If you are doing this on your own home, you need to make sure that your attic can support the extra weight this adds. Not all attics are designed to support anything more than is currently in the attic, especially older homes with 2x6 joists.
Hi there, thanks for the comment. This is a good point to mention, but I'd say that in every case I can think of with how we construct these they are being built over top of interior walls, where the top plates are, so there is plenty of support, even in attics with 2x6 floor joists. Fifteen years of building these we have not had a ceiling sag issue reported yet. Thanks! Andy
I like how your voice sounds muffled at the end compared to before the cellulose was added. I think it might be a good one to refer to when people ask about whether or not the insulation helps with reducing unwanted sounds. Cool video!
Hi there, great pick up that. Insulating an attic properly definitely knocks down any sound transfer that's coming from the roof or above the home. We have heard this from customers a number of times. Andy
If someone doesn't need a floored storage platform and instead wants a way to get about in the attic despite having a foot or more of blown-in cellulose, there's an easier and less expensive way. 1. Cut a 2x10 board about a foot long. 2. Put plywood extensions about 8" long on each side of that board and extending down about 3" 3. Place two of them side by side over attic joists. 4. Nail a 2x10 board to connect the two. That gives you a stable platform that will sit above the cellulose. 5. Add enough such platforms to allow you to step around the attic. For occasional use, that may be all your need. If you'd like to create a path then: 6. Connect the platforms with boards to create a path that will let you move about the attic with ease. I did that and now I can get anywhere in my 1200 sq ft attic in about a minute by simply walking on the paths above the 16-inches of cellulose. That also made it easy for me to place attic foil on top on the insulation to bounce back the radiant heat in the attic.
Hi there Michael, yes it sounds like you've found a solid way for getting about in your own attic, cheers to you! Those spaces are not easy to work in, especially when there is already a thick layer of blown in insulation. Good luck to you on your projects! Andy
I’m in need of a solution similar, as my attic has blown in insulation already. About a foot. Do you have any pictures or videos illustrating your solution?
From your description, you are creating a U shaped item to put over the joists and have a 2x10 to connect them, so you don't add any nails into roof joists whatsoever. But, you aren't raising the walking surface. You need to raise the walking surface otherwise it's buried in insulation. Unless, you are putting them perpendicular to the joists, effectively raising them 3". But that means, the edge of plywood is the foundation of those "platforms" is that stable?
Haha..they can probably eat the pine wood joists that support the storage pad, but they won't be able to digest the glue that bonds the wood fibers together. Termites also cannot digest the cellulose insulation due to it's treatment with non-toxic boric acid. Thanks for commenting!
Hi Kyle, firstly you'd have 2 for the hatch wall around the ladder, or possibly 2x10's rather than 2x8's for that to accommodate the ladder. Placing them 16" oc you're going to have somewhere around 30 or so 2x8's all in by the time that you're done with it. It's always better to buy more than you think you'll need and then return the ones that you didn't use. Hope this helps! Andy
Hi! thanks for sharing. What type, diameter and length did you use for joist-to-joist (90 and 45 degrees) attachment and for board-to-joist ? thanks in advance
Hi there, we attach the 2x8's to the existing attic floor joists with 3" screws by toe nailing them into place. We attach the 2x8's to each other by toe nailing them together also with 3" screws. What adds rigidity and strength to the "frame" is 1) anchoring it to the hatch wall 2) adding vertical supports that attach the 2x8's to the existing floor joists and 3) when the plywood goes on and it all gets screwed together. Hope this helps! Andy
wow looks great. Can the sheetrock support more insulation if someone wanted more.. I know it is diminishing returns on going with more, but I have put so much work into air sealing that I don't want to do it again.. I am planning on using blown in Amerirock rockwool.
Rockwool definitely ways more than cellulose does, it can be very heavy. Our homes in Pittsburgh can absolutely withstand adding 15" of cellulose insulation to dry wall ceilings.
If you make your lattice using 16" OC measurements between the floor joists, you can easily lay the batts between them before putting the plywood top on.
@@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 yeah i started to realize you could go with lower r value to fit and then cross the next layer and put what fits. 🤪. Rack it up to amateur view, cant see it until explained. Thanks for quick reply. I already have bunch of r38 and am trying to think if how to do a small platform above that, only thing i can think of is running collar ties right above the current collar ties (finishing out attic space). If i do that it still would have about 3.5-4 ft in center. Just enough to store a few bins a christmas tree etc.
Your crew did a great job and the attic turned out great Thanks.
Thanks Troy, we certainly did our best and are glad that you're happy with the result!
Andy
If you are doing this on your own home, you need to make sure that your attic can support the extra weight this adds. Not all attics are designed to support anything more than is currently in the attic, especially older homes with 2x6 joists.
