It wasn't the Attic from Little Women, but it sure proved useful

When we moved into our home, our attic was a mystery. The only access panel was a 14 by 14 inch panel tucked into the hallway. A person could put their head in it, but thats about it. I couldn't see anything, because there was no lighting, and couldn't tell whether or not any real insulation was up there. I suppose I could have stuffed one of my daughters up that hole with a flash light, but I never tried it.

After a couple of years, I had a client/carpenter friend of mine cut out a much larger hole in the ceiling of that hallway and put in a pull down ladder. Messy project, but it opened up a whole new realm up there. By then we had had our roof redone, and the entire space was covered in chunks of wood shingles and black soot, everywhere. What a mess.

The next time the attic entered our consciousness was when we were in preparation for putting in air conditioning. We had to upgrade the electrical lines that ran up there, and an electrician got to spend 2 weeks crawling around up there. He left each day looking so dirty it was unbelievable. When finished, the attic, and house was much safer. Then I myself got to play up there, building a platform on the joists for the air handler to sit on. The hvac contractor came in, and went to work, and made our house much more habitable, turning the attic into a jungle of flexible ductwork.

Last year, I built a walkway of platforms out of 2 by 8's and plywood to walk around on, filled them with insulation, then had the rest of the attic properly insulated. Now it mostly just sits there, happily quiet and empty. No kids play room, or anything fun, just a well wired, well insulated, and properly lit attic.