Knee Wall Framing Attic

The knee wall forms the wall of the attic room and it also creates an enclosed space under the eaves behind the wall.

Knee wall framing attic.

Determine the angle of rafters by setting the scrap piece of 2x4 in a vertical position against the side of a rafter. Cover the whole wall. The knee wall in an attic drops down from the rafter to hide the pointed angle where the rafter meets the attic floor and to make the attic feel a bit more like a regular room. In part 1 of this guide you will learn how to measure the roof and rafters to find the correct location for the walls cut off the plates for the walls and create studs to fit those walls.

Seal all the edges penetrations and seams. The space behind the. One of your 2x4s will act as the bottom of your wall and will not be cut. The knee wall will be built on the floor of the attic and then tipped into place against the rafters.

If you aren t sure whether or not your attic contains knee walls go and look around the edges. Knee walls are the short interior walls built beneath the roof rafters. 1 a continuous air barrier can be installed on the exterior of the kneewall framing from the top of the knee wall down to the attic floor including the spaces between the attic floor joists from the bottom of the knee wall to the ceiling deck below or 2 a continuous air barrier can be installed along the underside of the attic roofline from the top of the knee wall to the top plate of the home s exterior wall. These low walls help define the living space by creating vertical surfaces between the sloping rafters and the finished floor.

Not every home has knee walls. You can see the image below for an example of a knee wall. There are two ways to block off this air flow. What are knee walls.

Scribe a line on your scrap piece along the angle formed by the rafter. Here are the three keys to sheathing an attic kneewall properly. Unlike other kinds of knee walls this kind of wall extends all the way to the rafters but because of the slope of the roof it is shorter than a full height wall. Sheathe the kneewall during framing.

In most instances they are no taller than 3 feet but some builders may custom fit them according to the roof s shape and size. Knee walls provide the perfect way to turn an old abandoned attic into a useful extra room that can serve as a bedroom office or other living space.