Attic bedrooms -- and closets -- make magical playrooms for children.
With wooden floors and pretty little curtains in the windows, an attic bedroom puts you just a bit above the rest of the world -- and if you're lucky, the view is spectacular. The only problem is that builders almost never factor closet space into an attic area. Finishing typically consists of flooring and walls that square off the room, since some of the attic space, that under the lowest part of the angled roof, is not suited to living space. In a finished attic, walls are usually erected at a minimum of 4 feet or 5 feet high. Most of the space behind those walls -- between the walls and the exterior of the attic -- can make a useful closet area if you're handy. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Locate the area where you want your attic bedroom closet. In the corner is ideal, since it provides three walls already built -- the back wall formed by the roof, the side wall provided by the home wall and the front wall, which is the interior framing of the attic.
2. Tap on the wall to locate the studs, the wood framing inside the interior framed wall. When tapping over top a stud the wall feels and sounds solid, but an area without a stud feels soft and sounds hollow. Typically studs are spaced 16 to, at most, 24 inches across walls. Stud spacing in older homes may vary.
3. Mark each stud along the wall where you want your closet. If you want a 4-foot-wide closet, for instance, indicate the placement of each stud within that 4 feet. Since the depth of the closet will prove fairly shallow, due to the sloping roof behind it, a wide closet is ideal. It allows for at least 2 feet of depth for clothes, a long clothes rod and shoe or box space along the narrowing depth.
4. Cut open the framed interior wall to create the closet door space and allow you access to what will become your closet interior. Use a reciprocating saw or utility knife, depending on the wall covering, to break through the wall surface. Cut through the wall framing where it attaches to the floor with the saw. Pry the remainder of the wall away, using a crowbar where necessary. The width you uncover is entirely up to you, but considering the space's shallowness, doors almost as wide as the closet work best to provide access to the entire closet.
5. Measure the depth of the closet area, along both the floor and the ceiling, to determine the length of the wall plates needed. Wall plates, both top and bottom, sandwich the studs to form a stud wall. You will need two plates per wall. If your closet is in the corner, using an exterior wall, you will need only one wall with two plates.
6. Cut two 2-by-4-inch boards to measure the depth of the closet. Label each: "B" for the bottom-measured board and "T" for the measurement running along the ceiling. Use a board ripped out from the interior framing to save money.
7. Set the bottom plate in place inside the closet at the closet width desired. Tap it into place, between the interior and exterior walls, flush with the floor. Nail through the board into the floor beneath every 4 to 6 inches, staggering the nails in a zigzag pattern. Toenail -- drive at an angle -- two final nails, from either side of the plate, into the interior wall plate that forms the front closet wall.
8. Hold the top plate against the slanting ceiling of the closet, allowing the end that meets the floor to fall behind the bottom plate. Since the edges of the boards are square, you must cut the ends at an angle to allow them to join. Lay a pencil on top of the bottom plate and pull it to create a pencil mark across the top plate. This mark creates a cut guide that forms a perfect angle to allow the top and bottom plates to meet in the corner.
9. Cut the end of the top plate where indicated. Hold it up against the closet ceiling and attach it with nails wherever it rests against a ceiling joist. Drive two nails at an angle into the front wall top plate.
10. Measure the clearance between the bottom plate and the top plate at the front of the closet and every 4 to 8 inches thereafter. Record each measurement. While normal stud walls are 16 to 24 inches, inside this closet (where the roof rapidly grows shorter creating a shallow closet) you wouldn't have very many studs if you spaced them typically. Spacing them closer provides greater wall strength, better shelving and rod stability, and a closet that will better withstand wear and tear.
11. Nail each stud in place. Tap each with a hammer to encourage a tight fit between the plates. Toenail through the stud into the top or bottom place with two or three nails.
12. Cover the side walls inside the closet with your choice of wall covering material. Cut drywall, paneling or wood boards to size, use nails to attach them to the studs. Place fiberglass or Styrofoam insulation, cut to fit between the studs, in the walls before covering the studs if you want a well-insulated closet.
13. Finish the wall closet with shelves or clothes rods as desired. Consider placing a battery operated light inside the front wall for better illumination.
14. Hang the closet door according to the manufacturer's instructions. The door framing, made by the studs on either side of the wall opening you created, dictates the height and width of the door you'll want to purchase.
Tags: bottom plate, depth closet, each stud, front wall, your closet, angle allow, attic bedroom