The Attic: One Room Challenge Week 4

Once again, this week was supposed to be the week of the door!  Someday, I'll have that window glass.  But there was still plenty of door-prep I could do this week.  The doorway to the attic was once a wall in our dining room.  In most of the bungalows in this area the stairs start in the dining room and run between a bedroom and the kitchen.  Ours will do this when the door is in, but up until this summer, the stairs turned 90° and went into the little kids' bedroom.  Not great for storage or moving things with sleeping toddlers.  This summer, we closed the old door, and cut a door-sized hole in the dining room wall.  More on that here.

This week also marks the halfway point in the One Room Challenge, and wow, do I feel like I'm behind!  I always pack some extra time into the end of the project, but this is even cutting it close for me.  Still, I know the whole attic won't get done, but I did set out to insulate, frame, and finish the stairs.  There are so many great One Room Challenge projects to check out this round!  Browse how the other spaces are getting along, and check out some more details in the Instagram and TikTok feeds too.

To catch up on the attic progress, check out Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Attic Insulation: Part 1

The Stairs

Since the attic door is really being built around a hole in the wall, there were a few things I had to figure out before ever approaching the door (other than how to keep the toddlers out of the attic).  Since the stairs used to turn, the bottom step is much deeper than the others, which is a feature I really like.  But the framing for it was tied into the wall we removed.  So, I had to do some creative reframing to make sure the little platform stayed secure and safe.  Luckily, the stairs themselves are tied into the side walls, so I wasn't compromising the structure with this adjustment.  

When I was younger, I did a lot of theater work.  It's really where my love of construction and creative design solutions began.  Using that knowledge of making things work with what I already had, I was able to get the platform tied into the studs on the sides of the doorway, so I can build the jamb.  Then for some extra stability, I made sure the gap between the platform and the subfloor was furred out, and now I'm confident that first step isn't going anywhere.  

Bead Board Wall

Heading up the stairs are two walls.  One will be extended up to the ceiling to provide a convenient storage room and conceal the chimney.  The other will have a banister that provides access to the rest of the attic.  The banister wall is the one I tackled this week!

While I'm doing wallpaper on the tall wall, I wanted something unique to add some texture on the opposite wall.  I'd previously pulled down 1970s paneling that was covering these walls, and now I recovered them using bead board that I hung vertically.  We have bead board in a few places in the house, both vertically and horizontally.  Since the original bead board in the back of the buffet is vertical, I decided to stick with that as both locations can be seen from the dining room.  

Before I installed the bead board, I filled the old door cavity with leftover insulation to help with sound transfer and keep the heat in the bedroom.  It hasn't been a huge problem, but we were getting regular reminders anytime a three-year-old decided to spring the door-stop.  Cutting the bead board was easy.  Since all the ends are going to be covered by trim, I just rough cut them with my jigsaw right in the staircase. 

Primer

Once I had the bead board in, I decided to prime the whole thing.  I'm using a lead encapsulation primer since these stairs are one of the last few remnants of exposed lead paint left in the house.  Most of what I've done this year has been to make our house safer, and after some less-than-stellar lead tests (don't worry, we're on it!) this is really a must before we keep going.  

I used Zinnser BIN primer for this coat, knowing it can encapsulate and seal the stairs while doing the same thing to the knots in the wood on our bead board.  It's also quick to dry and has a fairly short cure time.  It's definitely what we needed when our weather is in the unpredictable season.  Before we do the final paint, I'll do a coat of Zinnser Peel Stop Primer -the same I used in the closet last winter- on the stairs to really make sure there are no lead risks in the future.

We still have so many things to wrap up!  I have windows to work on and a door to hang (allegedly, there is door glass to pick up too!), plus more insulation to get into these eaves and wall cavities... With only four weeks left, this one is going to be a hustle!