Even if your home is spotless, you may have clutter and garbage hiding in your attic. It's too easy to shove stuff in your attic and forget about it, so when you go to clean out your attic, the task can seem overwhelming. If you are about to clean out your attic for the first time in years, check out these four tips.
1. Make It Accessible
Before you head up to your attic and start tossing out items, you need to ensure you can actually access it. If you don’t have an attic ladder, find your sturdiest leaning ladder, which can mimic most attic ladders. If you have to use a step ladder, make sure you don't step on the top of the ladder. If you do have an installed attic ladder, make sure to test it before putting your weight and the weight of heavy boxes on it.
If your attic entry point is in the garage, clutter might prevent you from even reaching the attic entry. Cleaning this clutter gives you plenty of room to move around, which is essential if you are going to bring down boxes and items for tossing or donating.
2. Bring Some Light
Your attic may not have enough light for you to properly see, which can be incredibly dangerous. First, if you can't see where you are stepping, you may end up stepping on nails, tripping over boxes, or hitting your head. Plus, if you have any pests or critters in your attic, the light might scare them away or give you enough light to spot them.
Finally, one of the most important reasons for adequate lighting is so you can see where you are stepping. If you step directly onto the area between the joists and beams (where the insulation is installed), you can easily fall right through the ceiling. You should only walk on the joists/beams and any boards you've placed over the insulation. Just make sure the boards are supported by the joists and beams so they are taking the brunt of your weight.
3. Protect Yourself
Even with good lighting, you'll want to protect yourself when you head up to the attic. If the attic doesn't have enough room for you to fully stand, you may want to wear a hard hat to protect your head from bumps and potential protruding nails or screws. Naturally, you'll also want to wear sturdy shoes to protect your feet from nails, slivers, sharp metal, stubs, and much more.
Attics are often coated in dust and allergens. Whether or not you suffer from allergies, you may want to wear a protective mask and glasses so your lungs and eyes are safe from irritants. Ideally, you should also wear a long-sleeved shirt, pants, and gloves, but if you are cleaning your attic in the summer, make sure you don't get overheated.
4. Organize Items
When cleaning out the attic, don't just toss everything into one pile because you'll just have a second mess to clean. Instead, organize the items as you go by putting them in different piles: keep, donate, garbage, recycle, etc. However, when placing items in the garage pile, make sure you aren't tossing hazardous materials.
While most of the items in your attic can easily be tossed into a rental dumpster, some items are not allowed. These include items like batteries, paints, stains, fuels, propane tanks, and electronics. These items don't do well in landfills because they release dangerous chemicals that can get into the groundwater.
Cleaning out your attic may not be your ideal way to spend a weekend, but the rewarding feeling of a clean attic is worth it. If you are ready to clean out your attic,
contact us
at ESP Dumpsters and Waste Services to talk about dumpster rental.
