Insulating your attic access....

I am interrupting the “Pantry Reveal” (started that project HERE) to provide this important service announcement.

Get ready for winter…it is coming.

I know it is hard to even think about cold temps when it is 90 degrees out but it will be here before you know it.

I strongly suggest you start with your utility companies.

Many utility companies offer an “energy efficiency audit.” They provide a holistic view of your home’s efficiency and help you determine the best ways to adjust energy consumption, improve problem areas and ultimately keep more money in your wallet. And if you need anything to make your home more energy efficient, they may provide that service free or at low cost. I did this about three years ago and it made a huge difference in our heating and cooling costs. They sealed my ducts and air intakes, checked all my door and window seals and installed a new thermostat free of charge, and provided me with new insulation at a very low cost.

One of the worst areas for heat/cold transfer is your attic access…whether you just have a hole you have to have a ladder to access, pull down ladder, or a door to the attic area, like mine.

Unfortunately it wasn’t something they caught during my energy audit.

If your attic access is in your living space and it is not properly insulated or sealed it is like having an open window in your house…the heat and cold from the attic WILL get into your home, and you WILL being paying to heat or cool it.

Case in point….my attic access is an interior door at the top of the stairs….

Since it is an interior door, it has zero insulation.

The only thing upstairs is my “bunk room.” AKA-our seasonal storage and one bed for overflow guests! (The kids call it the forrest…lol.)

So we are blessed that we really don’t need our attic for storage…it just houses the heating unit.

But these stairs and bunk room are technically part of our “living space” and our HVAC heats and cools this space.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that, not only is the door into the attic not insulated, but most of the wall between the attic and stairway was not insulated.

Easy fix. Not only for me but for anyone who has an attic access in their living space that isn’t properly insulated.

You can purchase attic access covers if you have a “standard” access. There are also a ton of great tutorials for insulating attic accesses…again, find a tutorial that makes sense to you and use it.

I am going to share how I did mine since it is a bit more complicated than just insulating a ceiling access.

First I took measurements of the inside of the door insert…not the actual opening but the outside edge of the frame.

That measurement was 36” wide x 48” tall.

What you will you need…

1) a board (ply, chipboard, sheetrock) cut to the size of your measurement.

2) faced insulation (I got R30 “unfaced” and regretted it…get the kind that has paper on it…just get a roll of R-19 which is what most wall insulation is)

3) a couple of handles

4) a couple of hooks (if your access is in the ceiling I wouldn’t even bother)

5) self adhesive weather stripping

In my case I decided to get two 24”x48” pieces of 1/4” plywood only because I didn’t want to get a big sheet and have to rip it down and have a lot of waste. You can use 1/4” or 1/2” plywood, sturdy foamboard, chipboard or even sheetrock if the hole is relatively small. Whatever is cheapest and fairly lightweight. (If you have the type of access that is just a cutout that drops down on trim in the ceiling, just skip all this, glue insulation to the backside and call it a day…lol!)

I cut down both pieces and spliced them together with a scrap piece of plywood, wood glue and screws. This gave me a piece that was 36’x48”.

I added two handles to the front to give me something to hold onto and two hooks to secure it to the door frame. Truthfully if your access is in the ceiling, you may not even need the hooks and handles…you can just lay it over the opening. If you are using foam board or sheetrock, you can’t just screw handles on…you will need to use a really heavy duty adhesive.

Again, I accidentally got “unfaced” insulation so I couldn’t hot glue it to the back of the “access panel.” I tried and failed. So I ended up having to put “furring strips” across the insulation and screwing that to the plywood. I didn’t like doing that because that squishes the insulation which supposedly reduces its efficiency…but whatever.

Also, I think hot glue would eventually break down in the hot and cold of an attic…maybe use the hot glue for immediate bonding, but squirt a little regular glue, spray adhesive or construction mastic on it so that the insulation holds in place long term.

As you can see I let the insulation hang off a hair.

Now take your self-adhesive weather stripping and apply it to the entire rim of the opening. I forgot to pick some up so that is something I will have to go back and do.

Before I installed the access panel, I insulated the parts of the wall that were not insulated. Again, totally baffled as to why this was not done 20 years ago!

Now it’s time to install…in my case I just set it in the inside of the opening and hooked it. If your opening is in the ceiling you can just lay it over the opening.

Now when we need to access the attic, we just unhook the panel and use the handles to move it to the side. Easy peasy.

I just went upstairs…it was always pretty toasty at the top of the stairs this time of the year.

Perfect.

Getting your home ready for winter is super important. Like I said, start with your utility companies (gas and electric) and see if either offer energy audits. Just a tiny bit of winterizing can make a huge difference.

With the rising cost of heating and cooling your home, every little bit helps!!!!