Air Sealing Attic Hatch

If your hatch rests directly on the moldings add 2 1 2 inch wide stops around the opening.

Air sealing attic hatch. They re in plain sight but rarely addressed adequately. It s easily removed and set aside whenever you need to access your attic. The stops provide a wider surface for attaching the weatherstrip and a space to mount hook and eye fasteners. Sealing attic hatch attic door.

Attic hatch covers are easy to install and help keep the air in the attic separate from the air throughout the rest of the home. To properly seal your attic hatch also known as an attic door or scuttle hole at a minimum. Attics are often under insulated and under sealed leading to wasted energy and wasted spend by the homeowners. Attic air sealing is the priority.

Your focus should be on the attic when you begin air sealing. Sometimes referred to as a scuttle hole cover attic access covers are products specifically designed to solve the insulation and sealing problems associated with attic hatches. By air sealing in your attic you can stop many major air leaks and help to maintain the desired temperature throughout your home. Insulate and air seal your attic hatch to save money and improve your house s comfort.

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. The attic is usually where you can find some of the largest opportunities to save energy in your home. Sealing the attic hatch or door. Finally seal the hatch door with adhesive foam weatherstripping.

Erik north the owner of free energy maine is an energy auditor and home performance specialist in westbrook maine. 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. Combined with attic insulation air sealing can help to alleviate the formation of dangerous ice dams in the winter. The finished box is then fitted over the hatch opening on the attic side.

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