Changing Attic Joists For Living Room

Attic hatch or door.

Changing attic joists for living room.

Converting an attic into a living space is a great method of adding another room to the house but it is not a job for the average diy person. The attic space is 22 on the side parallel to the trusses 28 on the other side. It s a 12 12 roof so that s a good 11 at the ridge which even with new floor joists and a 5 knee wall should be plenty of room for a nice space. The new attic plan needs to provide access to each part of the attic.

Add weatherstripping around the perimeter and a sweep to the door of a walk up attic. I ve got a question i would like to convert the attic above my garage into a living space. Access is not an issue as it s also in front of another room upstairs that i can put a door in the wall. There s plenty of room to make a 12 x 12 room with 10 foot ceiling at its peak.

A vaulted ceiling also turns a large volume of former attic space into living space that must be heated and cooled. Reclaiming the space under your roof also avoids many zoning and easement concerns common chores when adding onto a house. Sistering installing new larger joists next to the existing ones is one way to bring your attic floor up to code. The trusses are double cantilever style.

Stacking joists is not nearly as stable as sistering which braces the joists against twisting. Technical issues such as locating a safe staircase and the distribution of additional joists required to accommodate the new load bearing and stress factors. Often existing joist bays are filled with electrical and heating ducts that will need to be relocated. You can probably walk across the edge of a 2x6 joist but if you stack the joists two high and try to walk across your last name better be wallenda.

Use a zippered insulated tent to keep the enclosure draft free attic tent at 7 attic cover insulator 120. Affix rigid foam insulation to the attic side of the hatch or door. Think of it like this. If your attic joists won t bear the weight necessary to finish out a living space but the engineer cleared them to support floor decking for light storage you can install inch plywood or.

Once you convert attic space into living space you need to bring it up to the standards of modern building codes. Pull down stair or ladder. Positioning the new joist adjacent to the existing preserves precious ceiling but it does come with some potential complications. An attic bedroom exploits roof space previously devoted to high school yearbooks and nesting sparrows.

Not so with stacked joists. Blocking solves the problem.