Unfinished space - plans to finish?

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averagejoemn

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Greetings, I have a story and a half Tudor home in Minneapolis. The majority of the upstairs is finished except for this area right off of the master bedroom. It measures roughly 11ft by 11ft at the floor but as you can see the roof/gables are slanted dramatically.

Here are photos:

unfinishedspace1.jpg


panorama.jpg


As you can see the previous owner purchased a window but never installed it. I have a rough quote to install it for somewhere between $350-$550. The floor here is just what you see with some vermiculite insulation that I've been warned could contain asbestos.

My completely amateur mind has said I should install the window, insulate the ceiling from the ground up, put up a moisture barrier and then sheet rock, lay some hardwood floor like surface and enjoy the new closet.

Any thoughts?
 
To close up the roof with insulation and drywall you would want to insure you have free air flow from the soffits to the ridge vents for every bay. so you would be better off to build a box within a box. With straight sides and flat ceiling you could insulate and still have the air flow that you have now. The wall with the window will be no problem.
 
I get what you're saying, that makes a lot of sense. When you say the wall with the window would be no problem, are you talking about installing the window or just the fact that it would be easy to insulate and add drywall?

Thanks!
 
I think what Neil meant was to install a baffle against the roof deck, then apply your insulation, then add the dry wall. The baffle is sized to fit in the rafter bays and keep the insulation away from the roof deck, allowing for a airspace for air to ventilate from the sofit (gutter) to the peak of the roof. You will need intake vent along the eave and ridge vent across the ridge.
 
As the area near the eaves is useless I would build 2x6 walls 3 or 4 ft high on each side. I would remove the floor boards out there first, you could vacumn out the old insulation from there. I would build a flat ceiling at about 7ft high and the area between the walls and the ceiling I would scap 2x8s to the side of each rafter. Now you will be able to insulate with 6" batts all around with out changing the airflow you have.
When the old window was installed someone extended the upper 2x4 to the next stud, this was for wind resistence, so when the new window is installed that 2x4 should extend to the next stud. I would also add 2x2 to the stud on that outside wall so you could us 6" insulation there.
 
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