Minimum Attic Height

With full home additions costing 75 000 minimum and usually far higher many homeowners search for creative ways to increase living space without overly decreasing their bank account.

Minimum attic height.

The minimum ceiling height in rooms with sloped ceilings such as a finished attic space is 7 feet over at least 50 percent of the room area. The rough framed opening must be a minimum of 22 inches by 30 inches. To extend old eight foot ceilings in a remodel aim. One way is by working within the home s existing footprint and converting the attic into living space.

According to the 2006 international residential code r807 1 attic access homes with combustible materials in the ceiling and roof construction must have an access to attic areas that exceeds 30 square feet and with a vertical height of 30 inches or greater. In other words if your attic has 200 square feet over which the ceiling is at least 5 feet high then for a minimum of 100 square feet 50 of 200 that is the ceiling height needs to be at. Ashi reporter july 2020. For new flat coffered tray or sloped ceilings go for a minimum of nine feet.

Attic doors garage attic attic. 2 x 10 joists spaced every 16 inches can span 13 to 14 feet. Jan 10 2013 sloped ceiling height for bathroom fixtures. Room area is this case is calculated as the total floor space with walls at least 5 feet tall.

Joist sizing is based primarily on the span distance between supports and the joist spacing. The access opening should be located in a hallway or other readily accessible location and minimum 22 x 30. If there are no obstructions on the passageway to the attic furnace and it has a minimum 6 feet 1829 mm height and 22 inches 559 mm width along its entire run the walkway length limit goes up to 50 feet 15250 mm in irc international residential code and has no limit in umc universal mechanical code. To meet the minimum of 30 psf live load 2 x 6 joists that are spaced every 16 inches can span up to about 10 feet or a bit more depending on the joist material different woods have different strengths.

Here s how to choose a ceiling height that s right for you. Areas with ceilings lower than 5 feet are allowed but do not count toward the official room area total irc. Minimum vertical height of 30 inches measured from the top of the ceiling framing members to the bottom of the roof framing members. Minimum opening size the 2012 international residential code requires an attic access opening for attics with an area greater than 30 square feet and a vertical height in excess of 30 inches.

One couple turned a chopped up attic into a sunny master suite. This 20 limitation applies to the minimum 30 height only low clearance attics.