Genius Loft Ladder Installation

[@simonroberts9759]

Hello Roger. Great video. I have seen a similar (older) video where you were installing the hatch. In both instances, the opening in the roof and any necessary work to the ceiling joists had been done or the roof joists already fitted to suit the size of loft ladder (which I suppose would be the case for a new build or perhaps a renovation). For the non-expert installer, it would be nice to see a video where you were installing into an existing ceiling where the joists are not conveniently spaced to suit the loft ladder (so some joist strengthening presumably required) and the opening into the ceiling needs to be made.

[@danielohara5749]

Having done this the scary part is cuting a hole in the ceiling and the joists then boxing it out.

[@BadHorsie1]

Yes exactly this

[@grabmeabadger]

A few other tips: 1. If you have deep pile carpet, make a plywood pad for the end of the leg to spread the load, and chamfer the edges to protect the carpet when you open it up. 2. As the hinges loosen up over time, the hatch can sometimes "eject" the ladder as the hatch slams down - particularly if the person openings it is a bit shorter - so it's worth fitting a little latch hook on the side to prevent injury or (worse!) damage to any nearby wall in my case. 3. If the ladder fouls a nearby obstruction when opening then you can cut the middle and end ladder lengths and refit the hinges, if you are very careful with your measurements. My hatch is across the width of a landing so I have very little space - there is an architrave which it misses by about 1/4" when opening which is always a little nerve wracking!

[@lazylad8544]

The video was so good they put it up twice.

[@gdr88]

It was so nice they had to do it twice

[@chrisgunn121]

Great piece of kit that's been designed with the fitter in mind, fitted a few other brands and they can be quite tricky to fit on your own! Top marks Keylite!!!

[@richvermeesch8734]

I purchased a preowned, unused steel loft ladder and was concerned about having to lift it up to the ceiling due to its weight. It was comforting to see that you removed the ladder from the frame eliminating much of the weight, something I never see in any installation instructions. I often wondered why the ladder needed to stay attached (per the instructions) to the hatch while installing, while there are only four attachment points holding the ladder to it. Although mine isn't the same brand, I'm satisfied that this method is the safer, more practical one. Thanks!

[@DelH555]

James is so good he fitted another loft ladder...........😝

[@rodgerq]

That's a decent kit. Well thought out, especially those spring loaded clips, that's genius.

[@Simonsimps]

On the 1st video I did wonder about those location holes for the allen bolts. Fair play for rectifying the video.

[@SkillBuilder]

Thanks Simon, we blame it on it being Friday

[@paulyoull5472]

Hi James, had a bad day with the old keylite today. Trimmed out the loft opening and trimmed off the plasterboard with no issues .Detached the ladder only to find out the hatch door was damaged. 16mile round trip to get another. Thought I was on the home straight. Fit the frame/ hatch. Attached the ladder, only to find out that The second section didn’t have enough room to swing down as it met the landing wall( small landing)🙈. No time to waste so I dismantled it all and set away at moving the frame further over to one side. Re fit it all…. Did it swing??? Did it bollocks! So I had no choice but to dismantle the ladder.cut the middle section and alter the bottom section making sure the ladder rungs were still at equal distance. Re built it and at last it worked a treat. The bad news came when I ended up slightly damaging the front of the hatch myself taking it back out when moving it over. The day was a right off , and will ultimately end up costing me not the client. One issue I did have that you may be able to assist with was with alignment. I squared of the frame but on the hinge side it pulled over to one side . I tried to pull it over with the bolts but just couldn’t get an equal gap on both side. It had no movement to be honest.

[@adamjacklin2178]

It's a great loft hatch and i decided to buy one of these after watching this and the original video! BUT If you're installing into an older house Make sure your ceiling is level before you buy and install one, i didn't! assumed it was OK and found out the hard way when i opened the hatch for the first time unfolded the wonky leaning to the left ladder 😂 had to start again and install a recess! Think it'll look ok when the recess and architrave is painted!

[@alexevans4670]

Fantastic fair play James. As they say it's only a problem until you refuse to correct it 👍

[@markosborne5510]

Thought the take 2 would have James walking up ladder looking up hatch and saying nice ‘Beaver’ 😂

[@skiathosmobi]

Great presentation, bob on👍👍

[@jodalry]

Brilliant James, thanks. I need to fit a new loft ladder/hatch as my current one has a terrible draft coming down. Looks a piece of cake to fit if you take your time. 👍🏻😎

[@RpR_Makes]

Even you tube now does repeats, getting like the BBC. James, his team and their skills are always a great second watch though.

[@SkillBuilder]

Sorry mate we had to make and important technical change. There was no other option than to take it down and put it back up.

[@RpR_Makes]

@@SkillBuilder always good to have a skill builder video whatever the reason.

