Chapter 3. Attic Ideas

		That hot box under the roof offers an amazing number of possibilities. Here's the story on those preliminary structural changes you might want

Here are discussed a few interesting attic ideas. Structurally, there are quite a few changes you can make in an attic. It's just a question of how far you have the guts to go, or more exactly, how good your carpentry is and how many friends you can press into slave labor. Let's check the possibilities.

Quite a few years back, dormers were all the rage. Houses used to sport two, three or even more of these little protuberances. At that time the theory was that they let more light into the dim attic. Although this was probably true, they also created wildly up­setting decorating problems for the housewife. From the inside, dormers were nothing more than short tunnels with a window at the end. Outside of fitting a bench underneath the window, there wasn't much you could really do with that space.

What's your pleasure? Upstairs you can have a tcideful sitting or recreation room, guest rooms or a complete attic apartment

And so the dormer gradually became a shed dormer. What's the difference? Instead of several miserable little window dormers, the shed

To Install shed dormer first cut away roof sheath­ing and erect double studs and double plate.	Stringers (2x4s or 2x6s) are nailed in place. They reinforce roof and provide ceiling surface.
Rafters (2x6s) are nailed to a 1x6 at top and to the plate and adjacent stringer at the other end.	Put up studs and frame in openings for windows to form front of the dormer as shown at the right.
Add roof sheathing using standard tor. gue-and-groove boards. Diagram shows side dormer detail.	Sheath the front and sides of dormer. Add water­proof roof coating and put on the finished siding.

Method For Framing Gable Window

A gable window adds both beauty and light to a finished attic. Always double studs on the sides.

dormer is an extension to the roof area that continues almost all the way across the width of the house. In other words, you have one big dormer with several windows (or even a picture window) sharing the same wall. Inside you get lots more light, and wind up with truly usable space of your attic.

A shed dormer is, however, a rather extensive building project. Unless you have the time and skill for it, you will probably be better off if you put the harder part of the job in the hands of a competent contractor. You may be able to split up the remodeling: call in a professional to tackle the actual structural work and leave the detailed attic interior finishing for yourself. Structural work, if poorly done, can re­sult in damage to the house. Then, too, the problem of weather enters the picture. It's very important to cut out the opening and close it in again as quickly as possible. Should a torrential downpour come along while your roof still has a gigantic hole cut in it, the results would be more than em­barrassing.

Building Procedures

Consider the following attic ideas for building a shed-dormer. With the above qualifications out of the way, here's the step by step procedure (in general) for building-a shed dormer.

1. Working from the inside of an attic, cut out and completely remove the roof sheathing and covering in the area that will be occupied by the dormer. Leave the rafters intact for the time being.



2. Attach double studs (two studs nailed together side by side) at the two corners of the opening that are near the edge of the roof. The height of these timbers is the finished height of the new roof. To calculate this dis­tance, be sure to allow a minimum in­terior height below the finished ceil­ing of 7 ft. 6 in.



3. 3Nail a double plate to the ends of the studs.



4. Frame in the rest of the studs plus any rough opening for the windows. Studs should cover not only the front attic area but also the triangular sides of the new dormer.



5. Add stringers. These timbers rein­ force the new roof and also act as a nailing surface for the new ceiling in­ side. Stringers overhang the plate at one end by about 6-8 in. Carry the other end through the cut-out roof opening and spike each stringer (in­cidentally, they are either 2x4 or 2x6 timbers) to the old rafters near the top. Use a level to make sure each stringer is perfectly horizontal.



6. Nail a 1x6 timber flat at the top of the new opening.



7. Set the rafters (2x6 timbers for this) in place alongside the stringers. One end of each rafter rests on the plate and is nailed both to the plate and to the adjacent stringer. The other nail is toenailed to the 1x6.



8. Cut out the old rafters so the roof opening is outlined only by the new timbers.



9. Add the roof sheathing using stand­ard tongue-and-groove boards.

Armstrong Cork Co. Attractive, spacious-looking attic living quarters result from planning, imagination. Cork tile floors, plywood room divider and unique skylight—part of which opens—were all used here to good effect.

10. Sheath the front and sides of the dormer. In both cases, you'll probably use the same wood as for the roof.



11. Add the waterproof roof coating (roll roofing, shingles, etc.)



12. Put on the finished siding (clap­ board, shingles, etc.)



13. Fit the window frames into the rough openings in the front of the dormer.



14. The rest of the job is mostly in­terior finishing, so follow along with the instructions detailed in the chapter covering that type of work.

Gable Windows

One of the most effective attic ideas is the alteration you can make in an attic is a gable window. The job isn't too hard and, since most of the work can be done from the inside, you don't have to worry about all that nasty ladder routine. Most jobs involve cutting out one stud and framing it for the window, but unfortunately the only place where there's enough headroom  to install an extra window is at the gable end of the house.

An extra precaution is to add a strip of building ielt over the asphalt. Cement down the edges.

Wipe the inside of the dome clean and set 11 over the frame. Note the tight roof-frame joint.

(That triangular shaped space under the attic roof.) This is unfortunate be­cause the one stud that's removed for the job is an important structural timber. For this reason, be sure to add double bracing. Read the following and check the diagram.

Double up the studs on either side of the one that will be removed. Toenail them in place, top and bottom, and spike them to the existing studs so you wind up with firm double-sized timbers.

Saw through the center stud and the siding to make a rough opening for the new window in your attic. Incidentally, the width (the span between three studs) is pretty stand­ard. You can get stock windows in a variety of heights to fit this space.

Cut back the remains of the center stud, both top and bottom, to a distance equal to the thickness of two studs and nail double 2x4s as headers to the top and bottom of the opening.

Slip on the preformed retaining rim, turn in the sheet metal screws that hold it, and it's all done.

Fit in the new window frame. The rest of the procedure is pretty standard and is covered in other chapters.

As far as light is concerned, attics have check accuracy by placing frame on top.

Drill a hole through the roof at one corner and cut out the opening. Cut back the roofing or shingles an additional 3 in. from the hole. The frame has a preformed flashing that slips under the roof covering, so slit the roofing slightly at the corners to make this job easier. Fit frame in opening.

Nail the flashing to the roof of your attic. Space the rustproof aluminum nails 3 in. apart. Liberally cover nails and the joint between flashing and roof with a thick coating of asphalt cement. As an additional pre­caution, press a 4-in.-wide strip of build­ing felt over the cement all the way around and add more cement along the edges of the strip.

Wipe the inside of the dome clean with a soft, damp cloth. Set it over the frame and slip the preformed retaining rim on top. Turn in the sheet metal screws that fasten rim to frame. The whole works is extruded aluminum—rustproof, leakproof.

The outside of the dome comes covered with a protective skin so you won't cause any fumble-fingered damage. At this point, you can peel the film loose using a slow steady pull. Inside the attic (and further along in the project) you can finish off the interior opening with trim to match the rest of the job. Take great care while trying any of these attic ideas.

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