Making a trestle for stairs
MM
Imagine a capital L turned through 90 deg to the right. That's the
shape. I'm going to use 3" x 2" for the framing and thick floorboard
grade planks to rest the ladder on. It will be a sturdy affair. I'm
going to provide some kind of box or ledge for the ladder base to sit
in.
Before I start, any tips?
A commercial product is available, called Stairmate, but costs around
75 quid.
MM
PeterC
Cross-brace the corners of the 'L'?
--
Peter.
You don't understand Newton's Third Law of Motion?
It's not rocket science, you know.
george (dicegeorge)
i paid £80 for one at wickes last week,
and the stabiliser plates didnt fit how they were meant to in the diagram.
it only goes up about 4 feet,
but was very useful puttin up boards in the kitchen
much better than step ladders and tables...
george (dicegeorge)
maybe you mean this stairmate:
http://www.ladderstore.com/stairmate-ladder-stabiliser-p-996.html
not
http://aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/58_9319.htm
meow...@care2.com
> I intend making a trestle for the stairs that I can stand a ladder on.
> Imagine a capital L turned through 90 deg to the right. That's the
> shape. I'm going to use 3" x 2" for the framing
sounds just right
> and thick floorboard
> grade planks to rest the ladder on.
You'd do better with a sheet material, half inch ply is plenty. Dont
rely on t&g boards to load share, the tongues can break up and the
planks under each ladder leg sag differently, sending you toppling.
> It will be a sturdy affair. I'm
> going to provide some kind of box or ledge for the ladder base to sit
> in.
>
> Before I start, any tips?
a ladder applies a substnatial side load, which can easily topple
these things. The simplest solution is a 2x2 sticking out each side to
an adjustable extent, it simply rests againt the wall to prevent
sideways toppling.
If you use hi-load metal brackets it will be well load rated and you
can go high with it with confidence. Check carefully for timber cracks
though, all holes should be properly pilot/clearance drilled to avoid
these.
The simpler the main join, the easier and quicker it is to erect and
take down, and the happier you'll be to use it. (Some) hiload brackets
require 4 screws to dismantle, 2 each side.
A strip of 2x1 along the long edges of the working platform would stop
a ladder if it began to slip.
> A commercial product is available, called Stairmate, but costs around
> 75 quid.
>
> MM
Screwfix do a 4 section multiupurpose folding ladder for around 50,
ont which you can put a board, but the result is nowhere near as safe.
NT
MM
<giraffe...@homecall.co.uk> wrote:
>On Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:09:16 +0100, MM wrote:
>
>> I intend making a trestle for the stairs that I can stand a ladder on.
>> Imagine a capital L turned through 90 deg to the right. That's the
>> shape. I'm going to use 3" x 2" for the framing and thick floorboard
>> grade planks to rest the ladder on. It will be a sturdy affair. I'm
>> going to provide some kind of box or ledge for the ladder base to sit
>> in.
>>
>> Before I start, any tips?
>>
>> A commercial product is available, called Stairmate, but costs around
>> 75 quid.
>>
>> MM
>
>Cross-brace the corners of the 'L'?
Definitely. This thing will be s-o-l-i-d, trust me!
MM
MM
<diceg...@gmail.com> wrote:
>theres ome coming up in aldi for £60 next week.
>
>i paid £80 for one at wickes last week,
>and the stabiliser plates didnt fit how they were meant to in the diagram.
>
>it only goes up about 4 feet,
>but was very useful puttin up boards in the kitchen
>much better than step ladders and tables...
I might wait a few days and have a look at the Aldi offering. However,
60 quid buys a LOT of 3" x 2" !
MM
MM
<diceg...@gmail.com> wrote:
>whoops,
>maybe you mean this stairmate:
>http://www.ladderstore.com/stairmate-ladder-stabiliser-p-996.html
That's the one!
>not
>http://aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/58_9319.htm
I already bought that one last year when Aldi last had it! It's very
good for ceilings. (I think it was cheaper back then.)
