Attic Stuffed With Construction Materials

Staple insulation between the wall studs and ceiling joists image a.

Attic stuffed with construction materials.

Full of old trunks and boxes. If you are just looking for extra storage space consider the minimalist approach of installing flooring in just part of the attic. The opening around a furnace or water heater flue or chimney can be a major source of warm air moving into the attic. It needs a certain amount of loft to work properly.

Building codes vary. Use r 30 insulation for the ceiling and r 13 for the walls. You might open up your attic and find bare joists with fiberglass or cellulose insulation between the joists. Don t mash or compress the insulation into the space.

This truss is commonly used over garages to create a bonus room but sometimes the space becomes bedrooms offices or even second living rooms. Because the pipe gets hot building codes usually require 1 inch of clearance from metal flues 2 inches from masonry chimneys to any combustible material including insulation. The best approach for a vented attic in a cold climate is installing a layer of drywall with a good coat of latex paint the paint creates a semi permeable vapor barrier. Roofing panels can get wet when design or construction flaws allow moisture in when ice dams damage shingles or when strong winds and storms damage the roofing.

A naked light bulb hanging from the center cast an amber glow. Construction design attic truss an attic truss is a type of roof truss with an integrated living space built into its design. For example if your attic is accessed through a hatchway or dropdown ladder you can install a few thin plywood panels across the joists or attic trusses within reach of the hatchway. The insulation fiberglass or cellulose is then placed on top of the drywall with no vapor barrier above or below.

Draftstopping draftstop is defined by the international building code as. Wet roofing panels have even less of a chance of drying in an unventilated attic when insulation has been applied directly to the underside of the roofing panels. In order to facilitate this exchange of warm and cool air the general rule of thumb suggests installing at least 1 sq. The attic in my great grandmother mimi s home in kensington md a big old victorian with a view of the railroad tracks in the distance was a cabinet of wonders.

Of vent for every 300 sq. You can sister the joists by cutting 2 x8 boards the same length as the joists applying construction adhesive and affixing each to a joist with nails.