The days are cooling off and it's time to brave the tight confines of my attic. There's almost no floor and I don't think rafter crawling is a good idea unless it's easier to balance than I think. What's the safest way to get around up there? I was thinking a couple of plywood boards that I move one in front of the other...
yeah but to make future work easier install screw down the boards permanetely.
less chance for damage, perhaps add some storage space, makes ife easier all around
A couple of 20" rips of plywood would help you crawl and get around; make the length you can handle and get in the attic. Leave them up there / screw them down.
I talked with a guy awhile back and he had a guy (get this) that performed all attic work...just attic crawling. I commented that "you must pay him well"? He stated the man had worked for him many years, so I guess the answer was yes.
I stay out of attics, barring an emergency.
-- Oren
"Well, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it happens, it happens constantly."
FWIW, I've always just gone from rafter to rafter, and it has never really bothered me. But it does require caution.
Actually make the strips 16" wide, you will get three 8 foot strips, or six
4 foot pieces, if the insulation is too thick to screw down add some 2 x 4 pieces to the top of the joist or bottom runner of the truss.crabshell wrote in news:UOidndqJDresAIPYnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:
Use thick plywood. Not some that will bend between the supports. Nail/screw them down permanently as said. You shuffle a couple of pieces around and an end may break or slip off the support. Besides, when "Oh Shit! *%#$* bees!!" happens, you wanna be shuffing your pieces around to the exit?
Habbit I've also made a groundrule is even with plywood up there, when walking always step on the truss chord under the plywood.
Last year I got some pieces of 1 x 12 and screwed them down to the rafters to make a crawlway down the center of the attic. I decided that I had duck walked enough rafters to last me the rest of my life. I also have some scraps of plywood that I move around to sit on when I am doing work away from the crawl way. The scraps have to be sturdy enough to support me, so old 1/4 inch plywood might not be quite enough.
Bill Gill
if you're just exploring, go slow and be sure where every footstep lands, holding onto roof trusses etc. for balance; might want to wear some old tennis shoes that are easy to move in, staying on the rafters (one mis-step can send you through a drywall ceiling, etc.), and obviously take a flashlight if no lights are installed up there; also may want to have someone watching in case you have an accident and need help
be sure and wear a breathing mask to prevent inhalation of: fiberglass if so insulated (it's carcinogenic); mold; fungus, etc.
moving plywood would be cantankerous and you risk damaging the paper backing of fiberglass insulation (if so insulated) which results in millions more of tiny glass fibers being released freely in your attic than when properly installed between rafters with the paper side up to prevent their release, assuming it was installed with the paper backing up, between the rafters, if you have fiberglass bats - usually the paper becomes real brittle exposed to the extreme temperatures in attics and it breaks very easily, even when touched...not such a worry if you have blown in fiberglass, cellulose, or other insulating material (excluding asbestos, which you probably don't have)
Install a walkway. You can use 3/4" ply or 2x6s. Finish nails and set below surface. I did mine cheap--used $2 2x6 culls from the BORG. Cut them so that they lay halfway onto the rafters.
Be very careful not to step on an unsupported end of a board or edge of a sheet. It can unexpectedly tip and cause you a nasty fall.
Don Young
"Don Young" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:
Exactly! And that's one reason I have that groundrule mentioned above. Unless you put it down yourself vs existing when you bought the place, you really don't know.
The previous repo I bought had floating plywood ends. I was like how stupid can anyone be. But also there was a hole in the middle of the LR ceining. About the size a person would make coming through. That stupid is the answer.
for attic flooring drywal screws are ideal. or deck screws
ringshank nails tend to bend and more importandly hammering screws above can do cieling damage below.
screws avoid these troubles
CJT wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@prodigy.net:
I hesitate since there's so much blown insulation...
Well, putting boards over that is likely to compress it -- not a good idea.
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