Fitting a loft ladder - difficult?

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I'm looking for some opinions on the level of difficulty I would be facing installing a loft ladder in my house. I'm OK with basic DIY tasks but by no means an expert, so really want to know whether I should attempt it myself or call in a pro.

I have attached 3 photos showing the current scene. One potential problem is the presence of a water pipe in the space that the ladder would normally fall into when stored. Because of this, I'm thinking of a metal concertina-type ladder that would not need this space. Does this sound sensible?

One other major consideration would be the fact that the loft hatch cover would need converting to an external drop-down type. Is this a difficult task? Presumably it's a case of buying a new cover rather than converting the internal one I have?

The current hatch is big enough (just) for the ladder I have in mind so should not need expanding.

I hope the photos give enough info for someone to advise. Let me know if more detail is required.

Thanks.

 
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Hi, all loft ladders should be easy enough for a keen DIYer to fit himself as they are sold off the shelve, with regard to the hatch I would just buy another drop down hatch that comes with a frame and is insulated. It will probably be made of plastic and will come with fitting brackets and clips.

The loft ladder does not have to be concertina, this would just be a preference for some people due to strength and if they were almost converting the loft into a room, there are wooden loft ladders that when put away only sit on the loft hatch itself therefore the water pipe would be irrelevant, take a look at the Dolle Mini wooden loft ladder.






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Thanks for the reply - I like the look of that ladder.

A (probably daft) question re. the hatch cover:

Presumably the supplied cover won't be an exact fit for my existing hatch. Is it simply a case of cutting it to size and fitting it inside my existing hatch frame, or will I need to replace or significantly modify the frame to convert to a drop-down hatch cover?
 
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I fit a ladder to my loft last year and had nearly the exact same set up as your pics. The hatch was previously one you pushed up to enter the loft. I bought a metal ladder set and it came with fittings to affix a latch to the loft hatch door.

I simply cut a hatch to fit the opening as the hatches you can buy on the market are plastic and it would have looked rubbish as all the casing around the opening is wood. It took a few attempts to get it the right size but I managed it and it fits fairly snug. I then insulate around the hatch with some stick-on foam tape to make it really snug. Fitting the latch was fairly simply - think you just need to drill a hole through the hatch door and then screw a fixture to the inside of the opening.

Good luck.
 

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