MM
MM
>MM wrote:
>> I intend making a trestle for the stairs that I can stand a ladder on.
>> Imagine a capital L turned through 90 deg to the right. That's the
>> shape. I'm going to use 3" x 2" for the framing
>
>sounds just right
>
>> and thick floorboard
>> grade planks to rest the ladder on.
>
>You'd do better with a sheet material, half inch ply is plenty. Dont
>rely on t&g boards to load share, the tongues can break up and the
>planks under each ladder leg sag differently, sending you toppling.
>
>
>> It will be a sturdy affair. I'm
>> going to provide some kind of box or ledge for the ladder base to sit
>> in.
>>
>> Before I start, any tips?
>
>a ladder applies a substnatial side load, which can easily topple
>these things. The simplest solution is a 2x2 sticking out each side to
>an adjustable extent, it simply rests againt the wall to prevent
>sideways toppling.
Yeah, each side of the stairs has the "skirting" board. Well, it's NOT
skirting, but I don't know what carpenters call that part of stair
construction. Anyways, I reckoned on having the kind of side struts
you envisage to jam tight against the "skirting". I've often used
carriage bolts for making various clamps, including for use in
bookbinding, and they are cheap and provide for considerable clamping
force. So I could use such bolts somehow to force the struts against
the sides.
>If you use hi-load metal brackets
???
> it will be well load rated and you
>can go high with it with confidence. Check carefully for timber cracks
>though, all holes should be properly pilot/clearance drilled to avoid
>these.
I had planned on making glued wood joints, reinforcing with dowels,
then applying strengthening brackets to corners. Not sure what kind of
hi-load metal brackets you're referring to. Got a link? A picture is
worth a thousand words!
>The simpler the main join, the easier and quicker it is to erect and
>take down, and the happier you'll be to use it. (Some) hiload brackets
>require 4 screws to dismantle, 2 each side.
I won't be "assembling" it as such. It will be constructed, then
simply removed after use and stored in the garage where I have ample
space.
>
>A strip of 2x1 along the long edges of the working platform would stop
>a ladder if it began to slip.
Yep.
>
>> A commercial product is available, called Stairmate, but costs around
>> 75 quid.
>>
>> MM
>
>Screwfix do a 4 section multiupurpose folding ladder for around 50,
>ont which you can put a board, but the result is nowhere near as safe.
To be perfectly frank, the Stairmate doesn't exactly look as stable as
I would like, even given that it has some kind of extender arm.
Thanks for your input!
MM
meow...@care2.com
> On Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:13:06 -0700 (PDT), meow...@care2.com wrote:
>
> >MM wrote:
> >> I intend making a trestle for the stairs that I can stand a ladder on.
> >> Imagine a capital L turned through 90 deg to the right. That's the
> >> shape. I'm going to use 3" x 2" for the framing
> >
> >sounds just right
> >
> >> and thick floorboard
> >> grade planks to rest the ladder on.
> >
> >You'd do better with a sheet material, half inch ply is plenty. Dont
> >rely on t&g boards to load share, the tongues can break up and the
> >planks under each ladder leg sag differently, sending you toppling.
> >
> >
> >> It will be a sturdy affair. I'm
> >> going to provide some kind of box or ledge for the ladder base to sit
> >> in.
> >>
> >> Before I start, any tips?
> >
> >a ladder applies a substnatial side load, which can easily topple
> >these things. The simplest solution is a 2x2 sticking out each side to
> >an adjustable extent, it simply rests againt the wall to prevent
> >sideways toppling.
>
> Yeah, each side of the stairs has the "skirting" board. Well, it's NOT
> skirting, but I don't know what carpenters call that part of stair
> construction. Anyways, I reckoned on having the kind of side struts
> you envisage to jam tight against the "skirting".
You need your sideways constraint to be at or near the top of your
working platform, the skirting is down at the feet. Restraint at the
base wont do much.
