Attic Ladder

[benjamming]

School me on attic ladders. We have a Louisville Ladder aluminum pull down attic ladder. It's rated for 300# (or 350#) but is flimsy. The poor quality hardware has pulled through the panelling. It was installed in 2006 when the house was built. Not much R-factor. I'm trying to decide if it should be replaced or rebuilt. It's located in our hallway on a single story home. Fair amount of storage in attic as well as the HVAC system is split between outdoor & attic space so certainly need reliable access.

If replaced, then I'm leaning toward Fakro LWT thermo attic ladder item 66894, but I don't really know what I'm talking about too much. I would appreciate some good input. US made is always a bonus, but not sure that is possible as the original was made in Mexico.

Fakro mfg website
Fakro item 66894 LWT Thermo Attic Ladder is $477 at Homie Despot.

Thanks!

 

[Fla]

I don't know much about attic ladders but I have seen several of them break with people that weighed far less than 300 pounds. Just looking at the flmsy wood that they're made of and the small cheaply made fasterners, I don't think that most of them can safely hold anywhere near 300 pounds. I need to put one in my garage but it has 14 foot ceilings and I haven't put one in because frankly, I don't trust any of the ones that I've looked at and 14 foot fall is a lot more dangerous than an 8 foot fall and I'm not willing to take that risk.

 

[JHZR2]

Walk up attics ftw.

Those pull down jobs always scare me a bit. But they’re probably strong enough. I question how you’ll get a better r-factor. I think in my parents mountain house, my father got sheet insulation and built a little sliding fixture to enclose the opening and “cap“ it a bit, and then I think another piece of board insulation to friction fit in the opening…. In theory it added some insulating value.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I have a flimsy wood one. Luckily the ceiling on that level is only 8 feet, so it seems to be holding. I would like something more insulated as well. I had thought about cutting some styrofoam pieces that fit between the rungs, and I will just put them in after I have folded the ladder up but before I have raised it fully, but didn't know if it would do much good, given there would still be big gaps? I guess everything helps yes?

 

[pghvolvo]

I have a Louisville Aluminum Attic pull down ladder 350# rated unit that I had installed back in 2011 and I've had zero issues with mine. Yes it was also manufactured in Mexico.

Louisville Pull down stairs

I bought some styrofoam sheets and built a box that slides over the opening and collapsed ladder, for additional insulation and airflow control. I probably have less than $20 into the project.

 

[billt460]

I have a Werner pull down attic ladder that someone installed before I bought the house. This thing really works well, and makes getting in and out of the attic easy and SAFE.

It extends and retracts easily, and whoever installed it did a nice job. It takes just a couple seconds to extend and retract it. It comes with a pole to trip the latch on the cover, and allow it to drop down slowly. And to also grab the ladder itself and pull to extend it to where you can grab it.

 

[benjamming]

The Fakro LWT has an r-value of 12.5. It has 2-7/8" of spray foam & a triple weather seal. It does not have any rated fire resistance which I don't see the point of being that the whole house is timber construction.

Product page showing the insulation & views of the construction. Insulation is shown at 1:50 in the imbedded video. The triple weather seal is shown at 2:04.

 

[hrv]

I have a attic ladder that was part of the house when it was built in 1998. I have had no issues with it over the years and do go into the attic from time to time... What I have found that over time the screws and bolts come loose over time... So every year I will go over all of the bolts and snug them up a bit..

 

[billt460]

A wooden ladder is going to dry out over time baking in a hot attic. That will have no effect on an Aluminum model. Just something to think about.

 

[benjamming]

A wooden ladder is going to dry out over time baking in a hot attic. That will have no effect on an Aluminum model. Just something to think about.

And that is my biggest hesitation to getting a wooden ladder. I like the aluminum ladder just dislike the very cheapened product of everything else around it.