attic stairs

mille100piedi

I want to buy attic stairs but the door to the attic is small and there is very little space for the stairs in the hall. Would a company come to my place to give me some advise?

_Brian

mille100piedi wrote: »

I want to buy attic stairs but the door to the attic is small and there is very little space for the stairs in the hall. Would a company come to my place to give me some advise?

We got Stira fitted years ago, they come and enlarge the opening, fit the stairs and new moulding and leave it ready to paint.
They are in about 15 years and are as good as new.

looksee

_Brian wrote: »

We got Stira fitted years ago, they come and enlarge the opening, fit the stairs and new moulding and leave it ready to paint.
They are in about 15 years and are as good as new.

Same here - though ours was fitted over 20 years ago - we saw them advertised on the Late Late Show They actually moved the access to a new spot as the original one was too close under the eaves.

ninja 12

+1 fir Stira ,

We had a Stira installed in the house we bought last year , as well as having one installed in a previous house .Wouldn't buy any other attic stairs .



Our last house had a cheap attic stairs installed by the builder and it was woeful , I had to keep tightening the bolts on it and it felt flimsy .

dodzy

mille100piedi wrote: »

I want to buy attic stairs but the door to the attic is small and there is very little space for the stairs in the hall. Would a company come to my place to give me some advise?

If you follow the advice of the other boardsies, you better get the wallet out. Stirs are mad money. Other options are far cheaper and very effective. Stairs complete unit are readily available for 100€ approx. any decent DIY / chippy will fit without issue in most cases.

_Brian

dodzy wrote: »

If you follow the advice of the other boardsies, you better get the wallet out. Stirs are mad money. Other options are far cheaper and very effective. Stairs complete unit are readily available for 100€ approx. any decent DIY / chippy will fit without issue in most cases.

But are they as good..

Our Stira are in our first house which is now rented.. When we were building our current house the chippie recommended these "alternative" stairs which were €120..
They are not the same product... the stira have heavier construction and are firmer.

Both were identical sizes..
Stira cost ~€350 fitted, copy cost €120 plus time to fit, probably €80/100
So the actual difference was €100/€120.. What you'd expect the difference to be between a good or excellent product.. No idea what stira cost now but I know my wife says there is no comparison and she would much rather we had the stira fitted.

lgk

Stira are now €450 fitted for the basic model. You can buy the very similar Dolle models that carry the same quality certification for €150 or less delivered.

Cerco

With all those feet you will need more than a Stira

looksee

When we got the Stira fitted the alternative was a set of steps that you went right to the top of, then did a kind of hoist and wiggle to get yourself sitting on the edge of the access hole. I got fed up with that performance and we got the Stira in. Right enough it wasn't the cheapest thing, though we had nothing to compare it with. However we have a solid yoke of a thing that I can still haul down and put back easily even though I am getting the pension. You can walk up with without a creak or a wobble (the stairs I mean, I creak and wobble a bit) and I reckon it has paid for itself several times over.

mille100piedi

dodzy wrote: »

If you follow the advice of the other boardsies, you better get the wallet out. Stirs are mad money. Other options are far cheaper and very effective. Stairs complete unit are readily available for 100€ approx. any decent DIY / chippy will fit without issue in most cases.

unfortunately the unit are too big and I can't make the hole bigger and the hall is very narrow. I will call Stir and ask if they can make tailored stair that could fit into my place

lgk

Custom Stira jobs start at €529. Ring around some of the competition, you might save yourself a couple of hundred.

DublinDilbert

mille100piedi wrote: »

unfortunately the unit are too big and I can't make the hole bigger and the hall is very narrow. I will call Stir and ask if they can make tailored stair that could fit into my place

Your other option is to install a metal pull down stairs. Many of these are designed so you don't need to enlarge the opening. Typically all that is required is that the hatch opens downwards and not up & in.

So the hatch is usually cut to size or a new hatch made with hinges, the ladder is typically metal and it attaches to the opening. I think I paid €50 for one of these ladders 6 or 7 years ago and its still fine.

The angle will be steeper than one of the wooden alternatives, but it doesn't bother me too much, at the end of the day how often is it used.

mille100piedi

DublinDilbert wrote: »

Your other option is to install a metal pull down stairs. Many of these are designed so you don't need to enlarge the opening. Typically all that is required is that the hatch opens downwards and not up & in.

So the hatch is usually cut to size or a new hatch made with hinges, the ladder is typically metal and it attaches to the opening. I think I paid €50 for one of these ladders 6 or 7 years ago and its still fine.