> I've often used
> carriage bolts for making various clamps, including for use in
> bookbinding, and they are cheap and provide for considerable clamping
> force. So I could use such bolts somehow to force the struts against
> the sides.
>
> >If you use hi-load metal brackets
Metal brackets with 150kg rating and welded corners. Small London
brackets work, but the big tough ones give you a stack of safety
margin, theyre never going to fold up on you.
>
> ???
>
> > it will be well load rated and you
> >can go high with it with confidence. Check carefully for timber cracks
> >though, all holes should be properly pilot/clearance drilled to avoid
> >these.
>
> I had planned on making glued wood joints, reinforcing with dowels,
> then applying strengthening brackets to corners.
ok - but I wouldnt rely on the glue or dowel, so your brackets need to
take the full load, which is 2 or 3 times your weight plus ladder.
> Not sure what kind of
> hi-load metal brackets you're referring to. Got a link? A picture is
> worth a thousand words!
http://tinyurl.com/cr5n7k
the 8x8 ones preferably
> >The simpler the main join, the easier and quicker it is to erect and
> >take down, and the happier you'll be to use it. (Some) hiload brackets
> >require 4 screws to dismantle, 2 each side.
>
> I won't be "assembling" it as such. It will be constructed, then
> simply removed after use and stored in the garage where I have ample
> space.
right
> >A strip of 2x1 along the long edges of the working platform would stop
> >a ladder if it began to slip.
>
> Yep.
>
> >
> >> A commercial product is available, called Stairmate, but costs around
> >> 75 quid.
> >>
> >> MM
> >
> >Screwfix do a 4 section multiupurpose folding ladder for around 50,
> >ont which you can put a board, but the result is nowhere near as safe.
>
> To be perfectly frank, the Stairmate doesn't exactly look as stable as
> I would like, even given that it has some kind of extender arm.
>
> Thanks for your input!
>
> MM
Maybe gis a pic for the wiki when its built?
NT
PeterC
attaboy! BSE: Brick Shithouse Engineering.
MM
<diceg...@gmail.com> wrote:
>whoops,
>maybe you mean this stairmate:
>http://www.ladderstore.com/stairmate-ladder-stabiliser-p-996.html
>not
>http://aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/58_9319.htm
By the way, if anyone is contemplating buying one of these from Aldi
next week in order to decorate up the stairs, bear in mind that the
design of the feet is absolutely ludicrous.
In the advert on the web site it says: "Rung to rung adjustable for
split-level working (e.g. decorating stairways)"
That's exactly what mine says on the package, too. But what you don't
know until you unpack the thing is that the two feet (one for the base
of each ladder section) are of different widths. While the shorter one
is ideal for slotting into a standard stairway, the longer one is
several cm longer and WILL NOT FIT BETWEEN THE STAIRS! (Unless one has
unusually wide stairs). So this "decorating stairways" malarkey only
works at the bottom and top of the stairs! If you want to position the
contraption half-way up the stairs, you can't.
Anyway, I bought mine at the time specifically to do ceilings, so it
makes no difference to me.
I bought the timber at B&Q and was pleasantly surprised at how cheap
it was.
MM
Man at B&Q
> I bought the timber at B&Q and was pleasantly surprised at how cheap
> it was.
>
Just wait 'till you see how warped it is. That won't be so
pleasant ;-)
MBQ
Andy Dingley
> By the way, if anyone is contemplating buying one of these from Aldi
> next week in order to decorate up the stairs, bear in mind that the
> design of the feet is absolutely ludicrous.
Looks like a useful gadget.
Just how wide is the wide foot? I do have wide stairs, I wonder if it
would work for me?
How high can you get with it? They claim a working height of 4.05m,
but what does that mean in terms of the actual platform?
Thanks
MM
It is most certainly NOT warped! I always check before purchase.
MM
MM
<din...@codesmiths.com> wrote:
>On 31 Mar, 15:54, MM <kylix...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> By the way, if anyone is contemplating buying one of these from Aldi
>> next week in order to decorate up the stairs, bear in mind that the
>> design of the feet is absolutely ludicrous.
