Convert Attic Stairs

Traditional stairs and spiral staircases.

Convert attic stairs.

Attic remodels can take as little as 2 months but typically they will take 3 to 4 months and require a few different types of permits. Most finished seattle attics are large open spaces or contain a few small bedrooms but no bathroom. The most common attic conversion stair design is a traditional stair. Turning that attic into living space is going to add some previously unaccounted for load upstairs.

Provide a minimum of 6 8 of headroom the entire walking length of the stairs. Codes vary from place to place but the rule of 7 for using an attic as an actual room typically applies. To convert your attic to living space you cannot provide access via a ladder. This is what you would typically find a home with a straight staircase that extends out from your attic entrance in a large rectangle.

Converting an attic into a master suite is almost always a large scale remodel. This may not be ideal as attics are usually tucked into small spaces in the house. While this definitely more stable than a ladder and has full steps it takes up a large portion of the floor below. At least half of your attic space must be 7 feet high by 7 feet wide with a total of 70 square feet.

Think of load as weight that additional load at the top of your house was not planned for structurally when your home was built. Converting an attic has house wide structural implications. Pull down stairs won t work for an attic room so you must add a permanent staircase.