Attic Hatch Air Sealing Sdetail

Erik north the owner of free energy maine is an energy auditor and home performance specialist in westbrook maine.

Attic hatch air sealing sdetail.

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. The stops provide a wider surface for attaching the weatherstrip and a space to mount hook and eye fasteners. This is generally about a 22 by 30 hole in the ceiling of your house into unconditioned space so it certainly deserves some consideration.

When you re done sealing your attic bypasses push the insulation back into place with an old broom handle or stick as you back out of the attic. Attic hatches are the purloined letter of house efficiency problems. This one manufactured by battic door maintains the house s air barrier. By air sealing in your attic you can stop many major air leaks and help to maintain the desired temperature throughout your home.

Then finish up by sealing the access hatch with self sticking foam weatherstrip photos 10 and 11. If your hatch rests directly on the moldings like ours did add 2 1 2 in wide stops around the. If your hatch rests directly on the moldings add 2 1 2 inch wide stops around the opening. 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.

Sealing the attic hatch or door. 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. Eric whetzel tescon vana tape seals the intello membrane to the sides of the hatch. The attic is usually where you can find some of the largest opportunities to save energy in your home.

An attic hatch can be a serious air leak. 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. The guide to attic air sealing provides information and specifications to the following groups. Finish up by sealing the access hatch with self sticking weather stripping.

They re in plain sight but rarely addressed adequately.