What’s the difference?
Ever notice that when you see most modern-day house plays, the bonus room always happens to be directly above the garage? What is a bonus room? How is it different than an attic? How much do they cost?
The attic of any gable or hip roof building is simply the area inside the roof portion of the building. Generally speaking, it is an area designated for insulation of the home and ventilation for your roof. Sizes will vary depending on the size and pitch of the roof. Some attics are large enough and designed strong enough to allow the owner an area for storage with an access panel to get in and out on occasion. When does this attic become an actual room?
When designing the truss for the roof of any area, you may find that matching the pitch of the house creates an area that is large enough that you want to have easy access to and take full advantage of in the way of a bonus room. Trusses are then engineered to provide the maximum living space while also designed with the same strength engineered for living space in your home. These areas have sub-floors similar to the main home 3/4 tongue and groove for example and are insulated to be finished on the inside walls with drywall or something similar. Pull-down stairs or ladders are replaced with a permanent set of steps. In cases of attached garages, provisions are often made to access from the second level with doorways.
We call the Bonus rooms because once you have determined that you want the increased pitch on the garage for whatever reason it may be. The cost to engineer it and finish it is often much less than any other room in your home. Even in cases of unfinished garages, a bonus room can be a great source of cheap storage.