Insulating my garage attic.... Or Installing an attic ladder... maybe a bit of both? I bought this ladder at Lowes. Here's the link to the model I purchased. www.lowes.com/...
Great job...I just purchased a Louisville Aluminum Ladder from Lowes and your guidance video along with the instructions allowed me to install it fairly quickly without any questions. Two thumbs up!
A little over kill for my taste with the washers and extras. I used a grinder on the legs. I did it by myself. No hydraulic lift, not that it wouldn’t have been easier. I am 77. Sometimes you have to think things out for yourself. Manufacturers are overkill too and not motivated to give you an easier way when they run things by the attorneys. Oh, and, I would highly recommend gloves and long sleeves and maybe a dust mask for that insulation…. But maybe that’s overkill. 😮
Excellent presentation! Truly appreciate for the time and effort you took to properly video these steps...now I am encouraged to try in my house to install an attic ladder. Thank you!
Great job very much. Enjoyed watching a lot of love watching people work but I’m gonna be installing mine soon and I appreciate all your effort and it looks great. Thank you so much.
Definitely a homeowner method. BUT...., it's in! I done a hundred this way but, I do installation from outside the attic. All from a platform. All that really matters is that you get it installed safely and correctly!
Great video my friend! I Love the ‘how do I get outta here’ 😂 I have 2 access points, so it was easy up and down with just me. Getting the rough in framing square was a pain tho. Cutting the steps, screw the hacksaw. Brought home my bandsaw. Probably gonna install a second one soon.
i installed one of these three days ago. used an angle grinder and cutoff wheel to cut the legs. aluminum gunks the wheel, but it was a quick clean operation
As another pointer: Rest the legs of ladder on a stable base to cut on and, if possible, save an hour and use a powered hacksaw cutter(sawmill may not come out clean).
For sure. Power tools all the way if you have them. An oscillating multi tool would be much faster for cutting the drywall and a portable bandsaw would be faster for cutting the legs. Didn't have either of those at the time. I do now though and would definitely use them if doing this again.
Good job. Audio a bit low at some times... May I suggest long sleeves, gloves, mask and eye protection for handling fiberglass insulation? You'll thank me later.
Thank you for such an instructive video! I've been looking at my own attic area and assessing whether and how to install my own ladder, and I see you have a truss design that would keep the area above from being all that useful, what with those cross members being quite prevalent. Were you also going to re-frame truss portions to better open it up? I'd love to see some video about that if so. I don't have trusses myself, so the area in general is quite open to utilizing the already large space, but I have to decide whether cutting 2 joists for the ladder will compromise the existing frame support somehow. There is no good spot to align the ladder in parallel with the joists, and I really, really want to get a ladder in place regardless. Any feedback much appreciated.
great video man!! I did it solo as well and got to the main header and realized there wasn't room for a cordless drill head at all. Curious on what you did. I ended up just screwing at an angle. They are temps anyway. Either way, video was super helpful!!
Unfortunately no. The distance between the stairs when opened and the footer is roughly 3 foot. There may be another model of folding attic steps that would work but not the one I installed.
I'm trying to do this myself, but I'm not so spry as you. I managed to get it up to the attic (11 ft high) using pulleys. I've got the support boards screwed at each end, flush with the drywall, 3/8" at the hinge end and the other end with enough of a lip so it won't fall out, but not so much that it would block the unit from opening when the hinged end is butted up to the header. I'm thinking that I'll be able able to slide it along a bit at a time from below and get it into position resting on the two support boards I screwed on, rather than doing it from the attic. Since I'd be working from below, instead of the two temporary screws to secure the unit to the header, I'll put a couple of small temporary screws up through the support board into the edge of the header end of the frame. Then I could open it from below and not have to attempt any acrobatics to get down from the attic. Then it's just a matter of squaring, shimming, bolting and sawing the ladder to length. Does that sound like a reasonable plan? Any red flags?
@@thekiltedmechanic1516 I realized that by removing the small piece of drywall, insulation and a couple of boards in the attic, I was able to access the attic through the framing beside the cutout - just enough room for me to squeeze through. So I was able to fasten it from the attic, then climb through that hole onto my ladder. Thanks for your replies!
