Attic vs. Loft: What's the Difference?

Main Difference

The main difference between Attic and Loft is that the Attic is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building and Loft is a near-roof part of a building

• Attic

  An attic (sometimes referred to as a loft) is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a sky parlor or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the top floor of a building and the slanted roof, they are known for being awkwardly shaped spaces with exposed rafters and difficult-to-reach corners.

  While some attics are converted into bedrooms, home offices, or attic apartments complete with windows and staircases, most remain difficult to access (and are usually entered using a loft hatch and ladder). Attics are generally used for storage, though they can also help control temperatures in a house by providing a large mass of slowly moving air. The hot air rising from the lower floors of a building is often retained in attics, further compounding their reputation as inhospitable environments. However, in recent years attics have been insulated to help decrease heating costs, since, on average, uninsulated attics account for 15 percent of the total energy loss in average houses.A loft is also the uppermost space in a building but is distinguished from an attic in that an attic typically constitutes an entire floor of the building, while a loft covers only a few rooms, leaving one or more sides open to the lower floor.

• Loft

  A bunk bed loft can be an upper storey or attic in a building, directly under the roof (US usage) or just a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (British usage). A loft apartment refers to large adaptable open space, often converted for residential use (a converted loft) from some other use, often light industrial. Adding to the confusion, some converted lofts include upper open loft areas. Within certain upper loft areas exist even further lofts, which may contain loft areas of their own, and so forth.

• Attic (noun)

  The space, often unfinished and with sloped walls, directly below the roof in the uppermost part of a house or other building, generally used for storage or habitation.

  “We went up to the attic to look for the boxes containing our childhood keepsakes.”

• Loft (noun)

  air, the air; the sky, the heavens.

• Loft (noun)

  An attic or similar space (often used for storage) in the roof of a house or other building.

• Loft (noun)

  The thickness of a soft object when not under pressure.

• Loft (noun)

  A gallery or raised apartment in a church, hall, etc.

  “an organ loft”

• Loft (noun)

  The pitch or slope of the face of a golf club (tending to drive the ball upward).

• Loft (noun)

  A floor or room placed above another.

• Loft (verb)

  To propel high into the air.

• Loft (verb)

  To fly or travel through the air, as though propelled

• Loft (verb)

  To throw the ball erroneously through the air instead of releasing it on the lane’s surface.

• Loft (adjective)

  lofty; proud; haughty

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