Ron was asked to make a visit to Eugene, Oregon to help Kim and Lloyd Mangun with a very frustrating problem. The Mangun's were rapidly running out of storage space in their home. The solution to their problem was just overhead in the attic above the garage. There was plenty of room up there but they needed a convenient way to access it. Ron thought that a pull down attic stairway was just the ticket. The pre-assembled unit would fit neatly into a hole cut into the ceiling. The Mangun's loved the idea, so they got right to work.
Click Here For a list of what
you will need in order to complete this project.
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1. Determine location:
- The location of the hole for the stairs was important. The ladder folded down in two sections. They needed to position the opening in the ceiling so that the unfolding sections would be clear of walls and other obstacles. They also wanted to make sure that the base of the ladder rested in a convenient spot.
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- Using masking tape, Kim marked the location where she wanted the bottom stair to land. They worked backward from that position to calculate where the edge of the opening should be. They measured eight feet (the span of the stairs) and then made a second mark on the floor.
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- They needed to transfer the second mark to the ceiling. They used a plumb line also called a plumb bob to do this. Lloyd moved the upper end of the plumb line around until the weight fell directly over the tape on the floor.
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- Lloyd then marked the location on the ceiling and from there they were able to easily measure and determine where the four corners of the opening would be.
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- Before they did any cutting, it was important to take a look at the proposed opening from the attic side to make sure that they would not encounter wires, pipes, vents or other obstructions. Using an awl, Kim punched four small holes through the dry wall at each corner and inserted a long wooden dowel up through each hole. Ron recommended wood instead of metal just in case they were to come into contact with electrical wiring.
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- Lloyd and Ron put on masks and gloves and then headed up into the attic through a small access hatch to see how things looked from up there. They located the four corners of the proposed opening. Ron was a little concerned about two of the dowels because they were very close to the framing. Ron thought this would make the entrance to the attic really cramped. What he suggested was that they move the opening away from the framing. This would put the bottom of the ladder closer to the garage door, but Ron felt it would be worth the added comfort above.
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- While they were still up in the attic, they cleared out some of the insulation, which would allow them to make a careful check for other potential obstacles.
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2. Cutting hole in ceiling:
- Since the ceiling was made of drywall wallboard, they cut out the opening using a small wallboard saw made just for this purpose. They cut carefully down the new line they had drawn on the ceiling.
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- They carefully supported the cut out as Kim cut the final section of the hole.
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- The ladder they were installing was designed to fit between the existing ceiling joists so they didn't have to cut any of those away.
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- They attached two 2 X 6 headers with a pneumatic nail gun, nailing through the joists and into each end of the new header. They checked for square and then repeated the process on the other side of the opening.
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- They needed to attach two 1 X 4s to the headers they had just put in to serve as temporary supports or ledgers. They secured each ledger in place with four screws using a clamp to keep them in position while they were attached.
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- The next task was to cut away the brace that ran through the opening. They did this using a Japanese handsaw. The headers they put in earlier would take the place of this brace.
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3. Install stairs:
- They were finally ready to carefully lift the stair unit into position. It was heavy and a little awkward. They needed to lift it up through the hole at a slight angle and then bring it down to rest with either end on the temporary ledger beams they had installed.
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- Once the stairs were positioned where they wanted them, Lloyd inserted wooden shims between the frame and the joist and then nailed the stair frame into position. When everything was secure, they trimmed off the shims and removed the temporary ledgers.
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