Taken from: http://www.onthehouse.com/wp/20040621

Attic Dek®

Need additional storage space for luggage, holiday decorations and the like? Don't rule out the attic.

Laying sheets of plywood in the attic during new home construction is a simple and inexpensive task. However, if you're already in your home, fitting a 4-foot by 8-foot sheet of plywood through the attic access might be a problem. Planking can be easier to get through the opening, but can be a heavier load on the ceiling than is plywood. We aren't against using plywood or planking as attic flooring. There are, however, some disadvantages to constructing a wood floor in the attic:

• Most attics are filled with wiring and piping. Attaching plywood or wood planking to the ceiling joist can conceal these items and make wiring or plumbing modifications later difficult.

• Plywood is heavy and cumbersome. That weight could cause ceiling sag.

That's why we were impressed when we discovered a new attic flooring product called Attic Dek®. The product is a floor system consisting of nothing more than 16-inch-square plastic panels that look like drainage grates. Each panel or high-impact plastic tile, if you prefer, looks like a tic-tac-toe board because it is filled with a symmetrical pattern of square holes. The holes make each panel lighter, less expensive to manufacture and buy. And, they provide a way to view wiring or piping that would otherwise be hidden by a solid flooring system. Each panel is attached to the top of the ceiling joist with five screws and is configured to interlock with other adjoining panels. Removing a panel later is as simple as removing the five screws used to mount it.

The Attic Dek® has been designed to work with ceiling joist that are 16 inches on center, which is disappointing for those with attic joist that are 24 inches apart*. Fortunately, the inventor and owner of the company intends to release a 2-foot panel later on this year. For more information on Attic Dek®, contact them on the web at www.atticdek.com.

* Since this article was published, Attic Dek® has released a 24" panel.