Adding a hatch "topside"

[W7SOE]

We are moving west.  Across the street   

I will be adding pull-down stairs to the attic to use it for storage.  Getting onto the roof requires the use of a looong extension ladder and, while I can do it, it does not thrill me to be tip toeing off a ladder at 40 ft.

I am toying with the idea of adding a hatch to alow roof access from the attic.  It seems like it would be simple enough to cut the hole, build a box between the rafters and add a hatch of some sort.

Anyone done this?

Thanks

Rich
 

[WQ9E]

Rich,

I didn't have to make one because there was one already in my 1901 era house.  I can recommend it as being very handy.  My house is a tall 2 story farmhouse and the center of the roof is a 12 X 8 flat section through which the two chimneys originally exited and the hatch is between the two.  It is a roughly 30 X 30" section framed out with 8" X 2" boards with 4 inches of the board above the flat roof.  The hatch cover is sheathed with the same soldered metal shingles that cover the flat roof and clamps in place.

One chimney was removed before I bought the house and its chase was used to run the HVAC to the attic and second floor area, the other now only vents a water heater but is one of the supports for my full wave 75 meter loop.  It is nice to have an easy access area for wire antenna experiments and the flat section of the roof is about 35 feet high and provides a nice view.  When the house was built, both chimneys were used for venting coal fired boilers.  My great aunt and uncle must have really wanted a lot of heat in the cold IL winter.

Easy access is definitely the way to go.  Attached photo shows my friendly chimney providing a tall support for the loop.

[flintstone mop]

Nice big house that will stand for another hundred years.
Prolly a little expensive to heat, though

Fred

[WQ9E]

Thanks Fred,

The heating isn't too bad.  I contract 1,200 gallons of propane a year and that usually covers us for 12 months; sometimes I will need an additional hundred gallons over summer. We heat around 3,800 square feet of finished space and there is another 1,000 sq. feet of unfinished basement that generally stays in the upper 50's during winter. The family room has a recirculating air fireplace and now that our little one is well past the toddler stage I plan to start using that again which will cut back a little bit on propane use plus we like the fireplace and have plenty of wood.  The furnaces are both dual stage high efficiency units and both water heaters are also newer models. 

The house is very heavily insulated which helps quite a bit.  Before I bought the house, the plaster was removed and new wiring, plumbing, and insulation were installed along with drywall.  When we had new siding and a metal roof put on several years ago I worked with our general contractor to make sure that they did a good job of installing the Tyvek house wrap which reduces the big problem here with air infiltration.  I live on a hill about 5 miles outside of the village and 40 to 50 MPH winds are common in the winter.  If I could harness the wind we could really come out cheap on energy costs; as it is the wind just makes antenna work (and most other outside work) miserable. 

Rodger WQ9E

[W1AEX]

That looks really beautiful Rodger. From that perspective it looks like you can see the horizon out there. One question, I have always wondered if a metal roof is noisy during a heavy rain. Of course that's just based upon the racket my AC units make when we get a heavy rainfall here. Any issues with the noise or is that a non-factor?

[WQ9E]

With a lot of insulation it is a non-factor.  In the top of the barn, which has a metal roof, but no insulation it is definitely a factor!  I have my "contest shack" on the lower level of the barn and it is fine there but upstairs it can be amazingly loud with just metal over the wood board sheathing.  In the house, if there is any wind and the rain is hitting the windows it is as loud or louder than the roof.

We do have a nice view of the horizon in all directions.  I am often reminded by visitors from the city how beautiful sunsets are; unfortunately you don't notice them as much when you can see them every day.  The only downside is the longer I live out here the less tolerant I am of crowds and traffic jams.  It is all farm country around me and the nearest neighbors are spaced about 1 mile away.

Rodger WQ9E

[WA1GFZ]

I just helped someone install one. Don't buy the cheap wood one. We put a HD metal one that felt quite safe. The wood ones are crap. I would put a box over it covered with foam to prevent winter heat leaks.

[KB1IAW]

Sounds like a very simple job, Rich as long as you are staying between the rafters. I've installed dozens of Velux skylights. The basic rough carpentry and roof flashing involved is the same. It shouldn't take more than a few hours and you can do all the work from inside off a step ladder.

[W1ATR]

Wow, nice house man. Just watch that first step out the back door there.

We're so close to each other here in the city that when I sneeze, the neighbor calls me on the phone and says 'Gesundheit'. 

[WQ9E]

Jared,

Good catch on the door!  As long as the house has been built the door on the south side has been the main entrance so I haven't worried much about the long first step on the front.   Looking at old photos, there was a porch on the front prior to WWII and we plan to recreate that soon.  There is also a very old photo of some family members exiting the house via the 2'nd floor bedroom window due to snow drifting above the doors and windows on all sides of the first story-I hope to never see a storm that bad.  In the 20 years I have lived in the house, the biggest drifts were around 8 feet (right across the center of the driveway of course) and it took a couple of hours using the tractor and loader to dig out from that one.

By the way, the only issue I have found with the metal roof is that sheets of ice exit in a big hurry when the sun starts to melt them and they can go several feet out into the yard.  I learned that when a thaw occurs after the ice storm you don't want to hang around to close to the house.

[W1ATR]

Drifts like that remind me of this story the old timer next door tells once and a while. I guess he has family somewhere north of here and when he went to visit one time, there was a snow blower in the 2nd floor guest bedroom. He says when the snow got real bad, they would have to push the snow blower out of the second floor window to get out of the house. I don't do the story any justice, but it's funny as hell the way the old man tells it.

[W7SOE]

Sounds like a very simple job, Rich as long as you are staying between the rafters. I've installed dozens of Velux skylights. The basic rough carpentry and roof flashing involved is the same. It shouldn't take more than a few hours and you can do all the work from inside off a step ladder.

That is what I thought.  I think I will pre-measure the spacing and build it up in the garage.  Not sure how to fashion the flashing around the "box" that will protrude though...

  I am thinking of covering the lid with galvanized sheet metal and attach it with hooks on the inside.

Rich

[KB1IAW]

Take a look at the Velux site and their installation guide for the EDL, FS, FSF, etc. skylights. Their flashing systems are superb. The site might give you a few ideas.

http://www.veluxusa.com/service/installationHelp/installationInstructions/

A less complicated (and costly) method would be to study chimney flashing and adapt it to your project. Around here we usually use lead flashing. I would also recommend using water and ice shield under either flashing system.

http://www.rd.com/17758/article17758.html

This is assuming that you have a standard pitched roof with asphalt shingles.

[W7SOE]

That's very helpful, thank you.

Rich