Finish Off Attic Space

Stairs can take up a lot of space in both the attic and in the floor below so they are important considerations for planning.

Finish off attic space.

Every attic is different but a few established norms and practices will guide your renovation. Finishing your attic can add space and utility and increase the value of your home as long as it s done properly. Don t mash or compress the insulation into the space. The botton story has an 8 ceiling with can lights.

For a finished attic to be to code it must satisfy the same living requirements of other rooms sometimes called the rule of sevens any living space in a home needs to have at least 7 feet 2 1 m of clearance from the floor to the ceiling and there needs to be at least 70 square feet of space available at least 7 feet 2 1 m in each direction. 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. Finishing an attic space. At the lyons house this meant that only a portion of the attic was usable though some of the low clearance area was tapped for storage.

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. When done without proper planning or adherence to local building codes it can actually reduce the value of your home or stall a sale. Just because it seems like there is enough space in your attic to be converted into a finished room doesn t mean it s actually a good idea to try it. Staple insulation between the wall studs and ceiling joists image a.

It needs a certain amount of loft to work properly. Most of the time it turns out to be unfeasible and here are the four main reasons why we usually don t see these projects move forward. Step 1 check the ceiling height. Finished attics need stairs that meet all of the standard staircase requirements.

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. 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. So if you re planning to get a few years of use out of it the investment might make more sense. Use r 30 insulation for the ceiling and r 13 for the walls.

Here are some must do tips to follow when finishing your attic. In general stairs must be at least 3 feet wide and provide at least 6 feet 8 inches of headroom. Just keep structure safety and purpose in mind as you plan out your new space. The building is 20 x10.

If building a knee wall for storage like karl did with this project make sure to insulate that area as well. User 3093107 posted in construction techniques on september 16 2020 09 17pm i m building an outdoor office for my wife. Follow the rule of 7s. Building code also requires that the.

For the right home and market a finished attic can feel like a cherry on top of the property.