Building An Attic Access

Buildings with combustible ceiling or roof construction shall have an attic access opening to attic areas that have a vertical height of 30 inches 762 mm or greater over an area of not less than 30 square feet 2 8 m 2 the vertical height shall be measured from the top of the ceiling framing members to the underside of the roof framing members.

Building an attic access.

The werner wood universal fit attic ladder features the werner wood universal fit attic ladder features a 250 lb. 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. Weight capacity designed to fit ceiling heights from 8 ft. Built for safety this sturdy wood ladder makes it easy to access your attic with nine non slip steps and a convenient handrail for support while climbing.

For some unknown reason attic access doors in older homes are usually through a small scuttle hole cut in the ceiling. The most common of these is the push up type panel that is simply drywall or plywood held in place by simple wood trims. Buildings with combustible ceiling or roof construction shall have an attic access opening to attic areas that exceed 30 square feet 2 8 m2 and have a vertical height of 30 inches 762 mm or greater. We had the contractors just drywall over the original attic access panel.

Other model building code citations for attic access stairways 2009 ibc commercial construction requirement for attic space access. The attic access door is often the name used to describe push up type access panels knee wall doors or any type of entry point into the attic space. An opening not less than 20 inches by 30 inches 559 mm by 762 mm shall be provided to any attic area having a clear height of over 30 inches 762 mm. Often the access is in an out of the way place like a closet.

The vertical height shall be measured from the top of the ceiling framing members to the underside of the roof framing. Not sure why we did this probably because we knew that creating the small attic access door was easy.