I'm looking to buy a 3 section aluminium loft ladder for occasional domestic use, (i.e. don't want to spend too much money - less than =A3100 anyway). Does anyone have any recommendations or experience as to which might be the best or worst from the following manufacturers: Titan TLS02 Lyte (sold by Screwfix I believe) Youngman Easiway
.=2E... any other suggestions good or bad or what to look out for and what to avoid. (I know I've used some ladders that twist in a rather unnerving manner when climbed.)
Folding v Sliding, and security of same would be a good thing to look at.
I was down at a relative's a few months ago and had to get up into the loft. They have a 2-section sliding type and it appears that the catch holding the sections together has gone wonky. As I let the ladder down the sections slid out, uncontrollably.
I've got two - one in the house, which I like - and one in the garage, which I don't like.
The garage one is a recent acquisition and is made by Lyte, and obtained from Screwfix. Why don't I like it?
In the climbing position, it extends *above* the loft floor - so you have to climb sideways off it, rather than just going over the top
It has a pivot arm which has to be screwed to the loft floor - which is a yet another thing to trip over when up there
Because the pitot arm is at one side, the whole thing rotates a bit in plan view when you slide it up - so that it parks at a rather odd angle. Having said all that, it does the job - just about!
I have had the one in the house for ages - since my now 30+ son was about 10 and had a model railway layout in the attic. Unfortunately, the maker's label has come off, and I can't find the original paperwork - so I can't tell you what make it is. It doesn't suffer from any of the problems listed above. In the climbing position, it extends only downwards, so you can step off the top easily. There's no pivot arm, and it parks neatly.
Until the Screwfix jobby arrived, I had wrongly assumed that all loft ladders were made more or less equal. They ain't - so it pays to know what you're getting before you're committed.
I agree entirely with what Tony wrote. Look carefully at the way in which the ladder unfolds or slides down. Mine is a 3-section slider, but the mechanism that locks the sections in the 'closed' position is not fail-safe. As a result I went to get it down one day and, like Tony, damn near lost my fingers when the full weight of two sections slid down and trapped them against one of the rungs of the fixed section. Needless to say this is something that you only do once, but I'd look for a design that was less likely to perform involuntary surgery on the user's hands.
Oh, it also helps to have a rail that's part of the ladder and provides something to hold onto as you climb it. Mine runs parallel to the ladder for the length of the top section (about 9" away from it). However, depending on the floor layout of the landing, it does slightly restrict access when taking larger objects in and out of the loft.
Finally, depending on the design, you may find that you have to enlarge the loft access hole to fit the ladder. This caught me out when I fitted mine, but at least I can now get larger objects into the loft than was previously possible. If you don't want the extra work involved in doing this, you'll need to look carefully at the ladder installation requirements and the layout of your landing to ensure it will fit without modification.
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