Fixed stairway or pull down?

[TheClaw]

I'm building a 16x36 shop with a 9ft ceiling in the back half to create a loft for storage. I'm debating whether to build a fixed stairway or use a pull down attic ladder. I'd be interested in your feedback.

Fixed stairway
Pros: convience of going up and down, may make the loft more useable
Cons: steep rise, takes up space

Pull down
Pros: Hides away
Cons: Hassle of dropping it down everytime it's used. I will need to make space on the floor for it.

Here's a picture of where I'd put the stairway and a design of the how it would get up there.

 

[LXCam]

Stairs are going to eat up a ton of space. I’m voting on a pull down or if you really wanted to spend some coin one of these.

 

[cvairwerks]

Think your design is going to be way too steep for comfort. You've got a 9" rise and a 4" run....That's more like a ships ladder than stairs.

Set up a proper length stairway on a hinge and counterbalance it.

 

[ddurrett896]

This is what I did.

 

[LXCam]

This is what I did.

That's cuul, I like it. Did you do any kind of additional safety on it like a mechanical latch?.

 

[mm08822]

If you are storing stuff up there, you want deeper treads and lower risers. 8" should be the max ht. Carrying heavy/bulky items up stairs can be dangerous.

Consider the retractable stairs idea but turned 90 degrees. This would give you opportunity to better the tread/riser dimensions.

Do all of this after final inspection.

 

[Danno1]

... Carrying heavy/bulky items up stairs can be dangerous.

Carrying them down, even more so.


.

 

[rust in the eye]

Ladder and a dumb waiter for "stuff"?

 

[TheClaw]

This is what I did.

That's very cool.

Ladder and a dumb waiter for "stuff"?

I do have a plan to create a lift for getting boxes up there. Plastic pallet sprung from a block and tackle. Cheap and easy.

 

[kctgb]

Fixed and don’t look back. My friend did the same as you, as he got older we built a fixed stairs along the wall. Didn’t take up much space.

 

[RMERR]

Might just be my creeky old knees talking, but I'd vote for the "fixed" stairs, for the reasons stated above. Also, it will make for easier addition of a handrail on the wall and/or open side. Very handy to steady yourself while carrying stuff.

 

[kctgb]

Might just be my creeky old knees talking, but I'd vote for the "fixed" stairs, for the reasons stated above. Also, it will make for easier addition of a handrail on the wall and/or open side. Very handy to steady yourself while carrying stuff.

My friends creeky old knees, too!

 

[Metal-Marc]

This is what I did.

This is what I have in my shop, minus the creeky noises, to get access to the upstair loft.

Today I left the loft lift down.

 

[mrhemi426]

When I built my shop, after lessons learned from previous episodes, I went with fixed stairs. Closed in the area beneath to make a closet for riding gear, empties storage etc.

 

[nadogail]

Because I am in an existing two car garage, I opted for the pull down stairs that get used only a few times a year.

 

[finn]

I have pull down stairs and absolutely hate them.

Frankly, building a storage loft was the biggest mistake I made when I put up my garage a number of years ago. If I had a do over, I would have used the extra money the storage trusses cost to make the footprint larger, even if it was only a couple of feet and one more conventional truss. Two feet of racks is more accessible and useful than attic storage.

It’s Mid June and I haven’t been in my storage loft yet this year.

 

[1redTA]

fixed stairs make a nice place to hide noisy equipment like air compressors

 

[ddurrett896]

That's cuul, I like it. Did you do any kind of additional safety on it like a mechanical latch?.

You can kinda see it in the video, I have a piece of pipe that on the wall and I pull it out to support the stairs.

Typically lift past the point, pull the pipe out, then lower so the pipe takes all the weight.

 

[HoosierMark]

Friend of mine set up his stairs to go up and down via cable and counter weight hidden in the wall. Seems like you could use a wall mount garage door opener if you wanted to also. No real need to make it fixed.

 

[PCustoms]

That's a pretty narrow building and honestly not a lot of loft...

Realistically how often do you need to go up there?

Normally I'd say fixed, but a good stepladder seems adequate here

 

[thammel]

That's a pretty narrow building and honestly not a lot of loft...

Realistically how often do you need to go up there?

Normally I'd say fixed, but a good stepladder seems adequate here

I agree with this....you probable don't need fixed stairs for your loft. Use pull down stairs for as often as you may be using it.

 

[jives]

Normally, I would say fixed stairs. Our attic space in our old garage had pull down attic stairs and they were rickety and too narrow. But your loft space is small, not a lot of stuff can go up there, so in this case I would apt for pull down like ddurrett posted. My dad did something like that in the house I grew up in; essentially a really wide ladder with wide treads. Make it with a kind of hand rail that projects up past the ladder, into the loft, to make climbing into the loft easier.

 

[mepstein]

I took out the pull down stairs and put in a fixed set. It turned the attic storage into a second floor. 100% satisfied and no regrets.

