new house, empty loft

Trendygran yes, I was widowed and just sorting and downsizing the house and garage was very difficult and shattering, all that `just in case` stuff for building works, diy etc. If we had a loft here, it would have needed doing too and at 70+ no way did I want to be carrying stuff down. At my family home, I do recollect having a big landing, pull down stairs, pulled with a pole, then dropping things onto a thick duvet on the landing floor because that type of stair is dangerous if not using two hands.

I have already downsized the christmas things and am minimal in that area, a scandinavian wooden collapsible tree in a skinny box and space for the hanging decor that I have still to knit or carve. One christmas tree bag full plus one skinny tree box and that is it, they will store on a garage shelf and for those I use bigdug ie nothing permanent

Phew, very glad I asked for your opinions and recommendations and am also bearing in mind that the insulation will do its job best if left unobstructed

ok, thanks to your many interesting posts I have made my mind up. I even looked at electric remote controlled loft ladders yesterday but I will be ignoring the loft. Reading the posts gave me a flashback to when we did have a loft full of stuff and the skip that we had to order. We had an extending ladder in those days and they are still dangerous due to carrying stuff with one hand

I already have stairs, deliberately wanted stairs to keep the muscles on my legs. I have very many suitcases right now but am keeping them purely for moving house, later I will decide which couple to keep and take the rest to the hospice shop. Me too, I have spent many months downsizing stuff and loft space would be too tempting

We have a loft accessed only by the outside climbing up a normal ladder, which I think is very treacherous at the best of times and in the winter almost impossible.My Husband climbed up to leave the Christmas decorations there a month ago, next day he had a heart attack!Thank goodness this didnt happen when he was on the ladder.I have asked so many times why we cant have access from inside the house, one of those extending ladders would be so much safer, but even after the event he wont hear of it, whether it is the cost I dont know, but I think safety is more important than cost.What do I do, any suggestions please?

I would ignore the loft I think. The one thing I was very grateful about when I had to downsize after being widowed, was that we had previously cleared the loft of toys,prams,etc etc. and left it empty. Moving was hard enough but having to clear the loft on my own would have been horrible.

I’d be lost without a loft. Where else do you keep the Christmas decorations, Christmas wrapping paper, summer fan/winter heater, suit cases and bags, the empty box from the last big thing you bought in case it needs to go back, boxes of left over wool and material........

And its an excellent place to hide precious things when you go away and children’s presents which you don’t want them to find.

When my DH, boyfriend at the time, moved in with me and sold his house he had to clear his loft. Believe it or not, he had to confess that he had a full car, in bits, up there and heaven knows how many bits of motorbike. Our loft in our current house isn't very accessible for me, which he likes, but I worry what's up there sometimes.

We moved into a new build bungalow two years ago, and it was recommended that we didn't use the loft for storage. We looked at other new build estates and were told the same. The ceilings in our house are high, so I wouldn't be keen to be going up and down to a loft now. Unfortunately, it means that our garage is the new loft! Those of our neighbours who have only two bedroom homes don't have garages. The first thing they all did was get large sheds for the back garden.

I wish I'd pretended our loft is not there. Until the loft ladder was installed only DH could get into the loft by striding across from the top of a step ladder, I didn't dare. So not much went into the loft. DH is very tall and was overweight when the loft ladder was installed and found he didn't have enough wiggle room at the top of the ladder to launch himself into the loft. I could (and still can) get into the loft fairly easily. I'm horrified at what is in the loft even after a purge a few years ago. It is all quite tidy, though, and I have details in a notebook of what is up there. There is no roofing felt under the tiles, only mortar much of which is gradually falling off so the loft is a rather dirty, gritty place and I move around gingerly on the rafters, there are a few floor boards down but not fixed so a bit wobbly.

We recently moved and have a fairly decent sized loft, so we had a loft ladder installed - very reasonable cost - so that if we do want to store things up there, and I think we will, then we won't have to struggle with ladders or hoisting yourself through the hole. It is telescopic, very light and easy to use.

Recently moved to a new house and made the decision not to use the loft. Don't miss it at all. Most of my friends have lofts full of things they will never use and which they now have difficulty accessing. If you put something in a loft, chances are you will never use it again!

If you new house is a new build ypu may find that there isn't actually much room up there. Many houses today are built with the roof struts being strngthened by wooden cross members because it cheaper to build this way. With this type of construction there isnt much space for moving around up there. So I am with the others who say don't use it at all. I am so happy we don't have a loft in our house now. Just a deep undereaves cupboard in the spare bedroom which we can access easily.

