Attic Hatch Air Sealing Sdetail

There are hundreds of things to detail properly to achieve an airtight home but one of the most commonly overlooked in a typical new house is the attic access hatch.

Attic hatch air sealing sdetail.

The attic is usually where you can find some of the largest opportunities to save energy in your home. If your hatch rests directly on the moldings like ours did add 2 1 2 in wide stops around the. Combined with attic insulation air sealing can help to alleviate the formation of dangerous ice dams in the winter. This is generally about a 22 by 30 hole in the ceiling of your house into unconditioned space so it certainly deserves some consideration.

This one manufactured by battic door maintains the house s air barrier. Finish up by sealing the access hatch with self sticking weather stripping. The guide to attic air sealing provides information and specifications to the following groups. Sealing the attic hatch or door.

Erik north the owner of free energy maine is an energy auditor and home performance specialist in westbrook maine. By air sealing in your attic you can stop many major air leaks and help to maintain the desired temperature throughout your home. They re in plain sight but rarely addressed adequately. The hatch is available in several versions depending on the required amount of insulation in the attic.

Air sealing details air seal to reduce air infiltration between the attic and living spaces attic air sealing attics are not the only places where leakage can occur in homes but leaks between the house and the attic are especially troublesome during the winter when warm air inside the home naturally tends to rise and flow out. Then finish up by sealing the access hatch with self sticking foam weatherstrip photos 10 and 11. Attic hatches are the purloined letter of house efficiency problems. If your hatch rests directly on the moldings add 2 1 2 inch wide stops around the opening.

In our ongoing series on air sealing we are going to focus on the dreaded attic hatch or as allison baile s of energy vanguard so eloquently calls it a mind blowing hole in your building envelope instead of crunching the numbers as he did one just needs to walk by one in a hallway during the middle of summer to know it isn t insulated. Attic access hatch air sealing 7 0 our attic is designed mainly to hold our blown in insulation a future post will go over the details as opposed to a place for running hvac equipment conduit for electric or as a potential area for carving out additional storage space. Insulate and air seal your attic hatch to save money and improve your house s comfort. The attic air sealing details section provides a scope of work and specification for the air sealing of many points of air leakage in common attic spaces.

An attic hatch can be a serious air leak.