Sealing Attic Hatch

Once you have finished sealing all of the leaks in your attic the next step is to weatherstrip your attic hatch or door.

Sealing attic hatch. The stops provide a wider surface for attaching the weatherstrip and a space to mount hook and eye fasteners. Remove your existing attic hatch and measure its size. How to insulate and air seal an attic access hatch. Sealing the attic hatch or door finish up by sealing the access hatch with self sticking weather stripping.

Air seal the trim the first step is air sealing the finish trim and enclosure around the attic hatch. Pray that the installer used finish nails and not say ring shank nails. 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. Apply your weatherstripping to the top of the new wood stops.

From inside the attic check for any openings holes or fenestrations into the knee wall surrounding area. If there are indications of erratic air movement coming from your attic hatch replacement weatherstripping is necessary. If the attic hatch rests on the molding you should add 2 1 2 inch stops around the entire opening. Proper attic insulation and complete air sealing is the solution a complete thermal envelope separates every conditioned interior space of your home from outdoor and unconditioned spaces such as your garage and attic with a layer of insulation.

Every thermal envelope is different. If you don t already have wooden boards surrounding the perimeter of the opening you can cut some 1 3 boards and nail them into place with 6d nails. You can also inspect the weatherstripping and molding around your attic door to see if it is damaged. Once you have the materials you can begin to seal and insulate the knee wall access door through these steps.

If your hatch rests directly on the moldings add 2 1 2 inch wide stops around the opening. Apply weather stripping to the door to create a seal. 2 thick foam board 4 8 sheet with an r value of 10 or greater 15 foam weather stripping the wider the better 1 can great stuff foam or similar 1 tube liquid nail or other construction adhesive 8 16 penny nails misc. Then finish up by sealing the access hatch with self sticking foam weatherstrip photos 10 and 11.

Hardware 2 small bungee cords to seal it tight. Cut four pieces of polystyrene rigid insulation about 1 2 inch smaller than the dimensions of the hatch. The insulation will both slow heat loss and add ballast to the hatch to improve the seal at the weatherstripping.