**Warning**Check your attic ladder ..

[Flathead Johnny]

big bad.....any update on your buddy..i'm pulling for him

 

[rwreuter]

yeah, my attic is HUGE.....i have 8/12 & 10/12 pitch(with 9', 10' and 16' interior ceilings .....from my ceiling in my house to to the the peak in the attic has got to be well over 12', perhaps more.

 

[Big Dad]

big bad.....any update on your buddy..i'm pulling for him

Condition is stable but, unchanged ..

They are actually keeping him induced in a coma until some of the trama subsides to allow time to heal .

 

[TheOtherGoose]

I'm also sorry to hear what happened to your friend. Gonna take a look at my attic ladder tomorrow as a result.

Although it might sound odd, I try to wear safety glasses(!) whenever I climb my ~45 year-old attic stairs. A neighbor of mine told me about a friend that lost an eye to a snapped attic ladder spring. Since I've got the glasses in the garage anyways, I figured that it can't hurt to pop 'em on...

Just passing this along.

 

[ket-tek]

yeah, my attic is HUGE.....i have 8/12 & 10/12 pitch(with 9', 10' and 16' interior ceilings .....from my ceiling in my house to to the the peak in the attic has got to be well over 12', perhaps more.

Sounds like it's time for you to start the room-in-attic project.

 

[ket-tek]

Condition is stable but, unchanged ..

They are actually keeping him induced in a coma until some of the trama subsides to allow time to heal .

Hope he pulls through ok...

 

[rwreuter]

Sounds like it's time for you to start the room-in-attic project.

i have talked to a framer about it...he said i need to contact an engineer so he can redesign to trusses...i also want to put a dormer up there.....

 

[superspec]

Condition is stable but, unchanged ..

They are actually keeping him induced in a coma until some of the trama subsides to allow time to heal .

is he on a vent? if so expect things to get worse before they get better. he might get some activity back but theyll keep him sedated while on a vent and if he is on it for more than about a week he will probably have some other problems come up.

good luck to him, im hoping for the best!

 

[slacker garage shop]

Sorry about your friend.on a lighter note and speaking of attic ladders check out the one I put in a few years ago. I used a old garage door opener to motorize it. The only video I have is on my Facebook so not sure if this link will work.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1689301754761

 

[CISO1969]

sorry to hear that about your friend....hope he gets better soon.

i wanted a strong ladder for my attic, so i purchased an aluminum one that was rated at 350 pounds.

also to store things that are awkward or a little to heavy i have a pulley in the attic and i just attach it too a rope and pull it up. that way i am eliminating the extra weight on the stairs.

again, sorry to hear about your buddy.

I too have the commercial rated aluminimum attic ladders both in the main house and for the garage attic.

One was installed by a more competent contractyor--the other (garage one) was put in by a friend who claimed to be a contractor and who banged in huge nails splitting the frame in spots. My other contractor did stuff to fix it up and said it wasnt going anywhere but make sure whoever installs anything in your house knows what they are doing as that could create a mega issue as mentioned earlier in this thread (missing nails/screws)

CISO

 

[fm2176]

I have a huge attic in a big Acadian style house. The ladder to it is dated '79, though, and is made of wood, so I haven't stored anything in it yet. I'm debating eventually finishing some of it and running stairs from the outside of the house to a man-cave.

Sorry to hear about the OP's friend. We just never know when something bad will happen. A JROTC instructor was killed down here the week before Thanksgiving in a rappelling accident. The tie-down point snapped when he was 30-ft up and he landed on his back. A student that accompanied him (they had gone to check the equipment the day before the entire class was scheduled to go) said he was talking for a few minutes and didn't have any visible injuries. Twenty-six years in the LARNG and five years as an instructor with hundreds of rappels, and one piece of bad equipment killed him.

 

[MrSnicks]

My prayers with your friend. I like the idea of a pull down attic ladder, but I'm 300lbs and could be carrying 50lb rubbermaid tubs so I would want a ladder rated at 400lbs just to be safe. Also my attic is above my garage with a ceiling height of 11'. Haven't found the magical 11' 400lb rated attic ladder yet.

Patrick

 

[rlitman]

Haven't found the magical 11' 400lb rated attic ladder yet.

I haven't heard of a 400lb rated ladder either, but 375 is a standard ladder rating (although 300 is the highest I've seen in an attic ladder).

 

[hobie1dog]

Mine is the cheapest ladder money could buy and I think about it's failure EVERY time I go up it. Thanks for posting this up and reminding everyone to upgrade and check their ladders. I need to get one of the Home Depot metal ladders that was mentioned before....as I have 11 1/2' tall ceiling too.

 

[hobie1dog]

i have talked to a framer about it...he said i need to contact an engineer so he can redesign to trusses...i also want to put a dormer up there.....

