EASY ATTIC TRAVEL! We Had Some Spare Materials... Ep. 11 

My next door neighbor fell from his attic, through his ceiling, and onto the floor of the room below. I think your time and effort was well spent.

Paul - It looked like there were screws going through the damper plates in air splitter. The way to reposition the air flow control handles so they would be facing up the way you said you wanted was: 1) remove the screws, 2) pull on the control handle to withdraw the pivot rod from the splitter, 3) re-insert the pivot rod, but from the other side, and finally 4) reattach the damper plates to the pivot rods using the screws. (You guys do awesome work and I really enjoy your videos.)

I worked as a low voltage electrician. We were working in a commercial building installing new fire alarm smoke detectors and annunciation lights. One of my coworkers and I were in the attic and he crawled from hard lid ceiling straight onto ceiling tile and came crashing down. So that catwalk is perfect.

You may have gotten this comment before, but I bet you know how lucky you are to spend so much time working with your son. It's great to see the relationship you have. You're bringing him up right.

"This one was easy, this one was not. That's how it goes." Ain't that the truth! Favorite quote. Love it. Keep working, guys. Recent subscriber, and I am digging the channel.

Catwalks are great -- like adding a chain of lights under the house... Great video! Now I know how Stud Pack "Flexes"!

Yeah I agree with you on the knockouts and clamps Paul. You could argue that the "clamp" would get "knocked out" easily with a slight tug, therefore a knock out. Love the catwalk, I definitely don't like crawling in the attic with bad knees... lol

I built a custom home in the mid 80’s and the contractor that built the home installed the exact same type cat walk in our attic. It proved so handy! Old school work at its best.

I've been enjoying your content. Been in the trades 35+ years, though not at your level. Attention to detail and quality workmanship are harder to find than they should be. I'm sure your customers are delighted, and you are booked far into the future.

Even as just a homeowner, I’ve never understood why this kind of thing isn’t standard. As far as I’m concerned accessing things in the attic is important and should be easily done.

Good stuff. When I had a house I installed lights and outlets in the attic and in the crawl space for when I'd work in these spaces. (light switches right at the opening). In the attic I laid down plywood over the joists. Why not? It costs very little, makes it safer. The lights and outlets took a couple hours to install, probably saved me time the first year.

You are correct about the knockouts & clamps.

16:50 is exactly what separates you from most other contractors and why people watch you and your son (repeatedly) do great work to begin with! Keep it up! You work on homes like they're your own 😉

My new favorite youtube channel.

Hidden junction boxes on a remodeling job always add to the fun. On a job a few years ago I had 13 hidden junctions on the job. It was double the work to rewire and fix, but I sleep better at night. I like your work ethic and methods.

0:39 The first two box designs feature knockouts. They are designed to be broken off to accommodate the wires. That's why they only attach with thin links of plastic. The third box is designed with integrated wire clamping.

Just some info Duct or duck tape was first a cloth called duck cloth used for making shoes nicer. And during ww2 it was used for sealing ammunition cases and on airplanes. Lots of fun info if you want to look it up.

That buried junction box with exposed hot wires is a SERIOUS code violation and I'm not even an electrician. Good on ya for finding it. The homeowner would've had a devil of a time finding it if it ever developed a short and was tripping the breaker. I know this from experience from some landscape lighting that I have that for some reason the previous owner removed a junction box and buried the wire nuts in the dirt. It was years before I finally discovered the buried wire nuts. Go figure. Ofc, now I own a wire tracer that I used to find my missing irrigation valves. But, I didn't know about those at the time when the short first appeared.

Hey Pual, 5 year hvac tech here. I'd recomend you strap up that flex and support it. Once you get over 3 foot length it tends to sag and over time that spring can give out collapsing the duct. Also I was though (doesn't mean it's the right or only way) you do the inside liner then pull the insulation to the just past the duct, and lastly pull the outside sleeve to fuller cover every thing and put the panduate in front not over the insulation. So you don't see the insulation and it creates a better hold. My last tip is if you can justify it Malco makes a pretty good panduate gun just for getting those things as tight as possible and then flush cutting them. It's great and they will prevent flec blow offs which can be really common if the line gets dampered down at the grille. Love you guys and your videos, can't wait for my new hat to arrive!

