Attic Floor

Got the materials together to put a floor in the attic over the kitchen and maids room. This is the “Cubby Attic” and is about a 12 by 19 foot space. A stud running down the center combined with the can lights from the kitchen sticking up helped us decide on raising the floor on 2x4s set on 24 crosswise from the ceiling joists that were set on 16 inches.

The flooring was to be 7/16 OSB board to save money and weight. The 4x8 sheets were sawn lengthwise to make narrow strips that would fit in through the access panel. These panels were only supported by the edges so the centers were a little springy but adequate for a space where you can’t really stand up. The ends needed 1x4 strips to tie the sheets together as the ends did not have enough support.

The 2x4 studs were kiln dried to decrease weight and were held in place with a few “strong tie” nail ons. two or three per stud is adequate with 4 for really boss work.

Of course encapsulated fiberglass insulation was laid down before the carpentry. The whole space was done 8 feet at a time and one sheet was cut into quarters to provide panels for sitting on while working.

The tricky parts going around the pipes were cut in the attic with a jigsaw. The OSB cuts like butter but getting a self-tapping carpentry screw through it is sometimes hard. I will have to experiment with regular pointy bugle head screws.

Four gang outlets were added to each end of the attic and a two gang in the ceiling wired to a witch near the door to feed lights.

Heating floor vents were added to the floor where the kitchen can lights were to vent the heat off the lights as well as flashing added around the fixtures to protect the insulation. The finishing touch was to hack saw off the larger nails sticking through the roof; a few were really scary.

The raw OSB looks really great but the labels printed on the face rubs off so a bit of sanding would be needed or something to seal the ink in. In this case there will be carpet over.