2x4 Attic Joists

The studs in question span 16.

2x4 attic joists.

Hot summers and cold winters. Positioning the new joist adjacent to the existing preserves precious ceiling but it does come with some potential complications. With the 2x4 joist what insulation should i use since i do want to put some flooring down for storage. Sistering installing new larger joists next to the existing ones is one way to bring your attic floor up to code.

If the attic were designed as living space those ceiling joists would become floor joists and be much bigger. We were going to sister 2x8 to the existing 2x6 but are worried about the extra weight and the huge amount of pain it will be. In attics built purely for storage purposes you may find 2x6 ceiling joists or in some cases even 2x4 joists. 2x4 s actual size spaced 16 on center running the width of the building uninterrupted with the ends resting on top of the wall top plate.

You may walk along a plywood pathway and feel a little bounce in the floor and think hey maybe that s ok you may have plenty of head height up there in the middle and think it could work as a room maybe a home office with a desk and bookshelves where the. Chances are your attic is composed of 2x4 rafters and floor joists. If you want to put down flooring in your attic and want more insulation underneath that floor then you need to increase your joist size. That s a big size and strength difference between the two types of attic joists even if the joist spacing is the same.

I live in the pittsburgh area. Often existing joist bays are filled with electrical and heating ducts that will need to be relocated. Each joist is strong enough to support my weight 175lbs concentrated in a 1 segment of the joist and. While this is not the optimal setup it is acceptable to have ceiling joists covered with plywood or osb to use for light attic storage of dead loads.

I d like to double my ceiling joists to make my attic space easier to work in for electrical plumbing and for lightweight storage. Can it support an attic ladder and have some plywood put down and used as a storage area. Depending on the existing attic structure a contractor might be able to sister the current joists by attaching new joists of the same dimension beside them. All our current 2x6 joist are spaced 16 on center.

Sistering 2x6 joists next to your current 2x4 joists will simply give you a new floor height of 5 1 2 inches as opposed to the current 3 1 2 inches. I m wanting to remodel our attic to add a few bedrooms. There is a wall under part of the attic which helps support the studs at approximately midspan. Ceiling joists are typically 2 8 lumber floor joists are usually 2 10 or 2x 12 lumber.