Safely Walking Through Attic Walk On The Beams

It is held in place by the ceiling joists which inside the attic become the floor joists.

Safely walking through attic walk on the beams.

The safest way to move around an unfinished attic is to create a catwalk or walking platform by attaching some 1x6 or 1x8 boards or strips of 3 4 plywood to the joists with screws don t use nails because the hammering might disturb the drywall or plaster ceiling below. Sneakers with tread on them and can flex will provide better footing and perhaps do less accidental damage than boots. You can either walk on the 2x4s laid at the truss points on either side or you can walk right down the middle where you ve got more clearance as long as you re stepping on the bottom chord of the truss. This is where the holster and the head lamp come in handy.

Same goes for your boxes. If your attic doesn t have a floor you can gingerly walk on the edges of the wood ceiling rafters the ones that support the ceiling of the rooms underneath your feet or you can lay a couple of pieces of sturdy plywood down to use as a sort of plank to get you from one truss to the next. If you try to stand on the ceiling you could poke a hole in the drywall and fall right through. That could be two feet and one hand two hands and a knee your thigh and two hands usually when you re trying to squeeze toward the soffit eave area or any number of combinations.

If your attic joists won t bear the weight necessary to finish out a living space but the engineer cleared them to support floor decking for light storage you can install inch plywood or. Here are our nine recommendations for working safely in the attic.