What my attic can or can't be?

Just bought a 1 story home with some attic space. The largest part of the attic is about 6ft tall at its peak. The lower section of the attic/house is a few feet shorter. Im well versed in electrical work but not structural work so my question is....does this attic appear as if it can withstand some storage? There is mostly not a floor, besides a small catwalk and I am hoping that i can install some flooring and use this space for storage. Ive heard that some attics are built to bear some storage load and others are built to only hold the floor/ceiling weight.

Any advice/opinions would be much appreciated.
Thanks

PS, it says Im in south dakota but I meant to click south carolina. haha.

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This is a UK based forum and most people won't be familiar with American construction techniques and standards.

Without scale it's difficult to say what size those timbers are but they look flimsy to me. And don't you have any insulation?

dmj81wv said:

Just bought a 1 story home with some attic space. The largest part of the attic is about 6ft tall at its peak. The lower section of the attic/house is a few feet shorter. Im well versed in electrical work but not structural work so my question is....does this attic appear as if it can withstand some storage? There is mostly not a floor, besides a small catwalk and I am hoping that i can install some flooring and use this space for storage. Ive heard that some attics are built to bear some storage load and others are built to only hold the floor/ceiling weight.

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Attics in the UK are always built to withstand a storage load of at least 25kg/m2 (5.11lb/sq ft). This usually includes any boarding that you use. I would think that you would have a similar allowance in the USA, but I can't say for certain.

Someone better with numbers here might be able to better interpret this information, but this seems to suggest.....

http://www.awc.org/technical/spantables/tutorial.html

Attic floors with limited storage L/240 & 10 psf.

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I have no idea what 10 pounds per square feet practically translates to.

AronSearle said:

I have no idea what 10 pounds per square feet practically translates to.

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Not a lot - at a guess my size 8s cover 2/3rds of a square foot - and carry 150lbs

Joist span/load tables are no use with trusses.
The trusses shown look very lightly constructed and probably won't be intended for more than 10psf.
Just some chipboard, with storage for light items, suitcases etc.