Air Seal Attic Hatch

Insulating and air sealing a leaky attic hatch will help stop drafts and it will make your home more comfortable and efficient.

Air seal attic hatch.

When the sash locks are rotated in use they form an air tight seal with the foam weatherstripping. My apologies for the lack of photos but you can surely imagine how it works glue layers of insulation to hatch. Seal small gaps with caulk up to inch and expandable foam spray up to 3 inches. How to insulate and air seal an attic access hatch.

Carefully pull down the finish trim. The attic hatch is a very large opening in that ceiling which accelerates this effect by allowing that rising air to escape the home. The finished box is then fitted over the hatch opening on the attic side. To properly seal your attic hatch also known as an attic door or scuttle hole at a minimum you should apply weather stripping and ensure the attic side of the attic door is insulated.

Finally seal the hatch door with adhesive foam weatherstripping. A home loses about 25 of its heat through the top floor ceiling due to the effect of hot air rising. The stops provide a wider surface for attaching the weatherstrip and a space to mount hook and eye fasteners. The insulating material helps reduce heat transfer between the floor below and the attic.

Better yet there are high quality products such as the attic gator designed to both seal and insulate attic access doors and scuttle holes. Pray that the installer used finish nails and not say ring shank nails. If you re lucky this only causes heat loss in the winter and brings attic heat into the home in the summer. To guarantee a good seal i paired sash locks with a gasket of foam weather stripping around the frame of the attic hatch.

Just put it back into place. 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. Air seal the trim the first step is air sealing the finish trim and enclosure around the attic hatch. 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.

It s easily removed and set aside whenever you need to access your attic. If your hatch rests directly on the moldings like ours did add 2 1 2 in wide stops around the opening. Once you seal the air leak with caulk or expandable foam it s not necessary to replace the insulation. 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.

Sealing the attic hatch or door finish up by sealing the access hatch with self sticking weather stripping. Once installed the attic access cover creates a tight seal around the hatch. This is a result of moist air leaking into your attic and then freezing when it hits your cold attic.