We installed a Screwfix loft hatch + ladder

foreign and welcome back to making a home our mission for today is to install this new Loft hatch and ladder our old hatch is way past its sell by date and it's quite literally falling out of the ceiling it also doesn't have an integrated ladder which means that we have to keep the step ladder stored in the cupboard nearby so that we can get up into the loft and in fact since our new boiler is installed in the Loft having a proper ladder is a requirement for an engineer to come out and serve as the boiler so we need to get this sorted out before we can book them in this particular kit comes from Screwfix and it was on special when we bought it so it actually worked out a few pounds cheaper than a similar one we saw it being Q the quality seems pretty decent and it comes with a good set of instructions so let's get cracking the first step was to remove the old hatch this was a bit of a mission as it had been installed very poorly a lot of the screws had been over tightened and stripped Through the Wood and others were bent making them very awkward to remove right so we have got the old hatch out and there was a minor moment to panic when a very large spider dropped out and we have no idea where it went so it now lives here so that's great [Laughter] um as you can see the plasterboard damage is pretty bad it goes all the way around um looks like they tried to shore it up at some point so now we can figure out the placement for the new hatch it's much longer than the old one which is great for accessibility but it means we'll have to cut back some of the ceiling to fit it in on this side we've cut back to where the support beam is we can't go back further than this because there are some electrical cables which run across there I've left the original cross piece in place but I've screwed in a piece of three by two above it so it's nice and solid and can support the weight of the hatch we'll also have to move this light fitting because it will get in the way of opening and closing the hatch so I'm going to shift it back along the joist so it's not in the way unfortunately the cable going to the light switch is not long enough so I'll have to add a junction box and some extra cable to extend it on the other side we've cut back the ceiling board to make the hole long enough for the new hatch I'm then going to screw in a piece of 3x2 here as well to support the hatch on this side but I'll wait until the hatch is in place first so I can install it flush up against the outside edge there were a few old nails and screws sticking out of the joists along the sides so I just cut these back using a Dremel while I was busy adjusting the wiring and moving the light fitting rage attached the hinges and fixings for the hatch and also installed the ladder the instructions were pretty clear and all the holes for the fixings were pre-drilled so it was a relatively straightforward operation if we were doing this job again I would leave attaching the ladder until after the hatch was installed since it would be much easier to position in the ceiling without the extra weight of the ladder I think the instructions really should be updated to recommend this now for the Moment of Truth to help with installing the hatch the manual recommended screwing in some temporary support beams to hold it in place while screwing in the final mounting screws this actually worked really well we first installed One support on the front end of the hole and then levered the hatch onto it and then I held the back of it in place from the top until rage had put in another support at the rear I then went round and installed all of the final screws to hold the hatch in place the manual suggests three screws on the long Edge and two on the short one but we went with four on all sides for a bit of extra strength the hatch was about a centimeter narrower than the width between the joists so I used some scrap timber for spacers along the outside edge unfortunately the positioning of the joists means that the ladder is catching slightly on the banister so my plan is to detach the ladder and then drill some new holes to attach it about a centimeter to the left which should hopefully give enough clearance the next job is to adjust the length of the ladder the kit is designed to work with a range of different ceiling Heights for lower ceilings like in our house we'll need to remove the bottom few rungs of the ladder this needs to be done carefully because if you make the ladder Too Short it won't risk securely on the floor when it's extended to figure out how much to cut off the manual suggests that you extend the ladder with the lower section bent back so the upper two pieces are straight and then using a scrap piece of wood you can follow the line of the ladder until you reach the floor and Mark this off this will give you the length you need to retain for the lower section to get the ladder to sit flat on the floor you'll also want to cut the lower section at an angle to get the correct angle you can place a scrap piece of wood flat on the floor and then use the bottom of the second section to draw a diagonal line across it you can then cut that flip it round and use that as a template to transfer this onto the bottom section once that's cut you should end up with a bottom section sitting flat on the floor with the correct length one tip I'd suggest is to measure each leg separately since you might find that the lens will be slightly different if the floor isn't exactly perpendicular to the ladder alright so we are done the Loft ladder is successfully installed the hatch is all screwed into place everything is working as expected um I did move the leather slightly over by about a centimeter or so and that just gives just enough space down at the bottom there to clear the banister it is still a little on the tight side um but really I can't move the ladder any further over otherwise it's going to get start catching on these hinges here as it happens the spring now does get a little bit caught on this hinge as you open the door you just have to give it a bit of a whack um so that it just bounces into place not a major deal it's just that if you don't as you climb up the ladder sometimes it goes doing and it's like really quite scary if you don't know what's happening because it sounds like the whole thing's going to explode the ladder is actually really secure it's very very sturdy it doesn't move at all when you climb up and down um in fact I shall demonstrate now I can even do it while I'm holding the camera without any trouble at all and it just is super easy um and because the steps go right up to the top uh when you climb up you can basically hold on to the joists as you go and step out onto the boarding so the next job will be to board this whole area properly I've used some old scraper to board for now just to make a bit of storage area um but this needs to all be done properly and also this pipe work here that goes to the boiler that all has to be boxed in properly so that it can't get damaged so there you have it once successfully installed Loft hatch the final job will be to touch up the plastering around the hole and add some edging just to make it look a bit nicer but the ladder and hatch itself is really nicely made and provides a very easy way to access the Loft area since you're still watching at this point please do us a favor and hit that subscribe button to follow our progress there'll be plenty more coming up in the future thanks for watching and we'll see you again soon

Channel: Making A Home

Views: 125,139

Keywords: DIY, Home, Improvement, Owner, Ownership, Renovation, Upgrade, First time buyer, House, Purchase, Loft, Hatch, Ladder, Kit, Screwfix, Timber

Id: T5zT8J4B58s

Length: 7min 16sec (436 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 06 2023