How to Make an Attic Stair Insulated Cover

Your attic is an ideal long-term storage space, but it is less than ideal if you feel a draft every time you walk past the door of your pull-down attic stairs. Even if the attic itself is insulated, the door itself provides a gap that allows cold winds to blow through your home. Instead of putting on another sweater, make yourself an insulated stair cover out of rigid foam board. This box sits on top of your attic stairs and keeps you from the worst of the winter chill.

Measuring tape
Utility knife
Half-inch rigid foam board
Duct tape

Instructions

- 1
  Climb into the attic and pull the stairs up after you.
- 2
  Measure the width of the stairway opening and add 2 inches. This is measurement A.
- 3
  Measure the length of the stairway opening and add 2 inches. This is measurement B.
- 4
  Measure the stairs where they rise above the attic floor and add 1 inch. This is measurement C. When the attic stairs are closed, the stacked and folded steps rise slightly above the attic floor rather than siting flush with the floor. Typically, this distance is only 1 or 2 inches, but longer stairs may rise above the floor by as many as 4 or 5 inches.
- 5
  Use a utility knife to cut two rectangles of half-inch rigid foamboard with measurements matching those of measurement A and measurement C.
- 6
  Cut two rectangles of half-inch rigid foamboard with measurements matching those of measurement B and measurement C.
- 7
  Tape these rectangles together using duct tape to make a box that can sit neatly around the stairway opening.
- 8
  Place the box around the stairway opening and tape it to the attic floor using duct tape.
- 9
  Cut a rectangle of half-inch rigid foam board using measurement A and B as guides.
- 10
  Place the rectangle squarely on top of the box you built.
- 11
  Apply a line of duct tape along one long edge to serve as a hinge for the door. When you enter the attic, push this lid back, and when you exit it, pull this lid behind you.

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