Building Into Attic Space

Generally 7 feet 6 inches high over a minimum floor area of 70 square feet.

Building into attic space.

Turning an attic into a room can add value to your home and additional living space for your family. More seating will make the room seem bigger and it provides more functionality. You ll need a much larger staircase and landing to accommodate furniture. An l shaped sectional provides plenty of seating to enjoy the fire.

Because local codes vary your building inspector can provide a list of applicable codes and required inspections for your new attic bedroom. There are many things to consider before undertaking the work. Don t be afraid to use a large sofa in a small space. Other structural issues are also factors including whether there is adequate space to install a stairway to the attic.

To be classified as a livable space your floor to ceiling height will have to be at least 7 feet. Many older homes were built with steep pitched roofs and plenty of available height that makes attic conversion easy and inexpensive. For fire safety there must be two ways out a second staircase for example or a window. A freestanding midcentury modern fireplace fits nicely into the corner of this attic apartment.

There are projects that you can build into your renovation to meet building code which qualifies your attic for conversion into a living space. If you have an attic shorter than required by code you won t be able to remodel it into living space. But the second you turn your attic into living space it s a whole new ballgame. The stairs have to be wide enough to handle a dresser or sofa but also have a large enough landing to handle the turn at the top.

Access and egress code generally requires a full size staircase with a minimum 6 foot 8 inch clearance above it. Here s a look at some building code basics when it comes to turning attic space into living space. If your attic is shorter than this you can lower the ceiling on the. Habitable attic space must satisfy the same requirements that govern rooms in the rest of the house.

Building code often requires stairway access to the attic if the space is to. To pass code there must be at least 70 square feet where the ceiling height is 5 feet or.