aldi loft ladder

WildOscar

would anyone know if this could be used as a stand alone ladder i.e not installed in loft but used to get up there when necessary

antoinolachtnai

I have a ladder which has a similar design to this. No is probably the answer. One problem is the weight of the thing. It isn't designed to be pushed up from below into the attic. Another problem is safety. It is designed to be screwed down at the top. If it isn't screwe down it will slide all over the place and cause an unnecessary hazard. (Regular ladders would generally have a wider base to make them more stable, but this is quite a narrow ladder, to allow it to fit up in the hatch.)

It is well worth the trouble it takes to fit one of these ladders in my opinion.

WildOscar

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

I have a ladder which has a similar design to this. No is probably the answer. One problem is the weight of the thing. It isn't designed to be pushed up from below into the attic. Another problem is safety. It is designed to be screwed down at the top. If it isn't screwe down it will slide all over the place and cause an unnecessary hazard. (Regular ladders would generally have a wider base to make them more stable, but this is quite a narrow ladder, to allow it to fit up in the hatch.)

It is well worth the trouble it takes to fit one of these ladders in my opinion.

thanks. is there much to fitting it.my loft opens up i.e you lift it up.the on in the pic seemd to open down on a hinge. do you have vto fit a new door on loft. if not designed to be piushed up how do you close it

Mike2006

Not difficult to retrofit.
If you are not DIY inclined yourself then it would be only a couple of hours work tops for a carpenter.

I have had both aluminium and timber attic ladders and I would take timber every time if I had the choice.
Few reasons:
1. Folding mechanism on the aluminium ones tends to make them not nearly as stable when climbing.
2. The timber ones feel a lot more sturdy when climbing up and down. Maybe not an issue if you are small and light but I am 6'1" and about 100kgs so I like to feel that I am on a sturdy platform!!
3. The aluminium ladders tend to have plastic clips/fittings etc.. that fall off and then you are left with sharp edges on the ladder.

Just my opinion based on my experience of them.

Mike.

paddy147

I have a Fakro ladder in my main attic.And I have a slimline alloy ladder in the 2nd attic.

This is how alloy ladder looks when up in the attic,they slide up and down on a hinge and you use a long pole with a key on the end of it to open the attic hatch door and then to pull the ladder down.

the ladder is very light in weight,eazy to pull down and push back up and does flex a little bit as you walk up it.

I would not recommend this alloy ladder as a normal stand alone ladder,as thats not what it was made for.;)

You can buy a folding and lockable multi purpose alloy ladder in any decent builders providers for around 60-80 euro,depending on where you shop.

Can be used as a 6 foot A-Frame ladder,normal 12 feet long ladder,or as a stair case ladder etc etc.

antoinolachtnai

You have to reverse the door and put on hinges and this is the trickiest part. If you can't figure out how to do it, get someone handy to help.

Issue with using it freestanding isn't so much the weight of ladder but the design. You'd have to try it to see what I mean.

WildOscar

thanks for the feedback guys;)

North West

Hi There is no problem using it as stand alone as you mentioned. This ladder is only held in place at the top. it's then closed up and pushed with a hook handle back into the attic. See hook handle in picture. So you can use it as you want.
North West

North West

Hi see attachment
North West

WildOscar

North West wrote: »

Hi see attachment
North West

thanks do not understand slight adjustment you mention. i will have to buy it and see aldi will refund anyway. I have a ladder I bought recently like this but the legs support on ground is to wide, wider than that one i linked, and is difficult to open inside house

slimjimmc

North West wrote: »

Hi There is no problem using it as stand alone as you mentioned. This ladder is only held in place at the top. it's then closed up and pushed with a hook handle back into the attic. See hook handle in picture. So you can use it as you want.
North West

Look at those pictures again. It's a 3-section telescopic ladder with no latches to lock each sliding section to each other. It relies entirely on the top section being securely fixed to a solid weight-bearing surface much like a rope ladder does. Those fixings at the top are there not just to stop the ladder moving around, they're load-bearing.


It can never be used a general purpose/free-standing ladder unless some latching mechanism is used to keep the securely sections together. You could fit some form of hooks at the top to hook over the lip of the attic hatch but that would be both unsafe and foolish.

Better to get the right tool for what you want it to do.

dodzy

North West wrote: »

Hi There is no problem using it as stand alone as you mentioned
North West

Sorry, Northwest, your post is incorrect. Slimjim's previous post is 100% correct. These ladders are not intended for standalone use.

leex

What sort of clearance would this need in the attic in cm on the attic floor or can it shoot straight up?

dodzy

leex wrote: »

What sort of clearance would this need in the attic in cm on the attic floor or can it shoot straight up?

Stores flat inside attic floor space ( it does not shoot straight up ). As far as I can remember, it'll need approx 1mtr of storage space clearance but they are easily accomodated in nearly all cases.

paddy147

dodzy wrote: »

Stores flat inside attic floor space ( it does not shoot straight up ). As far as I can remember, it'll need approx 1mtr of storage space clearance but they are easily accomodated in nearly all cases.

So how do you think the ladder actually gets up into the attic in the 1st place then???;)

You also need a minimum of 1 meter in height clearance too,so that the ladder can indeed be pushed up into the attic space above(using the hook provided with the ladder),and then it tilts over on the support hinges to lay flat on the attic floor.

ssl

Maybe this would suit op

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/7004078/Trail/searchtext%3EATTIC+LADDER.htm