I guess if it's a new house it will be well insulated but if not, that's what I would do.
How I wish we hadn't accumulated 40 yrs of junk in ours.
It depresses me but how to go about clearing it?
School books, ladybird books, recipe books,
Dressing up clothes, homemade clothes, baby clothes.
Lego, jigsaw, dinky cars,
Legless chairs, spare pillows, pressure cooker.
Sorry that's a start. If I make a list I thought it would help.

Depends on how nimble you are I guess. If you are fit and can climb up a pull down loft ladder; then go ahead if you are desperately short of storage. If not, forget it's there. You could try to live a more minimalist life without too much clutter.

If simple things though, like Christmas decorations, suitcases etc. are impossible to find a home for in your main living area; then have it boarded out and get a safe pull down ladder. A lot of expense to store those items though.

I've been trying in the past couple of years to declutter for when we take the plunge (gulp, I will be heartbroken) and move from here. Managed to clear the 'dirty' loft (not boarded, lots of dust and spiders) completely. The under eaves, boarded and clean side is still a job to tackle. Some of our boys keepsakes and lots of suitcases we will never use again.

I wouldn't go there unless you really are stuck as it's such a pain to clear them out.

Get someone in to fit a safe, retractable ladder and board your loft.

Whatever you do don't let anyone else fill it. After years of storing children's stuff as they went through uni and now finally getting rid of most of it back to them as they have their own homes, my lodger has moved in so much stuff I think half of it ll have to go up there. I've never been in my attic, I don't 'do' attics. I think that means everyone else thinks they can fill mine!

About 20 years ago we lived in a bungalow with a loft, accessed by a let-down ladder. The central heating boiler was up there too.
Husband boarded it out, and put a couple of velux windows in, and electric connection. we used to go up there to use our 'puters. And even had visitors sleeping there once.
But neither of us are nimble enough now to do that.
If we were still there it would have to be a proper staircase.
Those ladders are for younger folk.

We have nothing in our loft. (Apart from the water tanks).

An empty loft that stays empty is my dream

Never been in my loft and don't intend to! The trauma of emptying the last one ready to move house was enough. 'Suitcases, Christmas decs and 'stuff' goes in the shed now. The charity shop does well though - the more often you see the clutter, the less you want to hang on to it!

I've recently moved and cleared 2 lofts - my sons went up and got the stuff down and I sorted. Some was stuff that the previous owner put there, other stuff had been there since we moved.
I also had a cellar (which I could access with difficulty) and it was crammed full. Lots of stuff was damp, dirty and unpleasant and, again, stuff from the previous owner. I spent weeks clearing this and thinking "I'm too old for this heavy work".
My new house has neither a loft or cellar and it is a great relief.

We moved into a house with two large lofts two years ago, and we have managed to ignore them. Both are difficult of access. We put down insulation in the bigger loft, and I spent ages on an aluminium ladder trying to persuade the cat who had gone up the ladder happily, but didn't dare try to come down it, that my shoulder was a suitable alternative to the ladder.

We do have two small attics at each end of our bedroom, where we store Christmas decorations and suitcases.

Having cleared my parents' house and our flat when we moved, I am determined not to hold on to things we never use.

My strong advice is to keep it empty. We have moved many times, and had nightmares clearing, sorting and carting loft contents. We have stored endless 'stuff' for the children which they didn't want to part with but didn't want cluttering their homes, and in the end it all went to the charity shops. We now have an empty loft, and it is going to stay that way.

I can’t give any advice because when we downsized the first time, our huge loft with 30 years plus of ours, children’s, grandparents ‘carp’ took us a lot of clearing, charity shops, etc. (Our son took a lot so guess what his loft is like!) Then we bought a house with several smaller lofts which we filled. Then we downsized again to a bungalow with a HUGE loft which we swore we wouldn’t fill. Then our daughter moved and put a lot of her stuff that she didn’t need immediately in our loft ‘for the time being’! Now our loft is full to the gunnels. I worry about it all, daughter swears she will move it to her empty loft but it never gets done. I don’t want to leave this massive job and our son will feel he has to take it all again - he’s much more emotionally attached to things than our daughter.

A few years ago we emptied our loft before we got to the age we'd need to get a handyman up the ladder every time we wanted something. It's empty now, and it feels good every time I think about it It's healthier for the roof timbers, too

After our fire in 2015 the whole house was completely emptied, loft included. I swore I’d keep it empty bar the essential eg Christmas stuff, but reckoned without DH’s hoarding instincts.