Folding/Retractable Attic Stair Options

[DB2]

My new garage will have a fairly large attic area, which I, of course, intend to use for storage.

For retractable attic stairs, are they any better options than the standard Home Depot folding units? I had both knees replaced a few years ago and only effectively have 90 deg of bend in my knees now, which makes carrying something heavy up a cheap set of narrow stairs a little tricky.

I'm looking for something a bit wider, sturdier and perhaps with more substantial hand rails.

 

[tdkkart]

Take a look at the loft thread below, you will see the set of crank-up stairs built in my shop. Depending on how you do the loft and ceiling, you could make the crank-up and integral part of the ceiling, plus you could design the stairs most any way you wanted.
Mine is cranked up with a boat winch, ends up with the handrail right below the trusses when fully lifted.

 

[Junkman]

This has been hashed over a few times recently...

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7103&highlight=stairs

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26571&highlight=stairs

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11982&highlight=stairs

 

[ChrisE]

My new garage will have a fairly large attic area, which I, of course, intend to use for storage.

For retractable attic stairs, are they any better options than the standard Home Depot folding units? I had both knees replaced a few years ago and only effectively have 90 deg of bend in my knees now, which makes carrying something heavy up a cheap set of narrow stairs a little tricky.

I'm looking for something a bit wider, sturdier and perhaps with more substantial hand rails.

I wish I had pictures to show, I had a barn with a 9' high ceiling with a fully floored attic. I knew the attic area would just be used for storage, motorcycle related stuff, so I wanted a staircase that I could walk up while carrying heavy objects. I wanted the steps to be slightly less rise that standard house steps. I think I ended up at 7". I think I used 2" x 10' for the two stair sides and the steps.

I had the top mounted with heavy duty hinges and used a cheap Harbor freight electric winch to raise it flush with the ceiling when not in use. I initially used a manual boat winch, but that was too much like hard work raising and lowering it.

I didn't do anything about a railing as I had this mounted close to a wall on one side and I made it wide enough that I didn't feel like I was walking up a glorified ladder.

 

[black88mx6]

It looks like bessler / americanstairways has some new options for 10-12 aluminum staris that fit a 22 inch opening. I am doing some research now on the Husky 1200 series, and would like to know if anyone else has had a chance to see them?

http://www.bessler.com/images/Husky800-1200-temp.pdf

 

[ersatzs2]

Reviving one of many old stair threads because I saw a great AL folding stair this weekend.

 

[tomroblee]

At my previous house there was a loft build across the back third of the garage. One of the previous owners had added a homemade "ladder" type affair which used 2" x 4" rails and 1" x 6" boards for the steps. It was attached to the edge of the loft with super strong hinges. When it wasn't in use, you just lifted up the ground end of the ladder and hooked it to a chain that was suspended directly above. (the loft was only about 6 1/2 above the floor.)

If you make such an affair yourself, you can make it as wide as you want, any slope that you want (assuming that you have enough room) and space the steps any way you want.

If the ladder is just raised to ceiling level (rather than stored in the attic), there is no reason the ladder couldn't be made wider than the opening.

I tried to find a picture of something similar to the ladder in my old garage, but didn't have any luck. I did run into a picture from an English company when I Googled "loft ladder". It looked attractive and I liked the way that they had built grips into the rails.