jmiller_2308
Well-known member
Howdy. I've been a lurker until now but after reading all the good comments I thought I'd share my current wild *** concept to see if anybody might have solved this already or at least be able to add comments.
I'm working on some details on a garage addition that is about 850 sqft with 13' ceilings to accommodate a lift. I want to add room for bulky storage and was originally going to use attic trusses to create that storage but I decided to abandon that because:
That led me to the idea of using about 30' of wall space out of the way of the lift to create a 4' deep shelf 8' off the floor. This and another 80 sqft area would be only a little smaller than the attic trusses would have provided, remove the cost of attic trusses, and keeps the stuff on the shelves in a climate controlled area that is easier to reach. And it is that "reach" topic that this posting is all about.
I could use any old ladder to get up to the shelf but I'm hoping for something a bit more secure and easier to use. I could get a rolling ladder but they take up a lot of floor space that I'd hate to lose. I thought about ships ladders and other such fixed ladders but that doesn't work for me. I think having the ability to move along the 30' wall would make placement of bulky items a lot easier so fixing the ladder in one place really isn't useful. The idea of moving along the wall leads naturally to a library ladder but the problem with a conventional library ladder is that they tend to be very steep and narrow and not something I want to carry bulky stuff up.
So the current concept is a library ladder on steroids. I was thinking of making stairs that would be 12' long which when rested against the 8' shelf should yield an angle of only 42 degrees. I would make each stair tread 6" deep and 3' wide. I would put locking casters on the feet of the stairs and use some sort of rolling mechanism on top so that I could easily roll the ladder along the wall.
The biggest issue is that when angled the bottom of the ladder will go almost 9' into the working space of the garage so leaving it at this angle is unappealing. To address this, I thought it would be good to park the ladder in a full vertical position when not in use. Essentially I'd push the ladder toward the shelf until it is fully vertical. The lower casters should allow it to push easy but to be safe I'd like to have the ladder captured so that it couldn't topple back on me as well as to hold it in the vertical position without a chance of it accidentally deploying. I have some ideas that I'm still working on to accomplish this capture but any ideas from others are certainly welcome.
One final thing that I'd like to do is to be able to move the ladder to use as access to the other 80 sqft of 8' high storage area that is in the same garage. This complicates the rolling and capture mechanisms. I'm also concerned that this thing would weigh significantly more than a conventional ladder so moving it off the rollers may not be all that easy.
Here is a picture of the garage. The lift would be in the additions upper right corner.
Jeff
I'm working on some details on a garage addition that is about 850 sqft with 13' ceilings to accommodate a lift. I want to add room for bulky storage and was originally going to use attic trusses to create that storage but I decided to abandon that because:
- I hate pull down ladders for access to the space. They are too flimsy and too narrow and I haven't found any that go 13'.
- I looked at stairs but they cost a bunch and more importantly eat a LOT of floor space.
- Realized that for most of the year the attic will be really hot or really cold. This is something I hate about the storage I use in my current attic.
- Realized that with a 7/12 pitch hip roof and the dimensions of the garage that the usable space isn't all that large to begin with and when you start taking away additional room for access the cost of the space is really quite expensive.
That led me to the idea of using about 30' of wall space out of the way of the lift to create a 4' deep shelf 8' off the floor. This and another 80 sqft area would be only a little smaller than the attic trusses would have provided, remove the cost of attic trusses, and keeps the stuff on the shelves in a climate controlled area that is easier to reach. And it is that "reach" topic that this posting is all about.
I could use any old ladder to get up to the shelf but I'm hoping for something a bit more secure and easier to use. I could get a rolling ladder but they take up a lot of floor space that I'd hate to lose. I thought about ships ladders and other such fixed ladders but that doesn't work for me. I think having the ability to move along the 30' wall would make placement of bulky items a lot easier so fixing the ladder in one place really isn't useful. The idea of moving along the wall leads naturally to a library ladder but the problem with a conventional library ladder is that they tend to be very steep and narrow and not something I want to carry bulky stuff up.
So the current concept is a library ladder on steroids. I was thinking of making stairs that would be 12' long which when rested against the 8' shelf should yield an angle of only 42 degrees. I would make each stair tread 6" deep and 3' wide. I would put locking casters on the feet of the stairs and use some sort of rolling mechanism on top so that I could easily roll the ladder along the wall.
The biggest issue is that when angled the bottom of the ladder will go almost 9' into the working space of the garage so leaving it at this angle is unappealing. To address this, I thought it would be good to park the ladder in a full vertical position when not in use. Essentially I'd push the ladder toward the shelf until it is fully vertical. The lower casters should allow it to push easy but to be safe I'd like to have the ladder captured so that it couldn't topple back on me as well as to hold it in the vertical position without a chance of it accidentally deploying. I have some ideas that I'm still working on to accomplish this capture but any ideas from others are certainly welcome.
One final thing that I'd like to do is to be able to move the ladder to use as access to the other 80 sqft of 8' high storage area that is in the same garage. This complicates the rolling and capture mechanisms. I'm also concerned that this thing would weigh significantly more than a conventional ladder so moving it off the rollers may not be all that easy.
Here is a picture of the garage. The lift would be in the additions upper right corner.
Jeff
