Attic pull down staircase question.
 

I need to get one of these to install for access to good storage space above my garage. All the ones I see on the internet and look like ladders rather than the pull-down stairs I'm looking for. Any ideas?

I think they're all ladders the fold. I put this on in a few weeks ago:
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=107006-287-S2208&lpage=none
My neighbor had done his the week before, saw mine and yanked his old one out to put in this type. Would have been nice to have some help but can be done solo without too much trouble.

I put one in my house 3 years ago and love it. Very few houses in this part of the country use the attic very much and I needed to store boxes, Christmas stuff and such somewhere. The stairs really makes it easy and we use the attic a lot more these days.

Very good improvement to any house. Agree with Lee and get a second person to help, as its just a lot easier.

JoeA

Home Depot carries them. I installed one in San Diego before I moved.

Becareful of the weight ratings. You need think about the weight of the stuff you are moving up, not just your weight. Also make sure you know the heigth of you ceiling.

I installed one that was in stock at the local home depot last summer. It was a fairly easy install. It's kind of a cross between stairs and a ladder. You can carry something up or down without holding onto something because the angle is shallow enough, but it's definitely not as big and beefy as a set of stairs would be.

We have two of them - one above the garage and the other for the house attic. It is standard in every house here. I would actually like a stair case going to the attic but that would chew room.

Moses - the space above your garage is dorment?

Get the aluminum one. Not the wood one. Like steep stairs.

Yeah. Unfortunately they used scissor braces or I'd have a ton of space. As it is, there should be enough room to clear out a lot of the garage and make some room.

The one that I have is wooden, and it seems like steep stairs to me.

Hmmm "Christmas Vacation" comes to mind :)

I bought an oversize one at Home Depot for the garage. It makes it easier to get all the crap upstairs.

Your gonna have to cut a joist (sp) and beef-up the framing around it. Seems like all of ours a similar set-up. Are you gonna do it our hire out?

Lowe's has a good step-by-step guide.
If you ask me, the dust mask and safety goggles are not optional when cutting the wallboard.

I'll do this myself as soon as I get the OK from my surgeon. Most of these units look like they fit between joists on 24" centers. Cut a hole in the sheetrock, add some crossbracing and Finish casing. That's pretty much all there is to it. (I hope).

Moses,

Thats about it, but make sure you get some shim stock to even things out a bit. If you have an attic fan, turn it on before cutting and it will suck the dust and insulation AWAY from you as you make the cuts!

Joe A

Make sure you've got the ends of the ladder measured correctly before you cut them. Many folks screw up that step.

The Werner has a metal frame instead of wood. It also has hagars with thumbscrews that attach to the joists so you can adjust it before you screw it in. Another advantage to the Werner is that the bottom of the legs are adjustable... no cutting.

I did an oversized, extra tall one as well. My advice is to have someone help you. It'll be easier to position correctly and insur eit's 100% square.

The only thing that I needed an extra hand for was to get it flush. I was up in the attic with a hammer and nails. I had someone hold it flush to the ceiling from underneath while I pounded the nails the rest of the way in.

The model at Home Depot also has hangers that go over the joists.

It's all wood but pretty sturdy. I believe the listed weight limit however is 250lbs.

I would suggest the widest one you can find. I've done three.

Re: Attic pull down staircase question.
 

As a part of the remodeling we're doing to this house, I asked the architect to add a Bessler pull down stairs to be located in our den. Right now, we only have a access hatch which is only the width of one rafter space. Bessler products are among the best, but as you can see, they're not cheap. These don't fold, and can hold an 800 pound load.

We're having attic trusses designed, so we can replace some of the W style trusses to open up storage space that is now wasted. I expect we'll add about 800 square feet or more space to the house for storage of things you don't want ready access to, but don't want in a garage environment either.

I thought about that. Going through a 24" opening sort of limits what you can haul up into the attic. Roughing out a bigger opening shouldn't be too much more difficult.

When you say scissor brace are you meaning manufactured trusses? If you are, they need to be designed and ordered specifcally for attic storage...most homes are not.

Most are built to support your roof not hold weight across the bottom of them for storage.

Basically, you frame in the opening almost like a window opening before mounting the pre-built window. I'd consider doing the framing first, above the sheetrock and then cutting the sheet rock when finished so that you cut just the right amount. Or you could cut an undersized hole for access, trimming up the sheetrock later, then adding some moulding to make it look finished.

My architect pointed out that he, and most architects these days, design the size of the roof truss they want and let a truss builder handle the engineering of the actual truss, which is what we're going to do. He said he used to spend the time doing the calculations, but found out the truss maker was doing it all again based on their particular type of fasteners, and for liability reasons. He doesn't waste his time, and my money, doing this twice.

We expect to gain stand up height attic space at least ten feet wide, knee wall space 5-6 feet wider, and something like 55-60 feet long. That's only changing part of the trusses out.

I was replying to Moses, since it was his thread.

I installed the Werner tall aluminum pull down ladder. It is installed correctly, however it fails to close snug against the ceiling. This is where its spring mechanism is at its "least sprung" tension. I have been unable to find a workaround for it.

Actually what I have is a Fink truss. Not ideally designed for load on the bottom, but I won't be storing much weight up there.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1139247445.gif

This happens whe the installation is not 100% plumb and square. You may want to double check the install.

That's pretty much what I had in the house in CA. Since the trusses were made from 2x4 lumber, it wouldn't hold much weight either. I laid a floor in it around the trusses with pre-cut 2' x 4' plywood pieces from Home Depot or Lowe's. I used screws to fasten them down, cheap zine plated one, about one or 1 1/4 inches long. I have two cordless drills, loaded one with a drill bit that countersunk, and the other with a phillips driver bit, and went after it. If I had to notch out for the trusses, power lines, or plumbing, I did that with a saber saw.

You can do quite a bit in a day.

I have 7 feet between the bases of the truss. It's a 3 car garage, so there's plenty of room for light weight storage. The trusses are 2X6. I am also thinking about raising the ceiling in a few spots to accomodate a 4 post lift.

Yeah, man, every gear head's dream tool, a hydraulic lift. There's a good picture on the Ultimate garage web site that shows what I think they call a coffered ceiling.

Let's see,

http://www.ultimategarage.com/dynapack996tt-d.jpg

Yes, it works for now. If it breaks, here's the url:
http://www.ultimategarage.com/dynapack996tt-d.jpg

Moses - why not bury the lift in the floor - or have a pit?

The garage floor is concrete slab. I don't need to store a car on a lift, just something to make work easier. A 2 post lift world be just the thing, pretty compact, inexpensive and allows brake and wheel work.

I'll probably go with these guys after I built my super gigantic garage, hopefully next fall or the following spring. I bought my low clearance jack from them, great service.

Mine closes all the way, but the plywood is warped a bit on the end with the pull making it look like it's not.