Insulating and sealing a side attic door
mlawrence17
| Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on
I’ve got an attic on either side of my upstairs bedroom. There is a hollow core door with a magnetic latch that allows access to this space. The previous owner had stapled batt insulation to the back of this hollow core door but it’s clearly not enough, and the magnetic latch is pretty pathetic at holding the door tightly sealed. What is the best way to insulate and seal this opening to combat the South Carolina heat?
Replies
I have the same setup. My door is only about 3.5' tall. I took some of the thick, rigid insulation and cut two pieces that fit tight into the opening (from the attic side of the door).
It was easy to pull the first into place. To pull the second in, I put some string around the insulation and pulled on the strings. I sealed all seams with scotch tape. Don't laugh, the tape will last till I need to get access to the attic.
What is the best way to insulate and seal this opening to combat the South Carolina heat?
There's a question entire.
My first thought is actually, "How insulated is the wall the door is in?"
Sealing the door will want bent bronze or the like; the self-adhesive foam will go in faster, but will not last long in summer heat (leaves a sticky, nasty, mess when you have real weatherstripping put in--trust me).
Just putting insulation on the back of the door only solves oart of the problem--the insulation has to be chamfered, bent, radiused, whatever, to allow the door to open.
Oh, and that "properly ventilated attic" could be pressurized, forcing the summer-heated air through any gaps in the door. That's why I'm focusing on the weather stripping.
Since the door (likely) swings in, that's actually working against you in some ways (door stop is on the wrong side).
I saw, once (jsut the once) and intersting answer for the access door to address this. The visible door was fully weatherstripped. On the outside of the wall framing, a wooden frame was set against a door stop in the opening. That frame swung out into the attic space, and was about 2" of foam boards sealed into the frame. Bit of a pain to get into the attic, open one door, then another, but it looked elegant enough.
For the latch, a plain, double-sided deadbolt can have the least "impact" (does not stand very proud of the wall, and not as large as a door knob); but a regular privacy set is what I generally see on these doors. Now, a "dummy" knob set, and a pair or two of magnetic catches can work, too (keeps a person from bein accidentally locked in the attic, too).
I made a pretty simple door for the attic off our bedroom, that has roughly a 3' x 3-1/2' opening. It's just a perimeter frame of 2x2 lumber ripped from 2x4s, sandwiched between two layers of plywood, with rigid foam filling the cavity. I squared it up after gluing it, made a simple jamb with a chamfered stop moulding for the opening, added weatherstripping, hinges and a lockset. It seals great, opens like a normal door, and insulates much better than the original sheet of plywood with fiberglass stapled to it.
Since it is so small, I also chamfered the attic side of the opening, and put some padding there for the inevitable head bumps. It's simple, and it works well. I can take some pics if you're interested.