When we bought our house, the only thing in the house that needed to be replaced were the attic stairs. It was a wooden set, and whoever had installed them hadn't done it correctly and our inspector told us not to use those stairs, that they must be replaced with a new set. We haven't really needed the attic space yet and therefore it wasn't really high on our priority list, so the fact that the stairs couldn't be used wasn't really an issue. But now we're finally getting around to cleaning out one of the guest bedrooms upstairs -- and we have 14 gajillion computer, tv, stereo, tivo, and christmas tree boxes that we want to move up into the attic. So we need to be able to get up there safely.
So this weekend, we trot out to our friendly Lowe's and purchase a nice sturdy aluminum attic ladder. It looks fairly straight-forward in it's installation and we figure we can get it done in a night.
How wrong could we possibly have been? First, we had to get Steve up into the attic without using the old stairs. Here was the first problem. We own a 6-foot ladder and a 28-foot ladder. The 28 foot ladder certainly wasn't coming inside the house, and the 6 foot ladder was about 5 feet too short. Still, he managed to get up in the attic by using the top stair on our step ladder and then lightly using the existing stairs to kind of springboard himself into the attic. Then he started removing some of the lag-bolts that were holding the existing stairs in place. Then we realized that the hinge and side supports were fastened to the joists with RIVETS. You can't "unscrew" rivets. So ... that meant we had to pry the ladder off of the joists with a crow bar. It took us at least two hours to get the existing attic stairs removed. During this time, one of the springs on the existing ladder came off and knocked Steve back on his butt, and the other one flew down and almost hit me in the chest. It wasn't a pretty sight.
Not really thinking clearly, we lowered the existing stairs down using a rope -- with Steve slowly lowering it down from the attic and me manuevering it against a wall. Can anyone now guess what our problem was? Steve is now stuck in the attic. :uhh: He managed to get IN the attic by using the existing stairs as a "gripping" point -- but now those are gone. After trying a few exit strategies, he settles on swinging his legs down, while he puts his arms on either side of the opening in the ceiling. I pull his foot down to touch the very tip of the top of our step ladder and he jumps down from there. All that was going through my head was how the obituary would read "And he died from a fall while trying to install a new attic ladder while his wife stood holding his foot". :worried: Thankfully, he got down with only a bruise on his elbow from the springs popping off and knocking him down.
We give up for the night -- and last night we finished the project. We spend about an hour trying to get the NEW stairs aluminum frame installed .... and whoever said on the box that one person could do this was on crack. :dizzy: We had the two of us, both of us with quite a bit of experience in carpentry & building projects, and yet we are stumbling through getting this thing installed. So, we finally manage to get the frame installed, and then we're supposed to lift the 60 pound ladder up above our heads and hook it on the frame we've just installed. Let me remind you that, according to the directions, this ladder can be installed by ONE person. So that ONE person is supposed to lift the ladder above their head AND be able to see to attach two little slots over two little protruding hangers.
Yeah Right. :banghead:
So once we get the ladder hung, it takes a little over an hour to screw in lag bolts, get the gas struts to work properly for lowering and raising the ladder (no more springs, yippee!), and get it all flush and level with the ceiling. We still have to paint it white and reattach the molding around it ... but it's up, Steve isn't stuck in the attic anymore, and we can cart all our boxes up there with ease. Success, even if we did curse :censor: that ladder and the company who made it about 200 times in the process!
I still need to find an attic ladder & some one to install it. I live in Davie, FL & they put an attic entry in the middle of the hall however, there is not an attice ladder that goes straight down. Since, I nor other one can be use because of the space. If any one have suggestions please feel free to write to me at msortizpr@hotmail.com
Great blog.. I am also replacing my attic stairs with aluminum and had about the same exact experiance. Luckily.. I removed the old stairs from it's frame first (saved alot of trouble there).. and safely removed the springs (I was just quick to duck). Other than that.. same experiance.