No Attic Access In House

The attic framework might be bowed sagging or cracked.

No attic access in house.

You are right to be concerned. You must drill teh studs not notch them. That s true even if the only time it s accessed is periodically by the homeowner and less often during an inspection. It might also hold important information about a previous house fire.

Why is there no attic access hatch in the house. Building codes require tha tyou remove no more than 1 3 teh width of the frame member and that it be teh middle 1 3. If you cut a notch in the outer edge you weaken the member a lot more than if you drill an equal sized hole in the middle. Because you don t have access to your attic where you can look at the roof s underside the only options for you to find roof leaks are to focus on visual signs namely watermarks and water actually dripping down and inspecting your roof.

The front half of the house has vaulted ceilings where the back does not so there is an attic up there however there is no attic access. 3 if the. 2 the attic access opening may have been removed during a remodeling. The inspector did like this as there is no way to know what is up there which makes sense.

We like the rest of the home but the issue with not having attic access concerns us. If there really is no attic access you should ask the seller to install an opening as part of the requirement in all real estate sales contracts that access be provided for the buyer to the property for inspection. This is not a good sign. Years of inspecting houses taught me that it is not always easy to find an access to the attic.

A critical part of the property is not accessible so do not go forward with the transaction until it is. A pull down attic stairway is great but some homes have only. When the attic becomes part of the home to be heated and cooled open wall gable vents and roof vents are no longer feasible but the underside of the roof the sheathing and rafters can still.