What are some considerations when remodeling an attic? What are things that absolutely must be done so that they don’t get too hot or too cold or insulation does not get all over the place?
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It’s tempting to think that some new stairs and some sheetrock will turn the attic into a new bedroom, but several important code and planning questions need to be answered immediately when considering an attic remodel. 1) Will your municipality’s planning code allow another floor of occupancy? Many residential zoning districts restrict the number of floors. 2) Can you meet code requirements for room ceiling heights? Buiding codes restrict the amount of a room that can have a sloped ceiling. 3) If you’re planning to add a bedroom, can you provide an emergency exit and rescue window? A skylight will generally not satisfy the requirement. 4) Is the existing framing strong enough to function as a floor? Most top floor ceilings require strengthening before they can be used as floors for a new story above. Depending on your location (I work in the San Francisco Bay Area, where seismic safety drives these issues), structural changes to the attic may require additional structural work all the way down to the foundation. 5) Do the stairs meet code requirements? The stairs to attic storage space rarely meet the requirements for stairs to habitable space. 6) To what extent willl heating, electrical, and plumbing systems need to be relocated? This can affect the cost significantly. 7) What will you do with the insulation? Most attics are insulated in the floor below the attic. To achieve insulations ratings required by current codes, you may need to deepen the depth of the roof framing, which will reduce the headroom in the attic.
A good general contractor or an architect should be able to give you answers for these and other code questions.
number one thing is vents and insullation.depending on where you live,
The first consideration is what is allowable by your local building codes. Next, hire an architect or a competent designer who works with and engineer to design the space. The contractor can then price out the remodel so you can understand how it works with your budget. Following that channel will answer all your questions.
Attics are considerably one of the most important and overlooked remodeling that needs to be done to any home. Insultation keeps your home from getting too hott or too cold. Families that convert the attic into an extra room should consider the results. Solar attic fans can also keep the room clean and uses absolutely no energy. Furthermore, checking for termite damage is also very important.
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First thing is the age of your house. Next is the roofing material on your house. When you insulate your ceiling you need to make sure you allow adequate ventilation especially if you have asphalt/ fiberglass shingles. Wood shakes/ shingles also need proper ventilation. If your attic is currently un conditioned be sure to have adequate insulation (R-value). If you have snow in your area you could create Ice dams by melting the snow off your roof which freezes at the eave. If you add a stair well to allow access to your new space you should have an engineer verify bearing of the attic floor, and outward thrust from the roof. I would also make sure the joists that will create the floor are plenty strong. A good floor system will allow maximum deflection 3/8"-1/2". That is a start for structure. For the design I would go for plenty of windows, or a few skylights to add to the feel. Keep the stair well open with a rail system. Some times with an attic situation you end up with short walls. This can be a wonderful spot for built in storage, or other interesting things. Good luck a finished attic area can be a cozy space, and add quite a bit of cheap living space.
We have done the plumbing on a few projects in which we are adding a bathroom to an existing attic and others where we have turned the third floor into an attic. You really have to consider insulation. Make sure that you are not taking out any roof supports that need to be there. You also need to be sure you have big enough joist to support a living space. Most attics only have 2x6 or 2x8 which may not be enough to support your span for a finished floor.
I live in Fairbanks, Alaska so I’ll answer this from a cold weather angle. The main reason people “remodel” their attic is to add insulation to an underperforming roof. Up here, you want to have a minimum of R-49 up to a preferrable R-60 in your attic. When going in over existing insulation, my favorite approach is to use blown-in cellulose insulation over the existing.
Before you can insulate the attic, you need to make sure that you have proper roof ventilation at the eaves/soffit and the ridge. This will require installing baffles at the eaves, if there aren’t any yet, so the new cellulose insulation doesn’t block off the ventilation channel. This is very important. Also, where there is heavy snow in the winter, you may want to consider installing gable end vents instead of ridge vents, which tend to get block off with snow in the winter. The gable vents will never get blocked off be snow and may perform better for you, depending on your house.
Finally, one more thing to consider in a cold climate is air movement with the stack effect in a house. No matter how much insulation you add, you still want to make sure that you don’t have massive air leaks in your ceiling. The best time to do this is before adding insulation and possibly while you have the old stuff removed. Seal the most common penetrations: Electrical Penetrations in the topplates, Furnace Ductwork, Chimneys, Bathroom and Kitchen Vents, Plumbing Vents and more. Seal these penetrations, with an appropriate sealant, and that will make a tremendous difference in the overall performance of your new insulation.
The keys to a quality, healthy roof are the following: Good Air/Vapor Barrier, R-60 Insulation and Proper Attic Ventilation. If any one of these is missing in a large proportion, that is where you get heat loss which melts the snow on the roof and then ice dams at the eaves. I hope this was helpful for the cold climate folks!