>
>Looks like a useful gadget.
>
>Just how wide is the wide foot? I do have wide stairs, I wonder if it
>would work for me?
For you, Andy, I'll go and measure it...... back soon.
Okay. The short foot is 785mm, the long one 915mm. Each ladder section
is 165cm long. The platform is about 150cm long.
NB: The 785mm foot fits nice and snug within my stairwell. This house
was built in 2004 and was designed with old people in mind (light
switches at wheelchair height, that kind of thing. So probably the
stairs are "generous" of width.
Of course, I can't guarantee that the item which Aldi will be selling
next week is IDENTICAL to the one I have, but it looks the same from
the picture in the weekly Aldi brochure that I happened to pick up
today at the Boston store.
The feet are constructed, like most of the rest of the
scaffold/ladder, from aluminium, the wall thickness of the feet being
not particularly great so that the longer foot could perhaps be
shortened by 915 - 785 if one only wanted it for decorating stairs.
However, in that case, an equal amount would have to be sawn off each
side so that the bolt holes line up (the foot is pushed into slots in
the corresponding ladder section and fixed with bolts supplied).
But if you or anyone else does this, don't come back to me and say I
told you to shorten it, okay! ;)
For ceilings the thing is really useful. I haven't got round to it
yet, but the gutter along the edge of the garage roof needs cleaning
and the trestle will likely come in handy for that job as well.
Also, for trimming hedges, cleaning windows. It is quite a solid
affair, so will probably last a lifetime with light domestic use. But
they really cocked up the design of the feet for usage on stairs!
>How high can you get with it? They claim a working height of 4.05m,
>but what does that mean in terms of the actual platform?
Dunno quite how they work that out, but from the pictures on the
cardboard sheet that was packaged with mine there is a drawing of the
scaffold in "H" mode (other modes are as a step ladder or as a normal
striaght up and down ladder). Consider the "H" form and there are two
meaurements shown: From the ground to the crosspiece of the "H" = 1m
(1 metre). From the ground to the, I assume, ceiling = 3.1m. There is
a stick man shown standing on the board between the trestles (i.e. at
height 1m off the ground) and with an average man's height and reach,
he appears to be able to cover up to the 3.1m shown. Now, I am a
short, fat geezer, so my reach will be less than that of a 6' 3"
Cambridge Blue!
>Thanks
You're welcome! Everyone often helps me with stuff in this ng! I'll be
back in this group tomorrow with a question about upright Hoovers, as
mine has started to cut out, but I have to back up my hard disk now.
MM
Alang
I screwed a couple of brackets to the wall on either side of the
stairwell and bridged them with a length of 2x4. Rest a short
extension ladder on that from the stairs and I can reach anywhere
within the stairwell including the ceiling. While I was up there I
painted the 2x4 white and left it there for the next time someone
wants to decorate. At my age it will certainly not be me.
PeterC
True - when I built me shed I could have save about £50+wrinlydiscount at
B&Q but couldn't get enough of decent quality; went to Wickes (dropped
lucky on some reductions) and didn't really have to sort the wood.
Andy Dingley
> You're welcome! Everyone often helps me with stuff in this ng!
Thanks for that. I saw them today (masonry paint!) and will probably
collect one tomorrow.
meow...@care2.com
> On Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:15:48 -0700 (PDT), Man at B&Q wrote:
> > On Mar 31, 3:54�pm, MM <kylix...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> >> I bought the timber at B&Q and was pleasantly surprised at how cheap
> >> it was.
> >>
> >
> > Just wait 'till you see how warped it is. That won't be so
> > pleasant ;-)
> >
> > MBQ
>
> True - when I built me shed I could have save about �50+wrinlydiscount at
> B&Q but couldn't get enough of decent quality; went to Wickes (dropped
> lucky on some reductions) and didn't really have to sort the wood.
That must be a first! I've often had to pull out a few to get a decent
one.
NT