The access to the attic is through a bedroom closet door. Previous owners insulated the closet, as it is open at the top into the attic. Before the insulation they apparently used a handmade ladder attached to the wall. The insulation was applied over the ladder (we didn’t know it was there until we started this project), and they added a small, rickety ladder.
The insulation from the wall, covering the older ladder, shows tell-tale signs of air leakage into the insulation. Closer inspection shows daylight into the room beyond, so little question where the air came from.
The first task is to install a pull-down ladder and seal the top of the closet from the attic. The ladder unit I bought won’t fit between the beams, but will fit below them. Framing is cut but not installed yet.
Following. I did as much of our attic as I could a few years ago, using un-faced R-38 over the blown in plus sealing around walls and penetrations as best I could. Did make a big difference in heating and cooling the house. Should get back up as I know there is more to do. House had an addition added to the back (16 feet) the entire length of the house but they left the original roof and just cut a couple of openings to the other side that are way to small for me to get through. That side will need a bunch of work when they replace the roof (not looking forward to that) in a few years. Good luck with your project Flamestead
I blew in 64 bags of cellulose this summer..... made a HUGE difference so far.... the Absolute steel stove is almost too much now....
Following as I am a fan of old houses. Looks like some challenges ahead of you. Good luck and I hope it works out. I have an attic bedroom build going on now. With building insulation codes, it should be easy to heat up there. We are installing an insulated steel door to the unfinished storage space.
Sigh. Never easy. Ladder won’t unfold. Fortunately they make them long so you can cut to length. Time to drill out some rivets at the hinge and make adjustments.
Can you cut the bottom of the ladder and have a small platform as a landing? I've seen tall garage ceilings with small platforms when the fold down ladder doesn't reach. Maybe some wood supports on each side wall and lay a 2 x 12 piece across for the legs to land on.
Hard to see, but the hinge is below my foot, and the doorway is not tall enough to allow that next section of ladder to swing away/down. I drilled the rivets, cut it a foot shorter, drilled and bolted it in place, and then cut the third section to length and attached the feet. This is a rugged ladder- with it finally done I’m pleased. It has been a fight all the way. The intent was to place it within the beam framing, but the ladder was too long (opening not wide enough). So I framed in below the beam, which bought me the few necessary inches on each end. Even then, the end of the ladder box away from the hinge had to have the end board removed, and the wood door (ceiling with the ladder stored up) had to be cut a quarter inch.
Next up, close in the opening (closet ceiling). The insulation in the closet will be stripped out since it will be heated space now. This includes fitting around the chimney, which is tapering down as it goes up, and is also bowed. Anyone notice the wooden door into the chimney?
Nice rugged ladder. I saw the door and thought you had a post in a thread many moons ago with some info. Was it for drying food or a smoker chamber?
Good memory! Yes, it is where they smoked meats. This chimney has 5 fireplaces, 2 bread ovens, and this chamber.
This must be fairly common. The latest This Old House project has a chimney that was bowed to exit at the roof peak.
Having retrofitted two of these into our house I can attest to the difficulties of installing these, and that I also thought it would be much easier than it was.
I’m topping off the old blown-in, bringing it up to the top of the joists (about 7”). I had about 10 bags of cellulose that I’m just breaking up by hand and spreading out, as I’m not prepared to tackle the whole attic at once.
There are no penetrations to seal on the outer edge, but in the last pic there is an old access hatch that isn’t usable now (shower below), and it will need quite a bit of attention.
In this illustration, the black lines are the 7”x8” beams. I’m starting in the bottom right corner, working across to the bottom left. One thing I can’t decide is if I will build in a raised catwalk system so I can still get around and check for issues once I roll out the R30 fiberglass. Option two is to lay the fiberglass in line with the internal beams so I could pull up one piece and then walk the beam to inspect.
Some sealing to do. All along the central hall, from the attic I could look down into the wall cavity on both sides of the hall. Three cans of foam used so far. Also around the cast iron vent pipe.
