A walk-in attic space adjoins one of the spare bedrooms in this home. The homeowners have decided they wants to convert that walk-in storage space into usable living space instead. Our task here, therefore, is to seamlessly extend the room so that it utilizes the area once taken up by the attic. As you can see, our beginning photo shows the project already in progress. The wall which divided the room from the storage area has been deconstructed and removed (after assuring that no load-bearing members were involved). The resulting debris is then disposed of, and the remaining structure is inspected to be sure that there is no damage or rot present. Once that is accomplished, the next part of the project can begin.

For any space to be truly "liveable" in a modern home, it has to have electricity. Therefore, one of our first steps is to run the appropriate wiring necessary into the room extension, including switches, outlets, and directional lighting for the ceiling. Since the owners have stated that they intend to put a computer work area in this space, several outlets will be added to best meet the power requirements for the room's intended purpose. Also at this time, we are installing proper ventilation chutes into each accessible rafter cavity. (The white panels in the photo.) These help direct air drawn in from the soffit vents up to ridge vents on the roof, and help to create an overall better environment for the home while serving as a preventive against future moisture problems.

Once all necessary wiring has been run and all of the venting chutes are in place, the insulation process can begin. Fiberglass insulation will be placed into all open cavities that are accessible in the wall and ceiling to assure maximum energy efficiency.

Here you see that all of our insulation work has been completed. We have also installed a new, energy efficient double hung style window for the room. In the ceiling, you may see two globes which contain directional lighting controlled by a wall switch we installed earlier. The next and final phase will involve installing the drywall to make the room complete, a process which takes several steps to complete. First the drywall will be screwed into place, then the seams taped and sealed with joint compound, then finish sanded, and lastly, painted. Each step requires drying time in between.

And here is the end result. Once the drywall work was completed, we finished off by installing the baseboard trim throughout the room. As you may also see, we have put in new closet doors for the portion of the room which was already finished prior to this project. The floor is flush in both the newly finished and previously finished areas; once the carpeting is in place, it will be impossible to tell that this was ever two separate rooms.