Catwalk is great! The identification of the tabs of the electrical connection boxes are irrelevant. But myself as an HVAC technician I would never have you guys do duck work on a job for me. Everything else. Excellent.

I would look Into getting a “cable tie tensioning” tool. They are great for snuggling down the zip ties and also cut the excess flush. I’ve relocated a few registers and they come in very handy. Great videos!

STUD PACK...setting the Gold standard for contractors, way to go guys!

The handles to the dampers can be turned around so that they are on top. You can remove the shaft from the damper and put it back in from the top.

'Duct' tape is really 'Duck' tape--it was originally made to make things waterproof and was created with duck cloth. During WWII it was used to wrap ammunition boxes to keep the ammo dry. It was never intended for sealing ducts.

I built ICF and had leftover scaffold decking from my braces. I used some of that to put a catwalk in my attic above the planned insulation depth. Man that was a good idea, and I used the heck out of it.

I never use flex, only in impossible corners. When I use it, I make shure it comes from a pipe-elbow or a straight piece of pipe and as straight as possible. I clean those airducts on a regular basis and always it's the flex giving problems. Tearing an blocking, collapsing, etc. Sometimes I can't get through them because they clog up more then straight pipe. Also from the in-/outlets I start with a pipe-elbow. This way the flex won't collapse in the bent and you don't have to hang the flex high. This way the flex is supported by the insulation and won't make strange bents when someone bumps into it. And straight pipe looks much nicer and is more efficient.

Yup. Did that in my parents' house. Catwalk from one end to the other, floored the areas at each end for storage, improved the lighting, floored and added outlets at the furnace and water heater for power tools. Bonus: floor at one end also served as extended landing for the folding stair. I hope it helped the next guy as much as it helped me.

A cat walk is a good idea, but the cats don't always follow the walk. Back in the 80's we were living in an old country farm house that had been built in 1920. No insulation. The living room ceiling was 12x12 inch tiles that were stapled to half inch strips of wood. I had opened the eaves on one side to add an addition. It was a cold and rainy night. The feral cats that lived on the property (about 35) decided to climb up the posts on the new addition and seek the warmth of the attic. Unfortunately they all slept together on the tile ceiling. Could not hold the weight and collapsed dropping most of the cats into the house. I woke up in the middle of the night and could not move my feet. Turned on the light and found a pile of wild cats sleeping at the bottom of the water bed. Yes, we had a water bed in those days. Took over an hour to get all of the wild feral cats out of the house. Covered the posts with metal the next day so the cats couldn't climb.

Swap arms with the magnetic band and you can keep the drill in the working hand! Great work. Once again.

I have to admit, seeing you working with that insulation without gloves on made my skin itch.

My attic is braced such that there is no 'standing walk' possible . I put 2'x4'x3/4 " ply pieces in paths all over the attic . To get around I park my but on a small 'dolly' and can scoot around safely and relatively quick .

Epic catwalk! Really liked those zip ties for the flex duct. Good work on contacting Carlon box manufacturer

Neighbor moved in next door. Total remodel and added a fireplace. Something wasn’t working so for some reason rather than having the original workers fix it he hired someone else. I’m in my yard and I hear the guy doing the work call me over. He decided to show in a span of 4/5 feet they connected about four pieces of Romex and only used black tape. He asked me if I ever saw anything like that and felt he needed to tell and show someone this unbelievable work. I told him they had the whole house redone so it’s probably throughout the house.

Been thinking about laying a walkway down in the attic for years... Now I've gotta do it. That's awesome!

Not in the saw stop manual, but commonly referred to as the "Polish plane, " here in the NE

Up here in Maine we use strapping on our ceilings ties the trusses ceiling Joyce rafters or what ever you have together adds a lot of stability to your house and holds the gable end walls straight

Dad and son works together with happily. That is great 👍🏽

That’s awesome. I once had some spare materials and built a cat walk in my attic made it a lot easier to crawl on my belly with my elbows across the attic and through a small hole to the other side of the house.

