How To Make An Attic Livable

At least half of your attic space must be 7 feet high by 7 feet wide with a total of 70 square feet.

How to make an attic livable.

Or even one section of wallpaper chair bed here are a few of my favorite examples. Dormers range in sizes so decide which will work best for you and your existing structure. Pull down stairs won t work for an attic room so you must add a permanent staircase. Fortunately this is a fairly easy fix.

You also have to decide where the loft stairs will begin and check how much space it will need. Once you convert attic space into living space you need to bring it up to the standards of modern building codes. The nearly 50 000 average price reported by remodeling magazine drops to a. Pull down stairs won t be appropriate in this case and you ll need a permanent staircase.

Then work with the right professionals to make turning the attic into a living space an exciting reality. Rafter roof framing or truss framing. Attics don t generally offer a great deal of floor space and ceiling height. Make sure you can easily access your attic your attic needs to be easily accessible in order to fulfill its function well.

But if your attic was framed with rafters which are beams that support the roof. Codes vary from place to place but the rule of 7 for using an attic as an actual room typically applies. You have rafter roof framing if the roof supports meet the floor joists with no extra supports or diagonal bracing. You might open up your attic and find bare joists with fiberglass or cellulose insulation between the joists.

Floor covering area rugs are awesome lighting especially in an attic that might not have tons of natural light wall color could be fabric or can you paint. The cost of remodeling an attic in the united states varies significantly based on the cost of living in your region. How to save for home improvements. Obviously a crawl space attic won t do.

You can sister the joists by cutting 2 x8 boards the same length as the joists applying construction adhesive and affixing each to a joist with nails. Figure out if your attic can even be changed into a liveable space. You can increase the space in your attic by adding a dormer which is a window structure that protrudes from the roof slope to provide more headroom space in the attic. That means you ll need 2x10 floor joists or maybe 2x8 in rare circumstances and at least 2x12 roof rafters.

Having enough head room in the attic is the first step to making the space into a living area.