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KISS · Oct 26, 2008, 05:45 PM

Yuk!

Lid had to be removed. It was a real pain to put back on.

Had a split on the stair runner under the top set around the hinge. Glued and put 4 screws in it.

One step had to be screwed in place with 4 screws.

Tightened all nuts. Got rid of some stove nuts and replaced with fender washers, lockwashers and hex nuts.

Put white grease on all moving parts.

Made stairs a lot less rickety by putting screws on the ends of the stairs, so the stairs rests on the screws. That's the reason for the split. The load was not on the end of the stair runners, but rather on the hinge and lid.

A real PITA. I need a strip of weatherstripping.

ballengerb1 · Oct 26, 2008, 07:29 PM

Hey KISS, funny you mention this today. My pull down is fine but I am building a air tight insulated box cover to sit over the pull down up in the attic. The box is 32x62 and is made of rigid foam insulation panels taped at the seams. I glued a very soft rope of insulation along the bottom edge all the way around so it will seal. Put 8 pieces of male/female Velcro at various points around the perimeter so I can synch it tight before I close the trap. This should cut down on the frost I have been getting in the attic during the winter. Next project, a solar powered roof vent for the attic.

KISS · Oct 26, 2008, 08:07 PM

Neat.

How about this:

PINKCap® Attic Stair Insulator

Or this:

Attic Tent - Attic Insulation Tent for Attic Laddders

ballengerb1 · Oct 27, 2008, 06:14 PM

Nice but the 2nd one would cost me $215 and I still can't get the first one to price for me. I spent about $30 so far.

KISS · Oct 27, 2008, 08:20 PM

My plan is to insulate the door with the reflective/bubble stuff from here: Reflectix Inc. | Products and then put some weatherstripping around the door.

Not great, but better than nothing.

ballengerb1 · Oct 28, 2008, 06:48 PM

Just getting abetter seal around the dges does wonders but I'm going whole hog with better seals and 2 1/2" of rigid foam.

KISS · Oct 28, 2008, 07:12 PM

It's probably going to be that tree fort that you wished you had as a kid? And you'll call it "The Hive".

ballengerb1 · Oct 28, 2008, 07:14 PM

Man cave

KISS · Nov 15, 2008, 10:48 PM

Ballenger:

Just thought I'd put some pictures to the attic stair project:

The runner was repaired.

The stairs were lined with Reflectix which is basically foil between bubble wrap.

Then I put some weatherstripping around the opening. There was already a turn-type latch on the pull down that allows the weatherstripping to stay compressed and keeps the hatch closed.

The final mod was inserting some screws into the ladder to take up the 1/8" of space or so that made the stairs a little unstable. The screws are about 2" long and were pre-drilled to avoid splitting the wood. This made a BIG difference in the ladder stability. The ends of the folded portions sit on these screws when extended.

I've noticed that the hallway is significantly warmer now.

ballengerb1 · Nov 18, 2008, 07:02 PM

Been very, very busy but its kind of fun doing some of the stuff I used to do and the pay is greeeaat! Only lasting until Feb 1, 2009 so got to take the cash when I can. Your project looks great. I am taking a slightly different approach and making a big hinged insultaed box above the openingThe box will seal down around the attic floor held tight with velcro. Looks like I won't be doing it until Christamas break.
Thanks,Bob