I assume that you also have 2x4 cheap trusses like I have? Let us know what you have to do to beef up the trusses.

My attic is huge, but nothing but 1k boards everywhere....looks like a 2x4 factory exploded up there. I still don't see how it is cost effective over a conventional 2x6/2x8 truss system.

 

[Jazz]

I recently added a ladder to my house and didn't even consider the wooden ones honestly. We have a nice aluminum one and it's sturdy and I don't have to worry about it deteriorating over time. It'll probably be working 100 years after I'm not anymore.

 

[rlitman]

. . . (although 300 is the highest I've seen in an attic ladder).

I just have to say, I stand corrected (by myself).
I was walking down the insulation aisle in Lowes today, and happened to turn around and look straight at a Werner aluminum attic ladder with a 375 lb rating.
I guess it does exist.

 

[Mr.Magoo]

Grew up in NY, the house had a folding ladder in order to access the attic.



It's the people that try to put a disassembled 65 Chevelle in their attic that wind up having issues.

I have first generation Camaro parts in my attic, I am guilty as charged. Now fess up here Ole rwhite, are you the guy with the 65 Chevelle??? One of my favorites. I have some Z-16 parts for one.

 

[rwhite692]

Hi Mr. Magoo

I do have the front fenders of my 67 ElCamino project sitting up in my attic, So I guess that kinda makes me guilty, LOL!

 

[hobie1dog]

Well, after reading about all of this, I ordered the Werner Aluminum Attic stairs in the 12ft model so that I wouldn't have to deal with this:

Notice the LH bottom piece of wood which has been broken off for several years.

 

[fionasdad]

Sorry to hear about your friend.

I had a cheap Home Depot special wood attic latter. It lasted about 3 years and then I had to replace it with a metal one at Lows, I think it's was one of the 375 rlitman mentioned. Much better than the metal one!

Another thing when you're up in the attic pulling up the new model to replace the old one, don't grab the ladder. I did and got a metal step right in the forehead and later it was a purple bruse with the step lines on my forehead...Almost knocked me out!

 

[Big Dad]

Well ..

It happened again

This time it was a regular, wood ladder

It busted , friend fell about 10 feet ..He is all banged up

Busted pelvis, busted leg .. busted jaw



Reminded me , to remind everyone again .. check those ladders

 

[Big Dad]

Any updates on your friend ?

I've been busy with stuff, haven't been on here for some time

They took him off life support after couple weeks and he passed quietly

shortly after

 

[Sweet Old Bill]

All of us here are sad to hear about your friend's passing.

Most of us, especially on this board, are pretty much "cussedly independent". So, the only good part of your friend's passing is that he was living his life the way he wanted to right up to the end. Very few of us want to be a burden on others.

Again, I am very sorry to hear about your friend's passing. Celebrate his life in the best way that you can and keep his memory in your heart.

 

[FoMoCoPower]

the instructions said to use nails but i decided to use stainless steel screws, they are MUCH stronger.

The screws will snap,nails will bend.....you might want to rethink that.

 

[03protege]

I don't understand how you can store **** in an attic. My attic is about 4-5' from the ceiling to the peak of the roof rafters. About 2' of that is used up with loose blown in insulation. That leaves 2-3" at the peak and nothing a few feet away from there. To store even a small box, I would have to remove the insulation, built a platform above the insulation level, and put the insulation back in there. You don't need an attic ladder when you go up there only once every 5-10 years to fix the attic fan.

My attic has full flooring and I am able to walk standing up to every part of it,
Just because you attic ***** doesn't mean everyone else has a crappy attic too.

 

[KEH]

I knew there was a reason why we had a real stairway made when we had the house built. Sorry for the tragedy and other injuries.

KEH

 

[NoNN37]

your friend has bad luck. tell him to get a folding aluminum ladder or something I dont trust any of those pull down stuff. And maybe get him a Football helmet to wear when goin up there.

 

[93L#3008]

I don't understand how you can store **** in an attic. My attic is about 4-5' from the ceiling to the peak of the roof rafters. About 2' of that is used up with loose blown in insulation. That leaves 2-3" at the peak and nothing a few feet away from there. To store even a small box, I would have to remove the insulation, built a platform above the insulation level, and put the insulation back in there. You don't need an attic ladder when you go up there only once every 5-10 years to fix the attic fan.

Ive got a 8x16 and 8x20 subfloor on opposite ends of my house built up above my insulation and can stand up in the middle. Great use of other wise wasted space. Cheaper than a basement or taking up a storage shed in the backyard.

 

[srmofo]

your friend has bad luck. tell him to get a folding aluminum ladder or something I dont trust any of those pull down stuff. And maybe get him a Football helmet to wear when goin up there.

