Our small little attic access panel would technically be referred to as a scuttle attic.
Diy attic hatch.
Affix rigid foam insulation to the attic side of the hatch or door.
Treat the attic.
Attic hatch energy loss and insulation the problem is that the insulation doesn t fit into the access opening because it s designed to fit tightly between the joists and can t fit into the opening of the attic access without being pushed in.
So when the hatch is lowered the insulation just sits above the surrounding insulation or joists.
Weatherstrip the edges and put a piece of rigid foam board insulation on the back of the door.
Pull down stair or ladder.
Here in canada our minimum attic insulation requirement is r 40 that s a metric u value of 0 142 if you re in europe or actually using the units we re supposed to be in canada.
Attic hatch or door.
Before installing the attic access hatch you will want to insulate the backside of it before putting everything in place.
In days long gone such openings.
For this attic hatch you need.
Add weatherstripping around the perimeter and a sweep to the door of a walk up attic.
Call it a scuttle trap door or attic hatch every attic needs an entrance and often it s merely a square opening in the ceiling.
A diy attic hatch option.
Use a zippered.
If you don t already have wooden boards surrounding the perimeter of the opening you can cut some 1 3 boards and nail them into place with 6d nails.
I found a good article that has a bit more information on scuttle attics if you d like to read more.
The attic access door is often the name used to describe push up type access panels knee wall doors or any type of entry point into the attic space.
If you have pull down attic stairs or an attic door these should be sealed in a similar manner.
In addition they are usually constructed from thin wood or drywall neither of which provides any appreciable resistance to energy loss.
Diy sealing the attic hatch attic hatches are often not air sealed allowing air to transfer between the conditioned space and the attic.
Basically a scuttle attic is a hole in the drywall ceiling that leads to the attic with a small attic access panel that covers it.
Cut a piece of fiberglass or rigid foam board insulation the same size as the attic hatch and nail or glue it to the back of the hatch.
Once you have finished sealing all of the leaks in your attic the next step is to weatherstrip your attic hatch or door.
Building an attic trap door.
The nice thing about an insulated attic hatch is it performs bothfunctions quite well helps one besides the materials below allyou need is a tape measure a utility knife or saw and a caulk gun.