Paul, you are awesome!

I kind of did this same thing. They were remodeling at work and there was a bunch Plywood already ripped to 16 inches so I laid it down the middle on top of the roof beams. It’s slightly angled and I overlapped from there wouldn’t be any weak spots

Finally a channel which does not block its subscribers who publish constructive criticism in their comments. I find those comment more interesting than all those happy great job comments.

I’m a diyer and I’m loving your channel. Thanks for sharing all them pro tips and short cuts. It’s a big help

That lighted catwalk with a handrail is awesome. I still remember the first time I entered my attic and there was a walkway already there made of old 1x12 boards. Someone did me a solid and left that for me.

code says staple within 12 inches if using a box connector, 6 inches if not. if you pop the knockout out all the way on plastic boxes just put your staples within 6 inches and you are fine. metal boxes I would always use a connector as the metal will cut through the insulation.

The one thing I enjoy about yourself you're teaching proper tools proper techniques no shortcuts excellent workmanship I hate the shows where all they worry about the designer you first have to make it structurally sound not interested in the pretty things

I work for the utility company here in Houston .. I will tell you .. The new 200 thousand dollar homes are not built as good as yall are rebuilding that house .. funny thing is .. as i walk through the new construction sites ill check the square on the walls .. how level it is .. centers .. and they're almost always off .. Ill keep watching your videos if you keep posting ..

I did something similar on a house. We had two spare 2”×6” lumber that I installed as a catwalk next to the attic access towards where we were working. It made it so that you didn't have to worry as much when you were entering or exiting the attic. (The attic was too big to make it worth doing more than that.) I spaced them off of the rafters by laying a 2”×4” on edge to give room for the blown in insulation.

Working on a kitchen Reno/ addition and when tearing out the backsplash found 2 hidden junctions behind tile and then wire right against sheetrock on the face of a stud. Scary what we find opening up walls.

I work for a local utility in California and use to do field work. We would not even try to service an attic mounted furnace without a catwalk unless the unit happened to be right at the access. Which is pretty rare. Some time ago our company probably just got tired of damaging ceilings or people falling completely through (or both).

Got some lumber from the my daughters Barbie house and built a nice catwalk to the like button. It was tough but I persevered.

Difference between knowing and doing, Stud Pack is motivating me to "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right"

you guys make the best content for me. i love watching your videos. keep up the good work.

Paul, you need some Knee Pads! Kobalt brand at Lowe’s are only $5/pair, and you can wear them all day long without them being a pain, as they only have one strap, but are quite comfy when you need to be on your knees!

I have always noticed that the old metal ductwork work is heavy gauge and the new stuff you buy is half as thick. Since those metal diverters are always open. I think that I would’ve removed them completely since the duck work was going to go over it anyways. I do like the strip lights in the attic however I don’t think I would’ve spent any extra money on that unless I had it sitting around unused because regular lightbulbs are much much cheaper and not many people go in their attic very often. I do like the PVC handrail very smooth and you don’t get splinters. Good Job!

Good idea for the catwalk. The only thing I would add is I would have installed it higher, say 2 feet high to accept an r60. I know for a lot of US zones it may be overkill but honneslty in Canada where we have crazy fluctuations from high temps to low temps, even the r60 makes a big difference to help keep the home cool. This way also it adds insulation around all the ductwork, as long as those are airtight to prevent the blown insulation from being disturbed. Great video.

Yay some ductwork!! HVAC tech by trade here that fitting is called wye “Y” those boots are awesome man!! Man you guys do everything!! Love the channel guys!! You should be using a tensioning tool (strap gun) on those panduit straps as well and taping liner to boot. And R-8 I’m attics is code where I live what is it down there?

You're on a roll gentleman! Keep it up, and send it!

I dig that wristband!

Great episode mate. I loved how you handled the electrical boxes. I think the suppliers are gonna support you all the way..

Built me a walk thru attic using decking boards long two side by side and 2x between trusses makes getting to things much easier, had to doing duct replacement. Also those are knock outs on the first two boxes, clamping occurring when stapling wire the code required distance from box. yes some boxes have integral clamps but not required to on many of those boxes as long as wired secured per code.

