Fixing ladder to garage ceiling
JoeJoe
in two parts (7m altogether) - to my garage ceiling to get it out of the
way?
I only need it 3-4 time a year, but want it to be relatively easily
accessible as neighbours sometimes borrow it.
It is a single garage with a flat roof sitting on top of 6x2 running the
width of the garage approx 50-60cm apart (I can measure if that's
important).
I want it to be all but pressed against the 6x2 as the height is not great
as it is.
Many thanks in advance.
Andy Dingley
> What's the best way to fix a rather long aluminium ladder - around 3.5m long
> in two parts (7m altogether) - to my garage ceiling to get it out of the
> way?
Lots of ways, depending on what you need.
Aldi sell bike lifts (pulley blocks and rope), which are great for
high roofs but I wouldn't rely on them for long-term attachment. You
can also get large thin steel tube hooks which you can fasten beneath
the roof, use the Aldi lift as a hoist and then push the elevated
ladder sideways onto the hooks with a broom.
Inch-wide luggage ratchet strap is a great way to lift a ladder and
leave it attached to the rafters, but it's hard to release from the
ground. Not much use unless you've easy stepladder access from
beneath.
Don't underestimate string. Baler twine (you do have a reel, don't
you?) can be used to pull them up, tied off to hold them, then is
cheap enough to cut when you want them down again. Doesn't lose much
height either, but you do need easy access to the height to do it.
One of my ladders lives horizontally at shoulder level on a workshop
wall. It moonlights as a rack for long woodworking clamps (I have
about 30).
Long ladders should be hung from their ends, not in the middle.
Otherwise you can't get one down on your own without it tilting and
the top end going through the roof (DAMHIKT)
Tabby
Cable ties or /good/ string
NT
Harry Bloomfield
We keep ours bracketed on the outside wall. Two L shaped brackets take
the weight, then a bracket in the centre has a piece of hinged steel
which padlocks in place to prevent theft like an O.
Inside, I would be looking at a couple of U brackets fixed to the roof
at just a bit less than the overall length of the ladders - so you can
hook one end on, then the other - thus saving you lifting all the
weight in one go.
--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk
GAP
Ladders aren't actually all that heavy. You just need a couple of big
screw eyes as suggested earlier, and two lengths of thick string/thin
rope. Tie one end to the ladder rungs at each end, thread through the
screw eyes and haul up to the ceiling, one end at a time. If you can
contrive to bring the free end across to another beam, or a wall, you
could tie it off to another hook or eye there. Otherwise stand on a
step ladder (or a couple of beer crates - you *do* have a couple of
handy beer crates, don't you?!) and tie off the end of the rope back
to the ladder. Works for me.
Graham
Spamlet
"JoeJoe" <n...@mail.com> wrote in message
news:XtWdnUcfj8KPUx3R...@brightview.co.uk...
I find this is one of the many uses for stainless steel coathangers - the
sort they used to make everything from on Blue Peter once upon a time: they
were really on to something there! I use them for all sorts. If you just
have a ladder, or garden canes or plumbing pipes or dowel etc to get out of
the way: bang nails into ( the *sides* of ) your beams at appropriate
distances apart; cut the hook off the coathanger and open it out; then loop
one end around a nail with stout pliers. Allow enough of the wire to loop
downwards for your ladder to fit through, then tie off the other end of the
hanger by looping it round a second nail. Repeat process for next or next
but one beam, and you then have strong loops of wire that you can slide your
ladder through. Depending on your head room and your strength, you may want
to separate the two parts of the ladder and give them their own loops.
(Also hang things up on lengths of coathanger when you are painting them.)
A refinement on this method is to use fine - welded - chain and run it
through appropriate lengths of copper or steel pipe. You can then hook the
ends of the chain over your nails and so get an adjustable rail under each
beam, through which you can slide whatever you like. This method is less
likely to snag on things as you slide them in.
In my old garage I had a further refinement, which was to suspend an iron
bed frame by chains. With it's wire mesh thus filling the space between the
beams, both short and long things can be slid into the roof space.
S
The Medway Handyman
Assuming there is no problem lifting it, you could use these, screwed into
the side of two of the joists
http://www.wickes.co.uk/General-Storage-Hook/invt/533794
--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
Lobster
I bought some of these hooks:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/400148931826
There's four: they screw up into the 'ceiling' joists, two at either end
of the ladder - I offer up one (long) edge of the ladder to the first
pair of hooks, rotate the ladder so it's parallel with the ceiling, and
hook the other long edge of the second pair. Hooks need careful
positioning for this to work properly!
Dvaid
JoeJoe
Thanks guys for all your suggestions. The ladder is currently hanged on a
wall (using the Wickes hooks that were mentioned above), but I want to use
the wall to hang our bikes instead. The ceiling is really low - has a
clearance of only 30-40cm or so, so I really need to have the ladder as
close to it as possible.
Using eyes and a string for each end sound like the easiest and cheapest way
to go about it.
Many thanks again.
PJ
fix the ladder, to the roof?
Dave Liquorice
> WOuld it be possible to fix two wooden turnbuckles, which can turn to
> fix the ladder, to the roof?
Or the long large hooks with bar and big wing nut that contractors
use to secure ladders to roof bars on their vans? Suitable eyes in
the side of the rafters to take the hooks. Fiddly though compared to
loops(*) through which you thread the ends of the ladder or four
large hooks to take it.
(*) IMHO the loops need to be fairly ridgid and have something the
ladder will slide or roll on easily. A simple loop of chain or rope
will move about and not slide making insertion of the ladder harder
than it needs to be.
--
Cheers
Dave.
fred
>>
>WOuld it be possible to fix two wooden turnbuckles, which can turn to
>fix the ladder, to the roof?
Sounds like and excellent idea.
To make it easier to work with I would suggest a rigid loop, shelf or
pocket for one end of the ladder so that half the weight is taken
immediately, before you start fiddling with the fixings at the other
end. A pair of wooden turnbuckles either on the joists themselves or
extended on a some suitable vertical timber would be the ideal fixing,
simple, quick and not at all gash looking. If both the loop and
turnbuckle mounts are fixed with single large screws then they could be
swivelled out of head bonking range when not in use.
--
fred
FIVE TV's superbright logo - not the DOG's, it's bollocks
OG
>
> Thanks guys for all your suggestions. The ladder is currently hanged on a
> wall (using the Wickes hooks that were mentioned above), but I want to use
> the wall to hang our bikes instead. The ceiling is really low - has a
> clearance of only 30-40cm or so, so I really need to have the ladder as
> close to it as possible.
>
> Using eyes and a string for each end sound like the easiest and cheapest
> way to go about it.
I had a fixed hook that would take the top end of the ladder, and the other
end of the ladder was raised using a string as you have had suggested.