Safely Walking Through Attic Beams

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.

Safely walking through attic beams.

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. Options include a headlamp large flashlight and portable lamp. You can most likely walk on the joists but i m not going to say it s ok just off a picture and i don t need to hear you come back talking about cracks in your dry wall or you putting your leg through because you stepped wrong. This is where the holster and the head lamp come in handy.

If you try to stand on the ceiling you could poke a hole in the drywall and fall right through. 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. Set down an old sheet in your work area and under the opening into the attic to catch any debris so it doesn t fall into the rest of the house. First let s be sure not to fall into the room below.

After that ensure you have adequate lighting so you can see your work. Robert from winnipeg manitoba asks about the safety of walking around in his attic. Use the 2 x4 pieces to walk on picking up the one behind to place infront of the one you re standing on. Keep it cool did we mention it s hot in the attic.

If you were to remove all the insulation you would see the drywall or plaster of the ceiling below nothing more.