Need help with finishing BONUS room

16 years ago

We will have a 12x19 bonus room above our garage - off our master bathroom - that we will use for a huge walk in closet/sitting area.

It is framed with barn style attic trusses.

We want to insulate it properly.

We are going to have the electrician run some conduit up to the room so we can have another electrician add in outlets, lights, and baseboard electric heat when we are ready...

Other than that - we will do all the work ourselves.

Any advice? What type of insulation should we use?

Suggestions on how to get the most out of the extra space on the side of the walls? (Again, barn style - 6 ft walls on side, 8 foot in center/ceiling)

Thanks!!!

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Comments (7)

sierraeast
16 years ago
We have a finished attic space. Because of headroom, we went w/ the minimum rafter width but heavier roof sheathing. A 2" airspace was required between the roof sheathing and insulation, so we used foamboard panels @ r-7/inch that gave us the needed r value and still allowed the airspace. The brand name of the panels,(cut to fit or friction fit), is celotex and it is foil faced on bothe sides sandwiching the foam, which is closed cell. They are 4'x8' sheets.
skagit_goat_man_
16 years ago
Check your local code for required air flow space above the insulation. I'd get all the drywall and flooring in the area before it's weathered in. Putting the flooring down now will make life much easier when you go to do the finish work. We just put the same type of attic in our home. There's batting insulation in the floor, walls and ceiling.
You call it a bonus room which means as far as your building permit goes it's a habitable space. Are you going to have a stairway to it that meets code? Tom
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liptonjl
Original Author
16 years ago
As far as our building permit goes it is "unfinished storage" and it is directly off the master bathroom on the second floor - not in the attic. so underneath it will be insulated (the roof of the garage is insulated)... but the sides will be just plywood. THere will be a steel door separating this "bonus" room from the master bathroom.

Basically our plan calls for it to be a sitting room or walk in closet but to cut costs we are finishing it ourselves instead of putting it in our bid. The contractor is going to have the electrician run conduit up there for us and he's also going to allow us to purchase drywall and leave it up there on the floor. We'll do the insulation, drywall, finish work and flooring ourselves - but an electrician will do the outlets, heat and lights.

Does that make sense?
liptonjl
Original Author
16 years ago
Here's a pic to get a visual. Taken from the master bathroom
sierraeast
16 years ago
Im sure the walls can be batts, but as tom stated find out if you are required to have an air space above the insulation in the rafter areas. If so, you might not be able to get the required or needed r value using batts up there(not enough rafter space thickness), which is why i suggested foam board that gives you more r-value per inch.
chispa
16 years ago
Make sure you also have all the necessary heat and cooling going to this closet.
logista
16 years ago
If you're going to be putting in drawers, put them into the walls, so that the drawer fronts are flush with the wall. You'll have to add insulation around the drawer boxes, but it will preserve floor space. You might also consider putting a small door to the unconditioned eaves area for extra storage.

My MIL had this in her Cape Cod and it was incredibly helpful for storing stuff that wasn't particularly temperature sensitive. Of course, when we moved her out of that house, we uncovered loads of stuff she'd forgotten she owned ;)