An attic can be finished and used for a variety of different rooms such as a bedroom sewing room bonus room storage space or even a playroom for children.
Finishing off attic space.
At least 50 step 2 make sure the attic has a full size staircase.
When done without proper planning or adherence to local building codes it can actually reduce the value of your home or stall a sale.
Follow the rule of 7s.
In most cases though the joists cannot support live loads and may not even be covered with boards.
Here are some must do tips to follow when finishing your attic.
Finishing the attic into liveable space nets an average of 9 3 out of 10 joy score or sense of happiness the owners have upon completion on nar s renovation report.
To meet all three goals insulating your finished attic ventilating the roof and maximizing headroom use a combination of dense batt insulation rigid foam sheeting and air chutes.
Figure you ll need to beef up the floor insulate and more.
Every attic is different but a few established norms and practices will guide your renovation.
Staple insulation between the wall studs and ceiling joists image a.
If you re finishing your attic insulating it to the proper r value can cause a dramatic loss of headroom if you limit yourself to fiberglass batts.
In general stairs must be at least 3 feet wide and provide at least 6 feet 8 inches of headroom.
For the right home and market a finished attic can feel like a cherry on top of the property.
Access and egress code generally requires a full size staircase with a minimum 6 foot 8 inch clearance above it.
Stairs can take up a lot of space in both the attic and in the floor below so they are important considerations for planning.
It needs a certain amount of loft to work properly.
Just keep structure safety and purpose in mind as you plan out your new space.
So if you re planning to get a few years of use out of it the investment might make more sense.
Building code also requires that the.
Don t mash or compress the insulation into the space.
Step 1 check the ceiling height.
Use r 30 insulation for the ceiling and r 13 for the walls.
Access to a finished attic finished attics need stairs that meet all of the standard staircase requirements.
Finishing your attic can add space and utility and increase the value of your home as long as it s done properly.
Remodeling an attic requires only a.
Enforcement varies but codes typically say that at least half of a finished attic must be at least 7 feet high and that this area must be a minimum of 7 feet wide and 70 square feet.
If building a knee wall for storage like karl did with this project make sure to insulate that area as well.