Hi, Really enjoy your show and subscribed a while ago. Your videos on all aspects of a project and best practice of installations is great to see. There are not many trades people who are as well versed as you and can also explain both how and why it should be done a certain way, often known as "Code"! I am a plumber and also do HVAC work in Maine, when we install flex duct our best practice is to always use a 30ga metal 90 when installing register boxes or making sharp bends for better air flow. The flex duct 90's restrict airflow because they are not much more than an elegant kink and tend to collapse over time. We also caulk the boxes to the dry wall to prevent heat loss and moister from the house getting into the attic space and dirty air from the attic into the house. That dirt stain around registers is seldom from the heating system. You do great work keep it up! You certainly have found a great way to teach with your son the trades and share the right way with the world!

I did something similar about ten years ago using a 2x12 as my catwalk thru a Double Howe Truss. I put it on one side of the vertical brace, making it level with a riser block at each Truss.

A as HVAC tech that was a good job on the flex duct work, short and tight as possible is always best on that stuff. I would recommend getting the zip tie tool on the cover of the zip ties if you do duct like that every now and then. It will give you a tight tie fitting and flush cut (I have a mini scars due to those ends).

"So let's get it done...so let's get it done. So let's get it done" LOL Three shots!!

Would like to comment on the video move the refrigerator and you received a shock. You replaced the the receptacle . A safer choice replace with GFCI receptacle. In a event of a hot wire to metal ground refrigerator body or metal junction box the GFCI would open the circuit at the device. The GFCI would self monitor the circuit load you would need a pig-tale with a ground wire grounded to the metal frame of refrigerator. This would make it safe. 😊 Paul I value your quality workmen-ship.

You guys rock! I love your videos. They are fun and also very informative. Keep the content coming.

Theres a carpenter guys, hes got enough sticky tape on his body to qualify, a step up from duct tape but still qualifies. Plus the added load that will help with will further prevent settle and sag cracks, great idea. I never use flex for a 90 ° curve, always hard pipe.

My 7 year old house had a buried can light housing in the master bath, wired up in the center of the light circuit. I have been working on adding new lights and doing a bunch of other work in there, but probably could have avoided most of this project if that light had been cut out by the drywaller, because there were only 2 lights in the whole bath because of it, and it was very dark.

It’s funny how we build houses and such, and there’s always a time and day when got to get up in the “attic” to do work, but there’s never anyplace to “walk”. Yes, can walk on the framing up there....but here’s the “funny” part. Why don’t we incorporate “cat walks” when building the houses to begin with 🤔 Can’t imagine cost would be high, and if use “left over materials” it’s free, lol. I sure know that for me and my crew, getting up in attics & trying to walk (or crawl) around just sucks; especially on those 110°F days outside and it being horrid inside 🥵, and having not to worry about where ya feet go when walking, so so nice😉. Reminds me of a newbie helper we had and he ended up putting his leg through the kitchen ceiling, Oops, but it happens (lucky he didn’t fall all the way down, thru the 14’ high ceiling). Great job w/ that cat walk, and the LED lights, COOL👍🏻 Cheers✌🏻

Hidden j boxes and floating taps are big no nos. Good video man!

Thank you so much. Kick ass. Great work.

Man they can make a living room up in the attic with this catwall.

"I've never been in a basement". Now I'm jealous. Basements almost always exist when the frostline is so low that you might as well make it a basement. Or a raised ranch.

You guys are rock stars. I love how much you know about everything. Thanks to your recommendation several episodes back, I bought the same Bosch cross- beam laser level you got. It's awesome. Getting ready to use it this weekend.

They are ko’s

I think LVLs are great but i hate setting them anywhere haha. You guys provide a ton of helpful information and instruction.. thanks for your hard work.

A suggestion: use some of that foil tape to seal the ductwork insulation seams, to prevent moisture / vapor from condensing on the ductwork itself. Yes, it would be a good vapor barrier if done properly, and you will want that.

You are the man! I'm in and out of attics all day and to see a cat walk is money!

