How To Floor An Attic Over Insulation

Attic insulation between roof trusses.

How to floor an attic over insulation.

Ensuring adequate insulation under the flooring. Without removing the flooring you have the option of blowing loose fill insulation fiberglass or cellulose fiber over the top of the floor. The joists for this riser should run perpendicular to the existing ceiling joists. By adding the boards you increase storage space for items not needed.

Attics are generally covered in batting or blown insulation. Build up the height of the joists prior to installing flooring when the insulation reaches the tops of the joists. 1 put on work gloves safety glasses and a dust mask before entering the attic. Always cover the tops of the ceiling joists to make sure the insulation is deep enough to reach your target r value and to prevent thermal bridging the heat loss that occurs through the wood framing.

Place flooring over insulation to make your attic space functional. In zones 4 through 8 if you have full height insulation over 100 of the ceiling including the top plates as shown in your excellent guide here the iecc allows r 38 rather than the r 49 that is required if you can t achieve full depth insulation over 100 of the attic floor. Work from the perimeter of the attic toward the door or hatch so that you don t trample all over the insulation you just put in. This will make the installation of these new joists easier.

How to insulate a finished attic. However if you keep the storage weight to a minimum you may be able to build a storage platform above the insulation by attaching supporting beams to the sides of the trusses. A finished attic should be insulated much like the rest of the house with insulation in the walls and ceiling. If blown in insulation is used control the height or thickness of the layers so boards can by laid over top without having to compact the filler.

With a finished attic insulation must help keep the attic areas comfortable. To give yourself enough space to ensure adequate insulation under the flooring construct a riser of 2 x 4 s in the attic over the existing joists. That means insulating the attic floor only not the walls and having vents in the roof.