I have a laundry room I'm trying to fit one in, would you be able to tell me what angle the ladder is at when fully opened? My cell phone has a protractor app on it , if you have one it's a simple process to get angles, if not it's free and worth having. Also my rafters are 22 inches apart, directions call for 22 1/2" for install, can I get it to fit in 22"?
I just installed and I've got a TINY gap on the attic ladder on the first(highest) fold out. It appears the 2 closest adjustments on the feet don't alleviate it. I can't really add any new holes because they'd walk right into an existing hole. Is a tiny gap ok or is this a no go? Options? Gap is probably about 3/32"
Hey Brother I have a similar garage, insulated & dry walled. Can i do the attic ladder & use this for storage of some medium weight stuff, like books, screens etc? Its a single car garage. Joise similar to what i see in ur video. I read some articles on this ceiling not made for attic ladders & storage. Can u give ur opinion on this please. helpful.
HI CAN YOU PLZ HELP I UNSTALLED THE BLACK SPRINGS SHOX OFF ATTIC LADDER BECAUSE I WAS REPAIRING ONE SIDE WOOD, BUT NOW I CANT PUT THEM BACK, IT WONT FIT, ITS LIKE 1 INCH LONGER SO HELP PLZ
Could you sandwich a layer of styrofoam insulation between the door and another layer of 1/4" plywood? You'd just have to raise the whole unit a couple of inches to make the door flush with the ceiling, right? I live in the north and R3.8 insulation doesn't cut it!
I suppose you could yes. If you raised the entire height of the attic ladder up into the ceiling. However, I think you'd end up with pinching Styrofoam at the hinge point. Alternatively I have seen people create a hinged insulated lid above the attic ladder. You pull down the attic ladder, walk up the steps, and push open an insulated lid above you into a gate latch or similar mechanism. That may be an alternative for added insulation worth considering.
@@thekiltedmechanic1516 Ya, the pinching at the hinge point was what I guessed may be a problem. I'll see when it arrives. I was thinking of building a styrofoam box over the top like you suggested, but then I thought if I could just insulate the door it would be easier and make it less hassle to access the attic. I ordered the extra long one for 11 ft ceiling. Wish it was a bit wider, but didn't see any others available for that length. Did you notice any problem with room for your feet on the top steps? I've seen a few reviews saying they could only get their toes on the top steps because the steps are against the door.
@@Yukoner77777Foot room on the top few steps is definitely an issue. Since the steps are more ladder like in size you want the ball of your foot centered for stability and that's not possible near the top. Fortunately it's only near the top. If I was planning on making my attic a storage area that I accessed more often I might consider modifying the steps in some way. As it is I rarely use them now that I'm done insulating so the poor footing isn't enough of an issue for me to merit a change.
Ha! Okay yeah. The basic premise is that if you accept free items given to you then you will become known as someone who takes free things. Then you are more likely to get something of value because people will reach out when they have something to give away. I have a say it's worked for me.
@@thekiltedmechanic1516 Ok makes sense. Just be careful. I was giving my neighbors stuff they acted like they needed only to see them turn around and sell on marketplace and Craigslist. I would’ve done that if they didn’t act like they needed it. I don’t offer even the smallest thing to them anymore. Even if it’s worthless. People suck. Great video by the way. I’m still worried how I’m going to get out of the attic, even with someone helping me but will be pulling the trigger on a Louisville AL2240LG-R5.
I didn't install flooring in my attic. I insulated it and then put a couple sheets of OSB down near the stairs for a small amount of storage up there. I will say that the stairs I installed are not large enough to fit a 4x8 sheet of sheathing through. So you may want to remove enough drywall from your ceiling to be able to get full sheets up.
These Louisville ladders suck! Users have a tendency to grab the plywood on the door as they pull down the ladder from the ceiling. Louisville uses Masonite plywood and it will come loose after a few times of operation. Go for the Werner ladder system because it has plywood and the ladder is a little nicer with an aluminum handrail.
Had mine installed for 4.5 years and no issues with the plywood deteriorating. With the height of my ceiling you cannot grab it by the plywood either unless you were extremely tall. Not sure if I would like a handrail or not. Seems like it would get in the way a bit when carrying bulkier items up. But I haven't experienced the difference.
