Finishing A Townhouse Attic

Pull down stairs won t be appropriate in this case and you ll need a permanent staircase.

Finishing a townhouse attic.

On the other hand attic remodeling is on average about a 53 000 project. 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. 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. These systems are small and powerful enough that you can cool off your whole house and still free up your attic space for other uses.

A straight run stair will chew up 10 to 14 feet of floor space. Follow the rule of 7s. Figure out how you re going to get up and down from the finished attic space. Enlarging an existing stairway or adding a new one will affect spaces below.

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. Finished attics need stairs that meet all of the standard staircase requirements. You also have to decide where the loft stairs will begin and check how much space it will need. In most cases though the joists cannot support live loads and may not even be covered with boards.

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 l a traditional additions can easily run 90 000 and often cost more. Your attic needs to be easily accessible in order to fulfill its function well. 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.

In general stairs must be at least 3 feet wide and provide at least 6 feet 8 inches of headroom. You can learn the proper code specifications and plan to insulate and wire your attic for better purposes than storage. 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. Every attic is different but a few established norms and practices will guide your renovation.