New attic access opening

Tired of the bugs in the closet and having to move boxes and clothing every time I needed to go up, I have moved the attic ceiling access to the hallway. It is a slightly larger, more accessible and much sturdier framed opening. The necessary angle to securely prop a ladder for climbing had left only stick people like me the ability to squeeze up through the skinny closet doorway and into the hole.

I took the drywall cut from the hallway and fit it into the closet ceiling, taped and mudded it so this is no longer a roach roadway. Despite my best effort to prop a thermostat wire behind a condensation pipe coming from the attic air handler, I did manage to cut through and apparently fry the thermostat. Since the outside heat pump fan has been broken since July, (blame it on bills and car repairs) when we eventually call the repair person I'll sheepishly explain my error. In the meantime we wear sweaters and blankets around the house. Well, I do anyway, to protect myself from Jason's cynical remarks about me and saws.

Old:

New:








It needs a new, larger plywood door and trim. A garbage bag taped to the ceiling isn't all that exciting. Jason's "new" closet will become bright aqua blue! now that I've patched up all the shoe gouges and tool scrapes in its walls.

Friday night in the attic

I feel guilty for kicking J out of the bedroom closet (I have a serious pajama collection). I hope I made up for it last night with this temporary light for his closet. Despite him being the primary wage earner, his closet is half the size of the other, and he shares it with holiday decorations and the attic opening. Poor J. Even worse, until we move the opening to the kitchen, everything in his closet needs to be portable for the ladder access.

I was so eager to surprise him with this light by the time he came back from rehearsal last night, I didn't even paint it. The light was $7 on clearance from Lowes, its main benefit being a sturdy wall-mounted arm. I wired it to an in-line switch and plug, which plugs into an extension cord (bad, I know). The extension cord goes into the attic, where the attic light is hard-wired on its own circuit right above the opening. There I screwed in a socket with an outlet for the extension cord. This way, the light and backer plate are completely unpluggable and removable so we can take down boxes and stick a ladder in the ladder-sized closet. This cost the same as those dim battery powered lights from Target. Still, this is a very low-wattage bulb, as lights in tiny spaces make me edgy. We'll get him a permanent, cooler ceiling light when we close this attic opening.

While I was in the attic, I poked around a bit. There are four stacks of puzzle boxes from the 80's and 90's. Lots of Charles Wysocki, and several mystery puzzles, like Murder She Wrote. I also found a Sears receipt from November 1992 for Reebok shoes, purchased by the previous owner, and a punched-brass Christmas ornament of a teddy bear. Then I sat on a joist and just looked around. It was so nice up there on a cool rainy night. Usually I come down the ladder unable to bend my knees because the pants are so thoroughly wet with sweat. But last night it was nice enough to make me want to finish the space! Hot times are coming soon, though, and even nights up there will be 100 degrees. Who needs ventilation? We do! Last week I looked at some local eaves and saw that between every other rafter, two 1 1/2" holes had been drilled about 6" apart, and backed with screen. This seems more economical than drilling holes and popping in those plastic cup vents, although those have larger holes=more airflow.