How To Work In Attic Without Floor

Always cover the tops of the ceiling joists to make sure the insulation is deep enough to reach your target r value and to prevent thermal bridging the heat loss that occurs through the wood framing.

How to work in attic without floor.

What you must do is prevent heat from migrating down into the home. The trail you leave in the attic can easily end up tracing a path on the ceiling below. However if your attic has blocked soffit vents and is not well sealed from the rest of the house attic fans will suck cool conditioned air up out of the house and into the. Adding an attic fan can improve the airflow in your attic to keep it cool.

Exposed floor joists can cause condensation on the inside of the ceiling peeling paint and nail rusting. You ll have to construct a wooden frame or sub floor with boards 16 inches apart to provide extra support for the floor. Attic fans are intended to cool hot attics by drawing in cooler outside air from attic vents soffit and gable and pushing hot air to the outside. Once constructed it may be difficult or impossible to retrofit this without major work to the structure.

To floor an attic you ll need to install a sub floor for support before laying your plywood floor. First you ll need to measure the area you want to floor so you can calculate how much wood you ll require. Work from the perimeter of the attic toward the door or hatch so that you don t trample all over the insulation you just put in. There will be a large number of very sharp and rusty.

Gather all your tools and supplies before you begin to minimize trips in and out of the attic. To ensure that the attic fan is working properly you need to make sure that your attic is sealed up tight where it touches the ceiling of the top floor. Be sure that the work area is well lit by using a drop light and keep a flashlight handy. The key to any successful home improvement project is adequate planning.

In order to facilitate this exchange of warm and cool air the general rule of thumb suggests installing at least 1 sq. Attic fans push out the hot air and pull in the cool air from the vents installed on your roof. To eliminate a hot attic you should consider a plan that includes radiant barriers and proper ventilation this is always best done when the home is under construction. Modifying an attic floor s joist system is a job for the pros.

Tips for working in the attic have a plan in place. Once you have your footing solid don t forget to wear a thick hat if not a construction helmet. Even easier you can also use a prefabricated attic floor kit designed specifically to raise the attic floor above the insulation. For example loftzone storefloor is lightweight and very easy to install.

An attic conversion is a great way to expand your home s living space but best to leave the work to a licensed contractor. This allows the full depth of attic insulation to work as intended.