Quite often, when planning the construction of a private house, there is a desire to maximize the usable area. The most economical and uncomplicated option is to equip the attic space for residential. In order to implement this option, you need a properly designed project and accurately calculated fragments of future structures, which will form the living attic.

Content

1. Options for using a residential attic of a private house
2. Construction of the attic video
3. We start work with cleaning and planning
4. Floors and ceilings - what to look for video
5. Attic door and communication systems
6. Insulation of the attic
7. Attic finishvideo
8. Attic ventilation

Options for using a residential attic of a private house

Under what exactly the area of \u200b\u200bthe attic will be used, you have to decide for yourself. Having gathered the whole family at a round table, you can consult and decide whether it will be a billiard room or a nursery, or a library, and so on.

Actually in the attic, if there is a sufficient amount of space, you can equip:

  Living rooms, if the area of \u200b\u200bthe first floor does not allow all family members to live comfortably.

  A room designed for children’s games or a children's bedroom.

  Sports room equipped with exercise equipment for adults and children.

Recreation area with home cinema, library, small winter garden, billiards.

  Workshop or study, room for preparing homework, if the family has children of school age.

  A guest room in which guests who have arrived at the house could be accommodated with all amenities and comforts.

If the roof of the house is low and comfortable living under it is impossible to provide, then a good option would be the arrangement of rooms, pantries and dressing rooms. Moreover, the main thing is ease of access to all things and lack of clutter.

Construction of the attic

Before you start implementing plans for remodeling or creating a residential attic space in a private house, you need to draw up a clear plan of action. In it, without fail, all stages of work that are obligatory for execution, interconnected with the improvement of the attic space, must be prescribed.

The plan consists of the following important stages:

1. First of all, of course, a convenient and thoughtful layout. This stage allows you to let go of your imagination and think about every little thing. As an assistant, you can take advantage of computer suggestions that visually demonstrate the planning ideas and design options invented by specialist architects and designers.
2. Do not forget that for ventilation and lighting of rooms located in the attic, windows will be required. If they are not, you will need to consider their location - on the gables or directly on the slopes of the roof. Installing windows on slopes is a rather time-consuming and expensive business, but beautifully made dormer-windows will decorate the appearance of the whole house. For a hip roof, dormers are generally the only possible way to get natural light.
3. Equally important in such work is the preparation of estimates. Here all possible expenses should be taken into account, from the design of walls, floors and ceilings to small fragments of decor.
4. Now you can go to a specialized hypermarket to purchase the necessary building materials and tools.

We start work with cleaning and planning

Repair work in the attic should begin with a thorough cleaning. Often old, rarely used things are stored here. They will have to be thrown away or moved to another place. When cleaning, you should be as careful as possible, because the tips of the nails located in the rafter structure may not be clogged and cause damage.

When the cleaning is finished, make measurements. For information to owners who decided to repair the attic themselves: the area under the slopes of a normal gable roof cannot be operated as residential.

When the roof is planned under the attic - its slopes are placed at a certain angle to the ceiling and form a room with a height corresponding to the standard, or at least the minimum permissible for residential premises. Correctly calculate the height of the roof for a residential attic can be using linear interpolation, or, as an option, you can use the data from the reference literature.

Floors and ceilings - what to look for

According to experts, the most significant and serious moment is the design of the floor and ceiling. You will need to carefully study and search for possible problems in the rafter structure, crate, roof, in the draft version of the floor and its insulation. The most uncomplicated version of floor insulation is expanded clay. It can be used both for warming residential and non-residential areas. They pour it on the roofing material, with a layer of about 15 cm. The only condition for warming the living space is to make a screed or flooring from chipboard on top of expanded clay. It is necessary to choose material for a finishing floor taking into account its thickness - in the attic space it is important to maintain every centimeter of height.

Attic door and communication systems

In cases where all fragments of the structure are in satisfactory condition, you can begin work on the formation of the doorway to the attic. To do this, you need to arrange a hole in a predetermined place, the desired height and width, which in the future will serve as an opening for entry from the lower floor. To climb to the second floor, you will need to install a ladder.

Now you can begin to work on the design of communication systems: water supply, heating, ventilation, lighting. Only at this stage, these works will be easier and more logical to plan and implement.

Insulation of the attic

Thermal insulation of the attic area is a very important task. The satisfactory condition of the subfloor insulation is left in the same form. With regards to the roof, it will have to be insulated in any way. It's no secret that the bulk of the heat is lost through the slopes of the roof. To eliminate this problem, two layers of insulation are placed between the rafters, usually mineral wool slabs are used to warm the attic.

When doing the work yourself, you need to calculate the thickness of the insulating material. In order to do this correctly, you must use a special table and climate map. The greater the angle of the roof slopes, the thicker you will have to use insulation.

Materials for thermal insulation can be found in any construction store. Most often, insulation is made of:

• mineral wool
• styrofoam
• polyurethane foam.

Mineral wool.  A material that has long and firmly taken one of the first positions in the list of building materials for insulation. Today it produces three types: slag, glass wool, stone wool. It is famous for its high resistance to fire, good soundproofing qualities, and the absence of deformation during weather changes. Perfectly cope with the insulation of the attic area. It has a small weight.

Should pay attention! When laying these materials, as a protection, people performing work should use protective equipment: masks and protective clothing. These materials can act irritatingly on unprotected skin, cause severe itching, and glass wool - also traces in the form of small cuts.

Styrofoam.  It is considered the most cost-effective.

It is made by foaming granules and picking them into slabs. It has positive characteristics:
  does not deform under the influence of moisture,
  microorganisms cannot develop on the surface, leading to the formation of fungus and rot,
  light weight
  easy to operate and unpretentious during transportation.

The only negative point: at a certain temperature and exposure to open fire, it ignites, forming highly toxic trace elements that negatively affect the condition of all living things.

Polyurethane foam.It is characterized as a material with low thermal conductivity and vapor permeability, soundproof.

You can independently install it if you have certain skills in performing such work and the corresponding equipment. Ideal for repairing old roofs, insulate the surface of an irregular shape.

Attic finish

How to decorate the attic inside and out, depends on the desire of the owner of the house. The main thing here, with the external design, is not to overdo it. We must try to maintain a common architectural style.

Even the roof beams can serve as the original decoration, of course, you will need to consider the option of decorating them.

The most suitable material for decoration is natural wood. Designers advise: the inner attic space is best finished with a natural lining. It is made from a variety of wood species. After installation, if desired, it can be opened with varnish or painted. Fasten the lining on plywood sheets.

When choosing a material, you need to remember that light colors visually expand the space. It is better to finish a small attic with a lining made of maple, ash, and fir.

When installed, the boards are fastened with a groove and tongue. The work process is as follows:
  First of all, on the walls you need to arrange a frame of battens. Fasteners are made with nails. The distance between the rails directly depends on the dimensions of the lining. On the slopes of the roof, the distance should be about 50 cm. A recess for ventilation is made out approximately every half meter. Next, the lining comes to the constructed frame with nails or staples. After the installation work is completed, it is better to open the lining with a stain or varnish. The layer forms a film that will protect the wood from drying out and the formation of various defects.

An equally popular option is covering the ceiling and walls of the attic with plasterboard, followed by wallpapering or paint.

Attic ventilation

Properly designed ventilation hatches will eliminate stagnation of air masses and a high percentage of humidity. Where and in what quantity hatches should be located directly depends on:

• cubic attic area
• type of laid heat and waterproofing.

In order to get a continuous and guaranteed effect of ventilation, you need to accurately calculate the area of \u200b\u200bthe ventilation opening.

Author: Sergey and Svetlana Khuentsov

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