How To Seal A Attic Hatch

Treat the attic door like a door to the outside.

How to seal a attic hatch.

To guarantee a good seal i paired sash locks with a gasket of foam weather stripping around the frame of the attic hatch. Long piece from a batt of unfaced fiberglass insulation and fold it at the bottom of a 13 gallon. My apologies for the lack of photos but you can surely imagine how it works. Pre made insulated attic stair covers are also available from local home improvement centers or on the web.

Cut a piece of fiberglass or rigid foam board insulation the same size as the attic hatch and nail or glue it to the back of the hatch. Plug open stud cavities. Air seal the hatch perimeter the plywood hatch rests on a small wood strip lip. When the sash locks are rotated in use they form an air tight seal with the foam weatherstripping.

Apply weather stripping to the door to create a seal. The standard air sealing recommendation is to install a compression bulb weatherstrip. Fortunately you can easily air seal and insulate your attic hatch saving you energy and money. Weatherstrip the edges and put a piece of rigid foam board insulation on the back of the door.

Plug the big holes first. Wrap insulation in plastic. Apply a bead of caulk on the inside and outside edges of the trim and then reattach it. If you have pull down attic stairs or an attic door these should be sealed in a similar manner.

This can also be beefed up to a sealing gasket like the one on your refrigerator door. Near finished attic hatch. There are two issues that need to be addressed with the attic hatch. Air sealing involves two steps.

Once you have the materials you can begin to seal and insulate the knee wall access door through these steps.