Adding Joists To Attic

Now that you ve air sealed your attic and basement check your attic insulation levels and add more if necessary.

Adding joists to attic.

As a frame of reference a 2x12 has. Beefing up attic joists for living space interiors. Gluing and screwing a 3 4 attic subfloor and providing solid bridging should also be considered. To eliminate any potential problems with wiring or insulation use two by four or two by six lengths to create a subfloor system for the new decking.

Add weatherstripping around the perimeter and a sweep to the door of a walk up attic. The floor structure of an attic is also the framing for the ceiling beneath it. The maximum structural improvement you can get by adding new 2x6s on top of the old ones is the same as the maximum you would get if you sistered them side by side exactly double. Size each piece to fit snugly between the floor joists in your attic.

Adding a 2 x 4 along the bottom chord of the 2 x 6 ceiling floor joist maybe helpful in stiffening the joist as well. Beefing up attic joists for living space. Strengthening attic joists for live loads by sistering. As long as they are not damaged the joists should be strong enough to allow you to move around in the attic for an inspection and to provide storage for typical boxed items.

For 2x6s joists you can get away with some relatively light stuff. If the attic joists are not adequate one way to strengthen the floor for live loads is to sister the old joists. Attic hatch or door. Joists of 2x8s or larger are able to support more weight.

3 place the batts into the space between the joists making sure not to compress the material together. Depending on the existing attic structure a contractor might be able to sister the current joists by attaching new joists of the same dimension beside them. If you find that you d like to store more weight consider adding an osb for attic floor. Pull down stair or ladder.

Affix rigid foam insulation to the attic side of the hatch or door. This is made up of ceiling joists typically 2x6 or larger boards. And preferably can avoid any existing roof support. The attic is the easiest place to add insulation to improve your comfort and the energy efficiency of your home.

Sistering is the process of adding a new joist next to each existing joist.