Attic Stairs

MR DAZ

Has anyone got those strairs fitted for access to the attic

The "Stiara fitted stairs" (excuse the spelling)

And If so Does it cost much for the installation

Cheers

Dazza

Lex Luthor

MR DAZ wrote:

Has anyone got those strairs fitted for access to the attic

The "Stiara fitted stairs" (excuse the spelling)

And If so Does it cost much for the installation

Cheers

Dazza

I have a Stira fitted for the last 5 years...best thing I ever bought. Fitted in about 2 hrs and I think it costs €430 now.
www.stira.com

I think Woodies have one for sale but you have to install it yourself.

MR DAZ

Cheers Lex!!!

You have been rewarded ;-)

Quatre Mains

hi lads,
what is the story with the self-install ones? Not sure if I have this right, but do you have to cut into your ceiling to fit these things? - my attic hatch is the standard square type, approx 2ft by 2ft, and from what I can see in the pics I've looked at, you'd need a 4ft by 2ft door.

Zoso

what is the story with the self-install ones? Not sure if I have this right, but do you have to cut into your ceiling to fit these things? - my attic hatch is the standard square type, approx 2ft by 2ft, and from what I can see in the pics I've looked at, you'd need a 4ft by 2ft door.

You will most likely need to enlarge the hatchway. That may simply involve cutting away some plasterboard and removing supports for existing trapdoor. However it's possible that you'll need to cut a section out of a joist to accomodate the stairs so that would need to reinforced.

Once that's done, screw a couple of boards/strips of wood/planks/whatever is handy up into the ceiling at either end of the hatchway to temp take the weight of the stairs. Position these in such a way that the frame of the stairs will sit on them but the trapdoor will still open. Drop stairs into place and fix in place from within the attic - ensuring that the trapdoor will open without catching on either side. You'll most likely need a second pair of hands for all this. Then just remove those temp boards, clean up the plasterwork, trim the length of the stairs as needed, etc..

Location of the hatch is also a factor as you need to ensure there's sufficient room for the arc the ladder swings through while opening. That's most likely only going to be an issue though if the existing hatch is in a confined space.

IIRC I spotted a leaflet/howto on this in B&Q over the summer.

Victor

Zoso wrote:

You will most likely need to enlarge the hatchway. That may simply involve cutting away some plasterboard and removing supports for existing trapdoor. However it's possible that you'll need to cut a section out of a joist to accomodate the stairs so that would need to reinforced.

Be very careful here, you need to make sure all the joists around the hatch are doubled up (preferrably bolted together).

Lex Luthor

You proabably wont have to cut into any joists as these stairs are normally made to fit between the std width between joists. However you will have to make the opening longer and then screw new cross beams (don't know correct term) between the 2 joists to support the stairs at either end. It's straight forward enough. The biggest job would be cutiing out the existing plasterboard and mounting the stairs.
For the hassle involved, better off paying the pro's unless your extremely handy. Last thing you want is the thing to fall down when you're half way up with a heavy box.

Victor

Lex Luthor wrote:

However you will have to make the opening longer and then screw new cross beams (don't know correct term)

Trimmers / trimming joists.