Finish Unfinished Attic

Every attic is different but a few established norms and practices will guide your renovation.

Finish unfinished attic.

Converting your attic into usable finished space can increase the value of your home by maximizing the available square footage. In a tight attic space finishing the walls and ceiling is especially important. This attic was divided into three zones. Converting an attic to a living area yields a modest return on your investment.

Access to a finished attic finished attics need stairs that meet all of the standard staircase requirements. A contractor or a local building official can help you assess how the rule will apply to your attic and how modifications like dormers can resolve height shortcomings. Cost skill level start to finish 2 days. To give the bathroom a spa like feel luxe features were added like a soaker tub a frameless shower enclosure a new toilet complete with heated seat and led lights marble and glass mosaic tiles and a crystal chandelier.

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. The lyons used a web of 16 inch deep engineered trusses to accommodate wiring plumbing and ductwork then topped the plywood subfloor with oak or tile. That s measured after you finish the ceiling. An attic bedroom exploits roof space previously devoted to high school yearbooks and nesting sparrows.

Attic floors generally need to be reinforced with additional joists and a subfloor. If you don t have enough height you ll have to raise the roof line and that adds a lot to your construction costs. If your home is smaller than other homes in your area or simply lacks the necessary amount of storage or living space for your family finishing your attic is a relatively inexpensive way to increase your usable space. 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.

In general stairs must be at least 3 feet wide and provide at least 6 feet 8 inches of headroom. Stairs can take up a lot of space in both the attic and in the floor below so they are important considerations for planning. Follow the rule of 7s. Learn how to finish an attic s walls and ceiling with these easy step by step directions.

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. In rare cases especially in new construction homes the attic may have been built unfinished with the correct flooring in place with the idea that the homeowner could later on finish the space. First check for head clearance. Nail gun level.

In most cases though the joists cannot support live loads and may not even be covered with boards.