The two "dampers" in the "Y" duct is for balancing the air flow to different areas. They are actually very old stove pipe dampers and most likely should be removed as the new balancing dampers, also available where you got the sheet metal fittings, are built to lock down the position of the dampers. The ones you are using might have a tendency to close due to the velocity of the air going past them. Duct mastic is very cheap and extremely good - and necessary - for long term duct sealing in attics or most anywhere inside. I highly recommend that as the seam sealer on all duct work fittings. Stretch out the flex duct as much as possible to reduce air drag/turbulence and find a way to keep it as flat as possible. Most choke points are at the turns where the flex connects to the supply registers so make those turns as wide as possible.

I love that idea I wish my attic had one of these. But when in an attic or doing general work be sure to wear knee pads not the cheap ones but the $30 gel knee pads they make a world of difference in comfort.

hahahah you guys are amazing!!! and on top of doing great work you both are having fun with the channel. CHEERS GUYS!

Those zip ties for the ducts should be installed using a tensioning tool. Pulling it by hand does not get tight enough. These can easily come loose and leak or draw insulation into the home.

those are knockouts on the first two boxes, the third is actually a cable clamping mechanism. it's needed multi-gang/anything over single gang boxes due to distance from wire to stapling surface. as far as I recall only their "new work single gang boxes" have knockout, everything else either has integrated clamping or requires clamps.

I'm waiting for Stud Pack to tackle sound reducing tactics. You know, for us "deplorable", "Neanderthal thinking", idiots who can't afford our own home just yet. I've seen plenty of other videos on this topic, but they all contradict each other. "This method is better than all the others!!" Yeah, well SOMEONE is right, and the rest are wrong.... I trust Stud Pack. These guys are entertaining, educational, informational, and true to their word, not ever wanting to mislead us with theatrics of misleading tactics of what they're doing. They do things by the book and practically ask to be called out on any little mistake. (Also ask for and respond to questions.) 💕💕 Stud Pack 💕💕

Lol “catwalk to the like button”..... I liked.

Great job.

As an old HVAC helper, I wish every attic would have a solid catwalk down the middle cause going through the ceiling was always stressful lol

Love the catwalk. I put in a dual zone split ac and had to run the piping and wiring for one room through the attic to be able to attach it to the outside compressor. Being 6 ft 5 I couldnt stand and walk but ended up using 4 pieces of 5/8 osb and just kept sliding them over the studs to make a path but it was very painful. Really think catwalk is much better idea.

Great job gentlemen. 👍 I would hire you guys any day.

Love the catwalk. I think every attic should have one!

I'm building a house in Florida right now and before they put in the sheetrock, I got scrap 2x8 and 2x10 lumber and screwed into my rafters as a catwalk for me and any future workers climbing around in the attic. I have foam insulation on the roof rafters and it is comfortable walking around up there. Maybe the homeowner would be interested in having foam insulation sprayed into their rafters instead of insulating the ceiling.

First rule of hvac. You never hook to the end of a trunk line. Now that becomes the path of least resistance. You hook to the side, top, or bottom because the airflow will hit the end of the of the duct and create pressure helping to create even cooling and heat. Now that system wont create the proper pressure and heat or cool as well as it should

Love the cat walk! What's next motion activated attic lights?!?!

I am 59 yo age from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 🇲🇾, only if I am your next door neighbour, I wouldn't mind to work with you guys for free as long as I can learn more your skills and knowledge in construction. You guys are wonderful and superbly skilled. Regards & wish to you together with your family always in the best health

Dont kid yourself. They are all knock outs to me. Especially the last one. I hate fighting them.

You never been in a basement?!? That’s where all the fun happens in the Midwest lol

A better way to attach flex duct is use a zip tie tensioner, not just tightening by hand, then driving a screw next to zip tie, so that it won't let flex duct and zip tie to slip off of pipe, and then taping the seam to make it air tight

**Bane intensifies** Paul, feeling his inner Bane: **I thought I needed a crowbar**

NICE JOB WELL DONE

I really like those magnetic wrist bands. I might have to get some