You might want to go back and reread. His friend that fell from the attic ladder passed away a few weeks after his injuries. He had another friend fall from a wooden ladder. I bust up every wood ladder I come across. My mom had a few around her house and since she doesnt use a ladder very often didnt want to buy a new one when she had perfectly 'good' ones already. I bought her a new fiberglass ladder and destroyed her wood ladders before tossing them. Think about the last time you saw a wood ladder for sale in a hardware store. Im 30 and have never seen one that I can remember.

I bought an aluminum ladder for my garage attic. I used lag bolts to install it with special attention paid to where the hinges are.

To the OP, Im sorry to hear of your loss. Losing someone close is never easy, but its especially hard when it could have been prevented so easily

 

[SSAAHemiFan]

My prayers with your friend. I like the idea of a pull down attic ladder, but I'm 300lbs and could be carrying 50lb rubbermaid tubs so I would want a ladder rated at 400lbs just to be safe. Also my attic is above my garage with a ceiling height of 11'. Haven't found the magical 11' 400lb rated attic ladder yet.

Patrick

Here you go Mr Snicks... http://www.bessler.com/

 

[DIC]

Sorry to here about your friend
I had a step break and I broke 3 or 4 more coming down.
It was a light duty wood and I know I was way too heavy for it.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Sorry for the loss of your friend and I hope the other friend makes a full recovery.

 

[ddawg16]

So sorry for the loss of your friend.....and the injuries to your other one...

And thanks for the post....hopefully it will help the rest of us avoid the same fate.

 

[zjrog]

My last house had one of the wood attic stairs to get to the storage over my garage. I never saw a weight limit on it but only used it a few times. Otherwise, I used an extension ladder to get stuff up and down from the overhead storage. Wish my current garage had the same storage space...

Sorry to hear about you friend. Hope his family is coping. I put my family through a close call not too long ago...

 

[littlebritishcar]

Sorry to hear about your friend. What a terrible thing to happen.

I am very lucky. I have a garage loft that had a super rickety POS attic ladder that collapsed on me and caused me to sprain my ankle. I immediately tore it out and have been looking for a good replacement for over six months now. I really wish I had the room for permanent stairs but I am hoping to find a good, sturdy, wide pull down ladder.

 

[Rockuf8]

Damn just saw this. I have an old pull down wooden ladder, I weight 240lbs, and often carry stuff up as I use it my atic for long term storage and plan on adding more stuff up there now that I added a lam beam to support a previously sagging ceiling/attic floor.

Few weeks ago I noticed some of the nuts were loose, so I immediately tightened all of them, it feels much sturdier now, but it still creeks when I walk up and put weight on it, hearing the sad story about the OP's friend is scary, sorry about your loss and hope your other friend is ok. I wonder if this stair is well made since it's much older? I've been up and down the ladder many many times in the 13 years I've lived there. Maybe I should consider investing in a high rated pull down ladder such as the Besslers?

 

[nehog]

... Maybe I should consider investing in a high rated pull down ladder such as the Besslers?

Were I you, I would!

 

[Baada]

Big Dad....so sorry for your loss. In some small way I hope my story will give the slightest bit of relief that your public service announcement has helped save someone from being injured in the same way.

Today I set about to retrieve my outdoor furniture cushions that I store in my neighbors garage. It has an 11' ceiling so the attic ladder is a 3 pieces. Because I had read your post, before going up I checked all the screws, nuts and bolts just to make sure everything was tight.

While I was up in the attic throwing the cushions down my wife came over with our kids in the stroller to talk to me. As I was about to come down the ladder I told my wife about your friend and how horrible the story was. I started down the ladder with the outdoor umbrella in one hand, going very slow and steady. Making sure I had a good grip with my free hand and good footing on different steps, just in case. I was about a 1/3 of the way down when my lowest foot just kept going and I heard the distinct sound of wood breaking. Before I knew it was hanging by one hand, feet dangling in the air. My wife screamed so loud I thought I had already crashed to floor and it just hadn't registered yet. After a few seconds my wife was able to get me something to crawl down on and I planted my feet on terra firma no worse for wear.

I am telling you right now that if I hadn't read your post, I would have crash landed on the floor or the remains of the ladder. I checked the carnage and the failure point was a rivet that holds a hinge together so it wasn't something any double checking would have caught.

Needless to say I will be replacing the ladder with a better unit. Thanks for saving me an ambulance ride....or worse.

 

[kerryt1]

After going up and down for 5 years, I randomly decided to check mine last month. I could not believe how poorly it was secured to the joists. It shouldn't have been a surprise given the level of workmanship I've seen in the rest of the house over time.

My next home will have an aluminum one, period.