The angle will be steeper than one of the wooden alternatives, but it doesn't bother me too much, at the end of the day how often is it used.

I think I will follow your suggestion also because the minimum Stira Frame Length for the tailored ones is still too big.

dodzy

mille100piedi wrote: »

I think I will follow your suggestion also because the minimum Stira Frame Length for the tailored ones is still too big.

You could have a look in the attic space to see if there is a better fitting location. This can often be the case in houses with intricate truss layout in the attic. I installed a couple for friends in D15 area where the actual landing access door was positioned stupidly and you needed to contort yourself to actually get into the attic.

I left that as it was and cut out the new access in one of the bedrooms which resulted in you being able to enter the attic space in a much better place in terms of clearance, useable storage space. Just an idea for you to consider. You are not confined to locating the new unit in the same position as the builders placed the door; you can put it wherever works best.

mille100piedi

dodzy wrote: »

You could have a look in the attic space to see if there is a better fitting location. This can often be the case in houses with intricate truss layout in the attic. I installed a couple for friends in D15 area where the actual landing access door was positioned stupidly and you needed to contort yourself to actually get into the attic.

I left that as it was and cut out the new access in one of the bedrooms which resulted in you being able to enter the attic space in a much better place in terms of clearance, useable storage space. Just an idea for you to consider. You are not confined to locating the new unit in the same position as the builders placed the door; you can put it wherever works best.

it is very easy to enter in the attic space from the entrance, right now the only problem is that the entrance is very small and if I cut an entrance in another place I will waste storage space. at the moment the entrance is right beside the water tank and it very easy to access to the attic from there

DublinDilbert

I think this is close to the one i fitted:-

http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/2-section-loft-ladder---13m-241588

dodzy

mille100piedi wrote: »

it is very easy to enter in the attic space from the entrance, right now the only problem is that the entrance is very small and if I cut an entrance in another place I will waste storage space. at the moment the entrance is right beside the water tank and it very easy to access to the attic from there

You do realize that the units are approx 4ft long ? All that is typically required is for you to just cut the plasterboard to the housing dimensions. The width of the current access will be most likely the same or very close to the new unit. That's easy; just get a handsaw and measure it up. The only thing you need to ensure is that you buy a unit that is slightly smaller in diameter than the joist spacing.

mille100piedi

dodzy wrote: »

You do realize that the units are approx 4ft long ? All that is typically required is for you to just cut the plasterboard to the housing dimensions. The width of the current access will be most likely the same or very close to the new unit. That's easy; just get a handsaw and measure it up. The only thing you need to ensure is that you buy a unit that is slightly smaller in diameter than the joist spacing.

yes unit are too big, I can't cut a bigger hole because the hole is right between two walls. I think I am going to buy just the stairs without the unit

mille100piedi

DublinDilbert wrote: »

I think this is close to the one i fitted:-

http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/2-section-loft-ladder---13m-241588

Do you need some storage space in the attic for the stairs?I saw in the picture that you need some space and I am not sure I have all that space because in one side there is a water tank and in the other there is the wood from the roof
http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/abru-3-section-easy-stow-loft-ladder-675590

at the moment I use a telescopic ladder as below but it is not attached to the attic door. but I am looking for something that it is more quick to open
http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/youngman-telescopic-loft-ladder--29m-292216

tina1040

Could you move the opening to a bedroom or bathroom?

mille100piedi

tina1040 wrote: »

Could you move the opening to a bedroom or bathroom?

no, the only place where there is a floor in the attic, is above the kitchen and above the hall. I could make a bigger hole in another place in the ceiling above the hall but it will be right in the middle of the attic floor and I will lose storage and it will be more dangerous as well. at the moment the access to the attic is near the water tank in a corner

mille100piedi

what about concertina stairs, are they any good?
http://www.atrick.ie/premier-loft-ladders-elite-professional-industrial-aluminium-concertina-attic-ladder.html

DublinDilbert

mille100piedi wrote: »

Do you need some storage space in the attic for the stairs?I saw in the picture that you need some space and I am not sure I have all that space because in one side there is a water tank and in the other there is the wood from the roof
http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/abru-3-section-easy-stow-loft-ladder-675590


at the moment I use a telescopic ladder as below but it is not attached to the attic door. but I am looking for something that it is more quick to open
http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/youngman-telescopic-loft-ladder--29m-292216

Yes if you get the 3 piece ladder you'll need about 1m or so to store the ladder. Also you need head room for it when it goes up and in to the attic. You should have enough room on one side of the attic opening for it.