relocate attic access location?

[uniwelder]

I'm accustomed to seeing attic access panels or pulldown stairs in a central spot of a house, like the hallway.  I was at friend's the other day and we needed to go into the attic, and I was pleasantly surprised to see his was located above the stairs to the basement.  It made so much sense, I don't know why more houses aren't like that.  Some advantages----

1) It just looks better not to have a visible panel in the middle of your hallway.

2) Eliminate air drafts from a critical and difficult to insulate area.

3) No sprinkling of dust in your house each time you need to get up in the attic area.

4) Arguably better for attic ventilation to have a leaky access door from the basement area.

I'm thinking about moving my pulldown stairs from the hallway to the basement stairwell.  I could reuse the stairs--- they're sized to fit between the 24" on center roof trusses which are conveniently spaced evenly above the stairwell.  It could be located so that the stairs reach the opening of the hallway, so it doesn't interfere with passing things through. 

I do worry that if they ever broke, and I fell, I wouldn't just land on the floor, but would be tumbling down some stairs a greater drop down.  Alternatively, I could choose not to reuse the stairs and just set up my extension ladder through the opening whenever I need to get up there.  This would also give me some more headroom based on where I'd be entering the space and slope of roof.

Any thoughts?

[Fishindude]

Seems like a lot of work and effort to change access to a space you would rarely ever enter to begin with.
I'm not a fan of using an attic for storage.  They just fill up with junk you should have discarded anyway.

[uniwelder]

Seems like a lot of work and effort to change access to a space you would rarely ever enter to begin with.
I'm not a fan of using an attic for storage.  They just fill up with junk you should have discarded anyway.

I don't intend to use it for storage.  My main reasons for moving would be 1) energy savings, 2) aesthetics, and 3) dust.  I'm going to be doing some work in the attic in the coming year---- installing recessed lights, adding more insulation, and installing solar panels, so I'll be up and down a bit.  Energy and aesthetics are the two big ones though.

edited to add--- a bit of the motivation was that if I'm going to put effort into better insulating, I should do something to seal the attic access.  First thought was place a weighted sheet of 2" foam board over top, but then figured getting rid of it entirely is the best.

[geekette]

I wish ours were in the hall...  Ours is in our (narrow) walk in closet.  Sprinkles of insulation on our clothes every time we open it, which just got worse when we added to the insulation up there.

If you google attic stair cover insulation, you'll find many options. We eventually went with a zip up insulated cover and no longer hear birdsong as we gather clothes in the morning. 

[ChpBstrd]

I built a stout box out of 2 sheets of 1" thick rigid foam and foil tape that fits exactly into the opening for my hallway attic stairs and weighs maybe 20 pounds. With double layers on the top, it has an R value of about 12 compared to maybe R3 for the various tents you see for sale. The cost was about $60 plus an afternoon, but this covered THE biggest energy loss area in my house. The box slides up and out of the socket, and I flip it over on its side to get into the attic. I even used a couple of scrap pieces and tape to add handles to the inside. I found the spring arms were rubbing on the foam, so I taped some old license plates on the rub spot.

Example process to build a one-layer box. It's easy to add a 2nd layer once you've built the first:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8POZvK9QB6k

Anyway, this is 100x less expensive and less time consuming than building new stairs, although new stairs might be the way to go if you want options to add a finished room upstairs someday.

[uniwelder]

I built a stout box out of 2 sheets of 1" thick rigid foam and foil tape that fits exactly into the opening for my hallway attic stairs...   
 ...this is 100x less expensive and less time consuming than building new stairs, although new stairs might be the way to go if you want options to add a finished room upstairs someday.

If the access stayed where it is, I was thinking something along those lines.  I figured on surrounding the opening with thick batts of fiberglass insulation, then laying a weighted sheet of 2" foam over top.

I definitely would not be building new stairs.  The existing fold out stairs from the opening could just be placed in the new location.  Not sure its worth the work to do so.  I might feel better putting my ladder in place when I have to get up there.