Cutting Ceiling Joists For Attic Stairs

When converting an attic or basement to finished living space you may decide to replace a ladder with a stairway or to enlarge an existing stairway.

Cutting ceiling joists for attic stairs.

Cutting a hole in the floor for a staircase may happen during new construction or while renovating an older home. Standard ceiling joists sit on 24 inch centers and the space between them is 22 1 2 inches. These are trimmer joists. You potentially compromise too many of the rafter cross ties by doing that.

Instead you should place the cutout opening inline with the ceiling joists rafter ties. Either process requires cutting away flooring. I would not put the attic stairs ladder assembly opening at right angles to the ceiling joists. Werner s easy access attic ladder 5 cut ceiling joists step 1 mark.

Locate an area centered between the two joists and cut a 6 to 8 inch diameter hole using a. Determine the area where you want to place your stairs. How to cut a hole in the ceiling for attic access. Cut a stringer to this length.

In order to maintain the support integrity of the ceiling or floor joist or rafter system it is important that if joists are cut that the load that was bearing on those joists be transferred to a modified support system. Next using an electric drill pop a screw up through the drywall in the ceiling as a reference point so that when you go up in the attic you ll be able to locate it and find the general location of the attic stair. Step 2 cut joist support boards. If the room has a ceiling and you have cut the required hole go to step 2.

You ll then use the ceiling joists to determine the final location. Measure the distance between the full joists on either side of the cut joists. Cut 2 joist sized boards long enough to span two joists on each side of your chosen. If the room has no ceiling.

This way you only need to cut one of them to make the room for the rough framing opening. Cutting and or removing joists to provide an entry or access can be the most difficult part of the overall project. Position a stepladder directly under the desired area for the attic access hole.