Victorian airer in stairwell

A friend wants me to fit an airer in the stairwell of her flat, which is t he top floor of a massive Victorian house.

We talking about one of those airers that consist of two cast iron bits sha ped vaguely like coathangers, with slat of wood between, suspended on rope which runs in pulleys and moves up and down.

There's plenty of height for it as you can see from the attached photos, b ut there's not much ceiling to attach the pulleys to. I'm planning to put t wo big brackets on the wall high up, each of them with a length of timber a ttached, and attach the pulleys to those timbers, which will allow the aire r to be far enough from the wall.

I'd be grateful for any other ideas on how to go about this that might look a bit better

The photos are here:

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Reply to
Murmansk
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Rather than a standard right-angle bracket with a cantilevered beam I would think about two "hangers" on opposite walls, supporting the beam which then supports the pulley. One beam for each pulley of course. That's assuming that both walls are brick, which is likely in a Victorian house. If one is lath and plaster, you need to find the studs.

Reply to
newshound

One of these:

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Known as a 'lazy Susan' in our household (although the term also refers to a multi-tier cake stand). My mother has one. It's not an ideal place that your friend has chosen. Remember that when loaded with wet washing, it will be quite heavy. If it were me, I'd put a single beam across from one side to the other above the little landing, supported on a bracket at each end, and screw the pulleys into that. You need clearance from the walls all round, to allow air circulation. It won't be pretty whatever you do.

Reply to
Chris Hogg

Yes, looking at that, a couple of tasteful transverse beams. Ours is hung by two pulleys with integral coach screw type ends, which I put into joists above. You may need to purchase an extra pulley to bring the loose cord near to the wall where you'll have the securing cleat (although I think they come with three).

We call it a 'Sheila Maid'...

Reply to
Bob Eager

As there is a fire extinguisher there I suspect that this is a common area and even if it only leads to her flat you may find that the freeholder will not be happy with the proposal.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Andrews

is the top floor of a massive Victorian house.

shaped vaguely like coathangers, with slat of wood between, suspended on r ope which runs in pulleys and moves up and down.

, but there's not much ceiling to attach the pulleys to. I'm planning to p ut two big brackets on the wall high up, each of them with a length of timb er attached, and attach the pulleys to those timbers, which will allow the airer to be far enough from the wall.

look a bit better

Indeed. I'm also puzzled by 'there's not much ceiling to attach the pulleys to.'

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

In message , Chris Hogg writes

Pulley hauley here for obvious reasons. I think ours came from John Lewis. There is just enough space for it, over the chest freezer in the utility room.

Beyond the points already made, a high installation will need a third pulley or running eyelet (forgotten the nautical term) to carry the cords clear of the hanging rack. The tying off cleat is normally supplied with the kit.

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Reply to
Tim Lamb

I think I made that point too! But on reflection I'm pretty sure the third pulley didn't come with the kit....I bought an extra one.

Ours is 20 years old and all it's needed is a new set of cords due to some unavoidable abrasion on a slight ceiling obstruction. I just used sash cord.

Reply to
Bob Eager

To say nothing of the legal problems if the airer fell and injured someone underneath. I'm also intrigued by the vent outlet into the stairwell area (see third photo).

Reply to
Jeff Layman

You would normally screw the pulley blocks into a joist above the ceiling. Many blocks come with a wood screw thread as part of the assembly.

You do need a very good fixing as there can be considerable loads applied to the pulleys.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

The ceiling is not sufficiently wide to attach the pulleys as it's only abo ut 25cm wide so not wide enough to allow the pulleys to be far enough from the wall to allow the airer to hang. This may not be obvious from the photo s but most of the area above the stairs is taken up by the very generous li ghtwell.

The vent thing links to the cupboard in the kitchen - there's another one o n the first floor. I guess this might be as close as the Victorians got to a fridge - a ventilated food cupboard!

Getting back to the beams to mount the airer, they'd be just over 2M longs so what size of timber should I use?

As for the point about the leaseholder objecting - I take the point but the freehold is owned by all the flat owners who have a private limited compan y with one share each so if they all agree it it should be OK.

Reply to
Murmansk

You may be surprised at the amount of drips from clothes hanging up on these. We have one in the utility room, and the vinyl floor underneath is discoloured where water (with dye running) has dripped onto it. Could that cause a lot of damage to the staircase?

Reply to
GB

As someone who has managed such a freehold for thirty years I would say there is a lot of very good reasons to object. It is probably contrary to the terms of the lease to put or keep anything in the hallway. Unless the leases are changed that applies even if everyone *at this moment* raises no objection. There is the question of liability for damage to the ceiling, injury to people on the stairs, potential to obstruct fire escape routes, etc. Not to mention the effect on the value of anyone's flat when they wish to sell.

Reply to
DJC

If this hall is a public area I wouldn't want to see an airer there. Presumably the flat has nice high Victorian ceilings? Why not have it in the flat?

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

Never noticed drips from ours - clothes washed in a a machine and spun at somewhere between 600 - 1200 rpm depending on the wash

Reply to
Chris French

It's on the top floor, so it may be in the attic space. No high ceilings for the servants quarters! Don't you watch Downton? :)

Reply to
GB

Likewise - I dry most of our stuff on a folding airer with a tall (vertical cylinder) fan and a refrigerant based dehumidifier pointing at it.

Lighter clothes are dry in a couple of hours and thick heavy stuff 5-6 hours - but the setup is only taking a couple of hundred watts so I'm very pleased with that.

Has the side effect of drying the bathroom too :)

Reply to
Tim Watts

In message , Bob Eager writes

Sorry Bob. Posting before reading!

Ships Chandlers. Nice selection of terylene designed for pulley work.

Reply to
Tim Lamb

the top floor of a massive Victorian house.

haped vaguely like coathangers, with slat of wood between, suspended on rop e which runs in pulleys and moves up and down.

but there's not much ceiling to attach the pulleys to. I'm planning to put two big brackets on the wall high up, each of them with a length of timber attached, and attach the pulleys to those timbers, which will allow the ai rer to be far enough from the wall.

ok a bit better

We call it a creel.

Reply to
harry

Sash cord was one mile away. Ship's chandlers was five! (and probably expensive, being Whitstable)

Sash cord from local DIY shop - puts B&Q to shame despite its size:

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Reply to
Bob Eager

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