will likely not have any water. There is electrical going in obviously for the items mentioned. We have put thought to routing from new walls and such down to the current breaker box and main. The attic already has a number of bare bulb lights put in by the builder. These established circuits should get me a good way to where I need to be.

8. Are you able to get 4x8 sheets of plywood in? If not, you will probably not be able to get sheets of drywall in either.

Yes. I have already taken up 10 sheets of 4x8. The old attic stairs are coming out in favor of a hoist driven elevator. The new opening will be a decent bit larger than what the stairs needed so I just went ahead and cut some sheet rock out of the garage ceiling to make a slot for my sheet goods. More to follow on the hoist. I promise, I've given it some thought as well.

Again, interesting project, not bashing, just curious. Keep us posted on your progress.

TR

Thanks again to everyone for thoughts and feedback. I will take all I can get. I actually started my college career as an architecture major and I have had a 20+ year contractor and custom home builder from work to come by and look at things and provide advice. I changed a number of things after talking to him. It will be a "man cave" in that it may not have every single consideration of true livable space taken account of, but it should be at least a 90% solution and both comfortable and safe enough for what it is.

As far as what else is going in...I do plan to have a bar and TV and couch area eventually. Beyond that, it will just be all the gear you can see in my cave from our first house in the original thread on this site (and maybe some new stuff too, hehe).