Old House Attic

Many older houses and plenty of new ones too are framed with rafters 2x or engineered lumber that extends from the ridge board at the roof peak down to the top plate of the exterior wall where each rafter typically overhangs to form the eaves of a house.

Old house attic.

Whether you envision your house s top floor as an away from it all master suite a quiet home office or a hangout spot for the kids read these 14 tips to help you finish your attic remodel. See all the winners and finalists from the search for america s best remodel 2015. It was transformed from a basically unusable space to this charming vaulted ceiling exposed brick chimney family room. The insulation materials used in older houses are not as effective in keeping heat in as the new ones.

Account for codes and safety photo by casey dunn. But if the floor is covered in plywood you can t stuff enough insulation beneath it to do the job sufficiently not even in warm climates. Every attic is different but a few established norms and practices will guide your renovation. Here s what we did when we first started the attic renovation we had the original maid s room.

Because the simplest and cheapest way to insulate an attic is to add material to the floor. Making an attic into a master closet. If you think attics are creepy crawly spaces meant solely for cobweb dusted storage think twice. Even if you bought the house with insulation already installed into it it s best to double check.

The answer to making an old house inhabitable is insulation. The insulation must meet doe standards. Here are our top picks for attic renovations chosen by the editors of this old house.