Hi there, thanks for the comment. This is a good point to mention, but I'd say that in every case I can think of with how we construct these they are being built over top of interior walls, where the top plates are, so there is plenty of support, even in attics with 2x6 floor joists. Fifteen years of building these we have not had a ceiling sag issue reported yet.
Thanks!
Andy
I like how your voice sounds muffled at the end compared to before the cellulose was added. I think it might be a good one to refer to when people ask about whether or not the insulation helps with reducing unwanted sounds. Cool video!
Hi there, great pick up that. Insulating an attic properly definitely knocks down any sound transfer that's coming from the roof or above the home. We have heard this from customers a number of times.
Andy
If someone doesn't need a floored storage platform and instead wants a way to get about in the attic despite having a foot or more of blown-in cellulose, there's an easier and less expensive way. 1. Cut a 2x10 board about a foot long. 2. Put plywood extensions about 8" long on each side of that board and extending down about 3" 3. Place two of them side by side over attic joists. 4. Nail a 2x10 board to connect the two. That gives you a stable platform that will sit above the cellulose. 5. Add enough such platforms to allow you to step around the attic. For occasional use, that may be all your need. If you'd like to create a path then: 6. Connect the platforms with boards to create a path that will let you move about the attic with ease. I did that and now I can get anywhere in my 1200 sq ft attic in about a minute by simply walking on the paths above the 16-inches of cellulose. That also made it easy for me to place attic foil on top on the insulation to bounce back the radiant heat in the attic.
Hi there Michael, yes it sounds like you've found a solid way for getting about in your own attic, cheers to you! Those spaces are not easy to work in, especially when there is already a thick layer of blown in insulation. Good luck to you on your projects!
Andy
I’m in need of a solution similar, as my attic has blown in insulation already. About a foot. Do you have any pictures or videos illustrating your solution?
From your description, you are creating a U shaped item to put over the joists and have a 2x10 to connect them, so you don't add any nails into roof joists whatsoever. But, you aren't raising the walking surface. You need to raise the walking surface otherwise it's buried in insulation. Unless, you are putting them perpendicular to the joists, effectively raising them 3". But that means, the edge of plywood is the foundation of those "platforms" is that stable?
termites will like it
Haha..they can probably eat the pine wood joists that support the storage pad, but they won't be able to digest the glue that bonds the wood fibers together. Termites also cannot digest the cellulose insulation due to it's treatment with non-toxic boric acid. Thanks for commenting!
How many 2x8s would you expect to use on a project like this with the catwalk as you built it?
Hi Kyle, firstly you'd have 2 for the hatch wall around the ladder, or possibly 2x10's rather than 2x8's for that to accommodate the ladder. Placing them 16" oc you're going to have somewhere around 30 or so 2x8's all in by the time that you're done with it. It's always better to buy more than you think you'll need and then return the ones that you didn't use. Hope this helps!
Andy
Hi! thanks for sharing. What type, diameter and length did you use for joist-to-joist (90 and 45 degrees) attachment and for board-to-joist ? thanks in advance
Hi there, we attach the 2x8's to the existing attic floor joists with 3" screws by toe nailing them into place. We attach the 2x8's to each other by toe nailing them together also with 3" screws. What adds rigidity and strength to the "frame" is 1) anchoring it to the hatch wall 2) adding vertical supports that attach the 2x8's to the existing floor joists and 3) when the plywood goes on and it all gets screwed together. Hope this helps!
Andy
wow looks great. Can the sheetrock support more insulation if someone wanted more.. I know it is diminishing returns on going with more, but I have put so much work into air sealing that I don't want to do it again.. I am planning on using blown in Amerirock rockwool.
Rockwool definitely ways more than cellulose does, it can be very heavy. Our homes in Pittsburgh can absolutely withstand adding 15" of cellulose insulation to dry wall ceilings.
What size and kind of screws did you use to toenail the joists together, and then the attach the OSB to the joists?
We used 3" long screws to anchor all of the joists together. We then used 1 5/8 screws to attach the OSB to the frame work. Hope this helps!
Guess its going to be loose fill not r38 batts that will be a biotch to get bottom layer in
If you make your lattice using 16" OC measurements between the floor joists, you can easily lay the batts between them before putting the plywood top on.
@@insulwiseenergycomfortsolu3293 yeah i started to realize you could go with lower r value to fit and then cross the next layer and put what fits. 🤪. Rack it up to amateur view, cant see it until explained. Thanks for quick reply. I already have bunch of r38 and am trying to think if how to do a small platform above that, only thing i can think of is running collar ties right above the current collar ties (finishing out attic space). If i do that it still would have about 3.5-4 ft in center. Just enough to store a few bins a christmas tree etc.
I hope that/those electrical boxes that got covered don't need to be touched again 😰
If you needed to there's a process for finding those things. Sometimes we flag them, but yes it's going to take longer once they are covered.