Stairs in the Hole

Today in a fit of purposefulness, Noel installed the attic ladder most of the way.

He attached these temporary supports at the right level -- so the frame will end up even with the drywall on the ceiling. This way the ladder unit can just be dropped in place and nailed without too much fiddling.

The stairs come as one prefabricated unit, which is nice for a fast installation.

Once in place it nailed in easily, though the equipment we've accumulated over the years like the Baker scaffolding and the nail gun really do make that more pleasant.

And there it is in place. I'm sure the cats are eyeing that string with great interest, though it is high enough up that I doubt I can reach it, much less a trio of flabby house cats.

I came upstairs as the temporary supports were removed.

Then we wrestled with the ladder for a bit because it seemed to be getting stuck; we think it was just stiff from being brand new. It is stamped with an assembly date of August, 2012, which is nice for house history purposes.

The most fiddly bit of installing the ladder by far is trimming the leg ends to length. We measured, Noel sawed, and they were a little off. Then more sawing and a little sanding and then I suggested it was time to call it a night.

More adjustments tomorrow, but I took an exploratory climb and this is a million billion times better than the old ladder in the tiny hole thing.

posted by ayse on 10/19/12