How To Insulate Attic Stairs
Treat the attic door like a door to the outside.
How to insulate attic stairs. Purchase an attic tent at a building supply store or. Position the box over the stair opening in the attic. Besides the air leakage and insulation problems stemming from having a particularly large hole in your ceiling pull down stairs creates a potential storage headache. It s an insulating cover that fits on the ceiling inside your room and swings down out of the way in the room behind the attic stairs so you have complete access to the attic opening.
Measure the size and height of the stairs from the attic. Cut sides and top from sheets of 3 4 foam board with a utility knife. Installing a pull down attic ladder is essential for safer easier access to your attic. However gaps in weatherstripping to accommodate hinge hardware shall be acceptable factory made attic drop down stair assemblies that are fully gasketed and include a rigid insulation panel much like an exterior insulated door are a great simple solution.
Weatherstrip the edges and put a piece of rigid foam board insulation on the back of the door. Assemble the sides of the box with metallic duct tape. To insulate fold down attic stairs. If you have pull down attic stairs or an attic door these should be sealed in a similar manner.
Insulate your attic stairs with an easily installed attic tent or zippered attic cover and watch your energy bills go down. To see an insulating attic stair cover that doesn t block the stairs click on the link i added at the bottom of the article above for the attic laddermate. Attach the foam box to the floor with metallic tape. Whether the attic access is an attic hatch pull down stairs or a knee wall door you should install insulation with the proper r value for your climate based on the department of energy s recommendations.
Pre made insulated attic stair covers are also available from local home improvement centers or on the web. We ll show you how to cut out frame the opening then install a fo.