Drawbacks to finishing an attic? (colors, door, bathroom, windows)

[escapetacoma]

Originally Posted by Cosmic

First I would ask how do you get up there normally? Are there stairs permanently installed? Is there only one method of entry??

Permanent stairs leading from the upstairs bathroom. As of right now, only one entry path - and that is something that we've been thinking on. I don't know if the stairs are up to current code.

Those type considerations and thinking. A lot depends on where the house is and what type of building code / regulations govern. Who is the permitting authority if any?

Not sure yet but most likely the City of Waupun, Wisconsin. The only other likely candidate is Dodge County.

A good walk thru by a local contractor experienced in doing major renovations that meet all regulations / permits etc. Have them explain the process. Architects are over kill up front. Same with building inspectors. Get the views of experienced contractors first. They will be more on your side and not try to gild the lily. Use that as a guide to move thru planning out the project and hiring or getting the right people involved.

After some of the other messages that I've read here and elsewhere we had pretty much decided to do it this way. We've also decided to wait until we've found a contractor that we're comfortable with which, given our luck with contractors in the past, might take some time.

Thanks for the reality check!

[David R]

Originally Posted by escapetacoma

We've purchased a 100 year old Victorian that's in great shape, but the attic is unfinished. My wife wants to insulate and wallboard the attic to turn into her "play" space - sewing, painting, reading, etc....

Are there any significant drawbacks to doing this? We don't mind the minor updating of the house - the lower floors are still very much in keeping with the character of the home - but we don't want to do anything that might cause structural or finish work problems down the road.

Here's the home:


and here's what the attic currently looks like (the doorway in the center leads to the turret):

You have a beautiful home in a beautiful state. My wife and I have a similar situation as you had. We have a large 90 year old home in ND with a walk-up unfinished 3rd floor attic. We would like to do some insulating and finishing up there. I plan on starting by getting books at Lowe's as was suggested. However, I would very much like to know: 1)have you started and/or finished? 2)did you run into anything unusually difficult? 3)are you happy you did it? 4)would you hire it done if you did it over? David R

[escapetacoma]

Originally Posted by David R

We would like to do some insulating and finishing up there. I plan on starting by getting books at Lowe's as was suggested. However, I would very much like to know: 1)have you started and/or finished? 2)did you run into anything unusually difficult? 3)are you happy you did it? 4)would you hire it done if you did it over? David R

David,

We've started but it's not _quite_ finished. Mostly that's because partway through the project we worked out a way to widen the 32" staircase to the attic - it needed to be 36" before we could consider that space to be living space. To do that we moved the bathroom that you had to pass through to get to the attic entrance (strange) across the hall and made that small - like 7' square small - room my new office. We then could cut away the wall to make an open staircase. Along the way we decided to add airconditioning for the 2nd floor as well as the 3rd - high velocity/small duct setup. This was really nice during the summer

Problems we've run into:
1) There was an overspan/soft spot in the floor. The contractor (I was always planning to hire someone to do the job - not sure what my wife was originally thinking) shortened the span by headering across the joists, raising that section of flooring a bit. There's now a knee wall at the raise to define a small utility area in the attic.

2) Some of the windows in the attic were showing some signs of wear so we ended up spending a bit of time rehabbing them - that's the main reason the project isn't done yet as we decided to do that part ourselves rather than trying to find someone who would do it my wife's OCD standards.

3) Code issues. Without two stairways you can't consider it to be a bedroom - that's OK as we never were planning for it to be one. The staircase still doesn't meet code for rise/run but the inspector pointed out an appropriate portion of the code that basically says that remodels need to meet modern codes __except__ when doing so would cause undue hardship. Considering what would have been involved in flattening the stairs and still keeping headroom (e.g. changing the roof line?) she waived that requirement as long as we provided visual contrast between risers and treads. The risers are walnut and the treads are maple - sounds strange but it looks nice. The new bathroom's doorway needed to be 32" since at least one of the bathrooms in the house needed a doorway at least that wide. Some windows needed tempered glass. Mostly stuff like that. I don't know about ND but here in Wisconsin it seems to be a good idea to work with the building inspector all along the way to avoid surprises.

We are happy that we did it, though in retrospect we should have waited a year or two to allow us time to recover from the year spent full bore working on the house in Tacoma to get it ready to sell.

When it's complete I'll post some pictures - though they won't be as impressive as it is in person.

[jonnyhambone]

That looks like an excellent attic (and house) to remodel. Congrats. I have a similar situation...1906 house, walk up attic, three full-size windows I currently keep cracked for airflow but otherwise the only 'venting' is a fan out one of the windows.
What did you/your contractor end up doing for ventilation? The thin plywood and blown-in insulation is fine but isn't there a potential problem with moisture/condensation/general airflow with regards to the whole 'heat rises' concept? I've heard I should check out installing soffit vents or alternatively, gable vents...any suggestions? I'll be putting knee-walls up so there will be some real 'attic-y' space along the edges of the attic/eaves-space.

[escapetacoma]

Originally Posted by jonnyhambone

What did you/your contractor end up doing for ventilation? The thin plywood and blown-in insulation is fine but isn't there a potential problem with moisture/condensation/general airflow with regards to the whole 'heat rises' concept? I've heard I should check out installing soffit vents or alternatively, gable vents...any suggestions?

We went with soffit vents + ridge vents and baffles to allow for airflow with the bat insulation. We weren't trying to get airflow in the attic space itself - that's now living space - but to allow for airflow to reduce heat buildup.

[escapetacoma]

Originally Posted by David R

1)have you started and/or finished?

There's a little work left to be done then the inspection but it's mostly complete. Here are a couple of pictures of the current state:



The stairs leading to the attic. The wall above the stairs was removed in order to widen them:

[icon7]

I have to say the updates look awesome! The House looks Awesome! I bet it was built 10x better than the home I just built. I probably paid 4X as much too Too bad I can't take the cold...

Originally Posted by escapetacoma

There's a little work left to be done then the inspection but it's mostly complete. Here are a couple of pictures of the current state:



The stairs leading to the attic. The wall above the stairs was removed in order to widen them:

[pitt_transplant]

Oh my god!
That looks so fantastic!

I dont know if its been said but you should but a window mount fireladder up there for her.

[escapetacoma]

Originally Posted by pitt_transplant

Oh my god!
That looks so fantastic!

I dont know if its been said but you should but a window mount fireladder up there for her.

I don't think it's been mentioned, but we already have one for that purpose. It's not good enough for code to count as a second method of egress from the third floor but it will make me feel better.

-Ken

[ladybug07]

Your home is absolutely beautiful!!! My dream is to have a Victorian home.
The attic space looks great!