Putting Plywood In Attic

In attics built purely for storage purposes you may find 2x6 ceiling joists or in some cases.

Putting plywood in attic.

The previous homeowner may have simply covered the joists with plywood to use the space for storage. Maneuvering heavy 4 x 8 sheets of plywood or osb oriented strand board up to an unfinished attic is sometimes like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. 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. Before putting the flooring in take a look at your insulation.

According to the us department of energy your home s attic should have an r 38 insulation valued for homes in the southern part of the. While this is not the optimal setup it is acceptable to have ceiling joists covered with plywood or osb to use for light attic storage of dead loads. If you plan to finish the floor in the attic and turn the room into a living space however you. To make the job easier use a circular saw to cut the plywood sheet first into 2 2 8 strips which will be much easier to handle.

Measure the plywood and attic door. Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new insulation on top of the old. It s possible to use other materials but plywood or particleboard on sale is likely to be less expensive than other wood materials or products. Because the simplest and cheapest way to insulate an attic is to add material to the floor.

Installing attic flooring for light storage only if your attic joists won t bear the weight necessary to finish out a living space but the engineer cleared them to support floor decking for light. You put the insulation down first and let s say you have 2x8s for your floor joists in the attic. You need 3 4 inch plywood. Now in your particular part of the country you re going to want a lot more insulation than that.

The plywood should be perpendicular to the joists so that a signal sheet spans multiple. Installing plywood for example will create a smooth floor to lay carpet in the future. Carry a piece of plywood to one of the far corners of the attic and lay it on top of the installed boards. You ll need to make sure that the plywood can fit through your attic door.

How to install plywood flooring in an attic. Purchase half inch 1 27 cm thick plywood to act as your flooring. Take the measurements for your subfloor and measure enough plywood so that you can cover the entire frame. Find or buy 1 2 inch plywood or particleboard sections.