 

[CraigStu]

3 houses ago I used a step ladder. 10ft ceiling and a 10ft ladder. I rigged it so I hinged it at the top w/ rope and the bottom was pulled up w/ block and tackle. When in use it supported itself normally as a step ladder. next house had the usual pull down steps. Just ****. Kind of wobbly, but the worst thing was the plywood that closed off the opening when the stairs were up. Know how you put your feet a little beyond the steps on a step ladder. On those stairs I did the same until I hit that dang plywood. Suddenly I am on the tips of my feet only. Felt just horrible since it occurred as I got higher. Added on a bay to that garage w/ an attic. Yep, I repeated the step ladder. The stairs posted above by ddurrett are fantastic but maybe overkill for you? Depends on what you will put up there and how often you need it.

 

[bad_idea]

I have a loft in my 30x40 building. I went with a fixed staircase. It has been great, very convenient. I keep commonly used lightweight bulky items up there, out of the way. It would be a nuisance to pull a ladder down every time I needed something. I work on ships for a living, so ship's ladders do not bother me. I built my stairs with 9" of rise and 9" of run. The trick is to not install a riser board between treads, so your feet can hang off the front of the step (not as big of an issue with 9" treads, but gets worse with shallower treads).

Get creative with the stair placement / design and you might be able to squeeze in a longer staircase. I built mine with three steps, then a couple winder steps to turn, and then the last 6 or so steps up. That placed the base of the stairs in an ideal location and the top in a good spot too.

 

[Lynden]

I'd use this kind of ladder which stands up flat against the wall when not in use. Eliminate the side rail extensions at the top so the ladder can be attached to the side wall of the shop (rotated 90 degrees from your drawing). Place grab bar(s) on the shop wall above the top of the ladder for safety.

 

[tomshep]

Fixed but on the far end and use the wall to brace the stairs. Left would be bottom and angle up to the top right. If that is too steep, put a landing on the lower left and finish it on the left wall coming back into the shop. You can still use the space under the stairs for storage. Dragging heavy stuff up and down the steps will be much better than a pull down.

Tom

 

[jmarkwolf]

fixed stairs make a nice place to hide noisy equipment like air compressors

This is what I did.

The space under the fixed staircase to the second floor in my shop is my "air compressor closet" for noise reduction purposes.

But now I'm thinking seriously of adding a small gantry hoist above the stairwell so I can make better use of the upstairs without climbing 11 vertical feet of standard stairs every time I want to go upstairs.

 

[TheClaw]

That's a good idea. I could even put the compressor in the loft.
The only problem is that it leaks and doesn't hold air well. We are constantly shutting off the petcock valve and opening it up.
Not a big problem.

 

[PCustoms]

That's a good idea. I could even put the compressor in the loft.
The only problem is that it leaks and doesn't hold air well. We are constantly shutting off the petcock valve and opening it up.
Not a big problem.

Good excuse to fix the leaks

 

[whateg01]

The problem I have with pull down in an area other than a walkway is that stuff ends up getting stored where the stairs need to come down so every time all that stuff has to be moved.

 

[Jackfre]

Given the space you have up there you really aren’t going to be able to put a whole lot up there. If you do pack it you will not be able to handle anything and will be crawling. The stairs will be right olong the door wall and I think that is pretty important or at least useful space. I agree with those saying fixed are the way to go for the reasons they list, but you just aren’t going to be up and down this thing that often. I put a winch up on the ceiling to lift awkward gear. It wasn’t perfect but it worked. I had a 300# AL folding ladder to get up there. Not optimum but it worked and I made and followed the rule that nothing got carried up that ladder. You have a nice place there. Enjoy!

 

[BigGarage]

I'm building a 16x36 shop with a 9ft ceiling in the back half to create a loft for storage. I'm debating whether to build a fixed stairway or use a pull down attic ladder. I'd be interested in your feedback.

Fixed stairway
Pros: convience of going up and down, may make the loft more useable
Cons: steep rise, takes up space

Pull down
Pros: Hides away
Cons: Hassle of dropping it down everytime it's used. I will need to make space on the floor for it.

Here's a picture of where I'd put the stairway and a design of the how it would get up there.

I went with pull down at 22" wide.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Curious what this 2x6/2x8 is here marked in green. Collar tie ?

Nice thing about the pull down is that it's out of the way when not in use. I gain entry into my attic with a step ladder and a pull down would nice to have.

Can you think outside the box and frame in a pull down where you have the typical stairway marked ? Sure it would take some extra framing but you'll lose no loft floor space.

 

[TheClaw]

Curious what this 2x6/2x8 is here marked in green. Collar tie ?

That's for the door opener. You got me thinking tho.

 

[Nofries]

Ladder and a chain hoist or small ATV winch. Not much storage up there and floor space looks to be a premium. Unless you have plans for a bunch of small hardware stored up there that you will be up there 2 times a week.