Knee Wall Attic Access Door Insulation

The knee wall access door dwk is intended to be built into l shaped walls.
Knee wall attic access door insulation. Another alternative for knee walls conditions is to remove and reinstall the batt insulation to qii standards. An attic hatch also known as a scuttle hole is simply a panel in the ceiling that can be removed for access. Superb thermo insulating parameters r value 5 2 along with high air tightness keep heat loss to a minimum. Many knee wall doors have built in weather stripping and insulation.
How to seal knee wall doors. These doors need to include thick insulation for example several layers of rigid foam glued to the back of the door a tight threshold good weatherstripping and a latch that pulls the door tightly shut. Rake walls it s easier to handle than plywood or thermo ply and still gives you an r 19 r121 assembly. The knee wall access doors may be installed in right or left opening versions.
We reduced the air leakage nearly 50 on this house in shaker heights without insulating the walls. If the door doesn t have these weather strip it to provide a tight seal and make sure the latch pulls tightly against the frame. Blown insulation in the knee wall and top attics. In tight attics or odd shaped wall conditions i e.
You can buy knee wall doors that have built in insulation and weather stripping. R 10 rated 2 1 4 thick foam filled doors available. Despite both of these attic doors being easy to insulate many contractors don t do it. Knee wall doors provide access through the knee walls to the unconditioned parts of the attic.
As standard the door is provided with lining slats. Access doors need to be detailed like exterior doors. Energy star qualified r 5 rated knee wall door. Added bonus the floor of this knee wall leaked too so there is a line of foam just above the floor joist.
Insulate the sloped ceiling. Then cover that same area with an r 8 fsk affixing it using cap nails. Pre hung on an exterior grade 1 1 4 x 4 9 16 door frame with q lon weather stripping. A knee wall attic door is infamous for being leaky and all too often left without insulation.
We prefer cellulose but we use fiberglass sometimes too.