The most common type of attic access door is a hatch covered with a board that you lift away from the frame of the opening.

For some unknown reason, attic access doors in older homes are usually through a small "scuttle hole" cut in the ceiling. Often the access is in an out-of-the-way place, like a closet.

That tension will compress the foam and create an airtight seal on your new, insulated attic access cover. Zolton Cohen is a Kalamazoo-based newspaper columnist and former American Society of Home ...