I'm going to show you how to frame and install
an attic ladder. The tools I require are the attic ladder itself, the instructions that
go with it, some framing timber, some peckers, a hacksaw, a level, a circular saw, a tape
measure and pin saw, a plasterboard saw, a hammer, a setsquare, some screws, a drill,
a saw, a reciprocating saw, a nail gun, my safety gear, some saw horses, and a ladder.
In the ceiling, we've got a hole from an old access panel but our new attic ladder is not
going to fit there so I'm going to have to cut the hole bigger. If you don't have an
access panel or hole in your ceiling, you'll need to drill into your plasterboard from
scratch. If this is the case, please be very aware of any cables or pipes that could be
up there. We suggest you get an electrician or plumber out to certify this. So this is my attic ladder. To get a measurement
for the ceiling, I'm just going to measure the width and the length. The next step is
to measure the center mark in the hallway. The reason we want a measure of the center
is so we can make sure the attic ladder is in the dead center of the hallway. Next up,
I need to measure half the width of the attic ladder from the center line to one side. The
reason for this is I know where one side's going to be. Now, I've done that, I need to
do the exact same thing down the other end and then I can get a clean line of where the
edge will be. Now I've got two marks, I'll use a level to make a nice clean line. Now
I've done that line, I'm going to repeat the exact same on the other side. Now that I've gotten the two length lines,
I need to determine where the ends are going to be. The easiest way is to find a joist
in the ceiling and start back from there. I'm just going to see my tape through to one
of the joists and then measure back from there. Now I've got that line there, I can draw another
line on this side and then I can measure from here right down to the far end. Now that we've
got our lines marked out, I'm ready to cut it using a plasterboard saw. Just make sure
you wear some safety gear like some goggles and a mask, and again double check that there's
no cable about. Now that we've got our plasterboard cut out, we're ready to do the framing. Because I still have some joists left there,
I'm going to have to cut them out. I'm going to need a reciprocating saw. Before cutting
any joists, you need to establish whether they are structural or load bearing. To do
this, a builder or an engineer can determine this. Now that I've used the reciprocating
saw to cut off the bad ends, I'm ready to cut the joist. Because these joists run this
way and finish on this wall, I'm only going to have to make one cut. What I'm going to
do is mark through my setsquare where the plasterboard meets the joist and then get
up into the ceiling, make a mark 35mm back from there to allow for my noggin and then
make a cut up there. Now that I've made that cut, I'm just going
to use a handsaw to finish cutting it off. Now that I've cut those joists out, I'm ready
to measure. Now I've got a measurement between my joists, I'm ready to make a cut and then
nail that noggin in. Now I've got the first noggin in, I'm going to do the exact same
thing on the other side. The next step is putting the attic ladder up into position
and temporarily bracing it. For that, that's a two man job. So I'm going to ask my friend
John to come give me a lift. Before you put it up, a handy tip is to get a scrap piece
of timber and nail it at one end sticking over the edge. This will mean the unit will
sit on top of this and will make it a lot easier for you to hold. Now we've got the temporary block nailed at
the other end, we're ready to put the attic ladder on. I'm going to get John to help me
lift it in, we're going to put the far end in first sitting on that temporary block and
then lift the whole unit in. Once we've got it in, we're going to nail another temporary
block at the far end. But at this end, it's really important that the block only covers
the frame and not the door. Now that the attic ladder is temporarily secured up there, we're
ready to start moving it around to begin fixing it. We'll begin by attempting to put the attic
ladder against one of the noggins and checking if it's square. So we're got that hard against
that noggin there and the door frame is square. So I'm now going to open the door, climb up
there and then I can screw into that side of the noggin. Before I open the door, it's really important
to clear anything from underneath and make sure no one's standing underneath it. The
worst thing would be it moves and it falls and hurts someone. Now I've got that open,
I'll just climb up on my ladder and I can screw that in. I'll need to predrill these
as I'm going into hardwood. The screws I'm going to use are 75mm wood screws and I'm
going to use three for the length. I'm going to put one 100mm from each end and one dead
in the middle. Now I need to peck the side that we haven't fixed yet. I'm just going
to snap some peckers roughly the width of the attic ladder cap]. When
pecking the side, it's really important to make it nice and tight. If it's too loose, when the screw goes in,
it will pull the frame out of square. Now that I've pecked that, I'm ready to predrill
and screw that side as well. Now that we've got both sides fixed, it's time to cut the
feet of the ladder. To do this, I need to measure from the ladder towards the ground
and then cut that amount off the bottom's tip. Now I need to transfer that measurement
from the join down. Now that I've marked that, I need to use a handsaw to cut that off. Make
sure when you're using a handsaw to wear gloves, goggles, and a mask. Now that you've cut that,
you can put the feet that came with your attic ladder. Just make sure you still wear your
gloves because there could be some sharp edges on there. I couldn't access these last two
screws as the folded ladder was in the way, but now we've got the feet cut and I can climb
up here, I can put them in. Now we just need to check that it closes OK
and it's looking square and once that's done, we can take away our temporary blocks. It's
looking great, I'm just going to take the blocks off now. When you go to do your finishing,
you would put some architray around this but other than that, that's completely done. As
you can see, it's a bit of a messy job but it's really rewarding now you've got all that
space you can use up in the attic. And there we go, that's how you install an attic ladder.
