Daft question I know...Been in the house for 4 years..Am planning on selling it and want the loft ladder to work smoothly...We leave it down all the time in the spare room its that much of a bugger to work...
The hatch is about 3 foot wide and about 4 foot long. The ladder is fixed to the edge of the opening and also down onto the loft floor. It appears to pivot around the fixing at the opening edge and the fixing on the floor ( about 24 inches away from the edge of the hatch ) has 2 circular springs and two thin metal arms connecting it to the top of the ladder..
The ladder itself is made up of 2 parts,each about 6 feet long, with one of them sliding up and down the other..You bring down the contraption, unhook the second ladder and slide it down to the floor.
The questions I have are : -
1) The circular springs have one end pushing against the floor and the other end is hooked around the metal strip connecting to the ladder top..It is arranged in such a way that they appear to be " pushing" the ladder down or have been set up to exert pressure in such a manner as to help lowering the ladder..2) The ladder is a nightmare to get back up.. the lower ladder slides up the fixed part of the ladder..But it doesn't easily return into the ceiling..I have to get the pole for opening it,and push up the ladder assembly as hard as possible until it gets to a point where the hatch is starting to close...Then I have to quickly switch from pushing the ladder to pushing the bottom of the hatch...Eventually when the hatch is nearly shut, the balance point changes and it shuts the last 4 - 6 inches of its own accord. Suffice to say if I delay for more than 1 second the ladder swings back down again to its starting point..!!
Now if, you are all still following this thread I am a amazed...!!! Can this be fixed easily...Would some nice digital photos help?
Let me know ...I basically want the ladder to return back into the roof reasonably effortlessly...I am 6 foot tall, weigh 16 stone and struggle to get it up ( no funnies please ! )
Ged