[@williedel7811]

Well done guys. Well edited👌

[@billferrol4202]

You allowed the ladder assembly to drop all the way down on the square headed securing square headed bolts when attaching them to the hatch in situ. The instructions tell you to set the brackets about half way down! This gives you a little bit of wiggle room to be able to lift/lower the ladders to give a perfect fit especially if you cut too much or too little of the legs.

[@SkillBuilder]

Bill Did you watch the video. That is exactly what we said and what we did.

[@billferrol4202]

@@SkillBuilder Have a look at your video again. At time 8:21 the bracket is fully down and not half way.

[@johnmit]

@@billferrol4202 Have a look at 9:36 once the bolts have actually been done up, and it is quite clear they are about half-way.

[@martinlouden9005]

I have a very strong feeling of deja vu!

[@jeracom]

They are great nice thermal seal round the inside also.

[@canalboating]

James going up in the world getting repeats on skillbuilder plus 1 :)

[@canalboating]

I see what ya did there those bolt heads look so much better in the purpose made indents 😀

[@carlgeorge9173]

Brilliant Video. It helped me about so much. Cheers 👌

[@myrahouse2368]

I love how he didn’t take credit for the measurements he said it was Ian… respect for that.

[@paulyoull5472]

Great explanation James. Nice to know the things that aren’t quite explained properly in the destructions!! Just out of interest, what size was that one ? Do you just measure your ceiling height to determine which ladder to get ( close as damn it for cutting) ? Was that template cardboard or hardboard? Thanks again for your explanation. Your camera man did a very good one too😀

[@tinytonymaloney7832]

Bought an aluminium concertina type last year, pain to fit plus doesn't feel very solid when you climb up it.

[@SkillBuilder]

Tiny As a plumber they were my least favourite loft ladders to go up with my bag of tools.

[@nonoyorbusness]

Deja vu all over again!

[@burwoodbuild]

OMG.... I've seen the future! 😲 I finally have a cool superpower!! 😎🤙😂

[@george-1961]

Hmmm 🤔 I could of sworn I’d seen this last week 😆

[@SkillBuilder]

Gorge Yes you are right but it was wrong, now it is right and you are still not wrong. 😀

[@Ultimate-roofing-square.]

James wasn’t locked in the loft this time. 😲. 🙌🏻.

[@SkillBuilder]

yes because the ladder was shown in the wrong position

[@Miguel-hw8hj]

i have a converted loft into an office space with a DIY hatch. is there such thing as a loft ladder / hatch i can close behind me whilst im up there? can you point me in the right direction. ive been looking for ages and i cant see any. many thanks!

[@JACKATTACKED]

👍 Take it the legs were ok?

[@SkillBuilder]

yes it was just a matter of sliding the bracket down on the adjustment

[@tonygreenwoodN10]

Hello and welcome to the Truman Show Channel...

[@MANIC3420]

137kg so this is perfect for me. Need asap

[@jeremykemp3782]

Was that 600mm wide or 700mm? Would you go for 700 if you could, or is 600 enough ?

[@Brian18741]

Is there some sort of draft excluder around the edges of the door?

[@SkillBuilder]

Yes and it is insulated

[@bluestar.8938]

Thank you : )

[@loftladdersltd3723]

Look down the keylite so it's straight when measuring for length and feet and good luck getting one straight

[@nrgia]

How to install a loft ladder? Just design the whole room around the ladder 😁😁😁. Anyway, good video. Thank you.

[@geoffgelder8776]

my installer cut to much off the ladder making the ladder to steep when i questioned it he said thats how they are is there anything i can do to lengthen the bottom section cheaply

[@RGJ-x2q]

Add some ply to the bottom of the ladder

[@amazing451]

Was the mistake where James did not pull the first section of ladder off the door?

[@SkillBuilder]

yes that was it and we did a bit of crafty editing. He did explain the reason why

[@raylawson72]

fitted one in an old lathe and plaster ceiling ,,half a day fitting,,,, half a day in the shower lol

[@Toyotaamazon80series]

👍😁 I know how you feel 🔨 🇮🇪

[@superiorbeing95]

I got a set like this and when you walk up em the top hinge opens a bit and they feel very insecure , slightly different design, the ones I have are going in the bin, they are that bad. (Dolle)

[@danielfrench2263]

Miss James hope he comes back to the channel true pro

[@TheRacdoc]

Is there a place in the US to purchase this product?

[@AC-gm6bq]

Where's James? Stuck in a time warp!!

[@gerryquinn5224]

James, what size or code number is this loft hatch?

[@TheStevenWhiting]

Have a feeling I've seen this before :)

[@SkillBuilder]

yes it is spot the difference

[@ValyArdeleanu]

but.. where is James?

[@loumalibu5596]

Isn' t this a repost?

[@DPJOINERY]

It is but well worth watching again 😃

[@TYLERCONSTRUCTION]

Is there anything that James is not brilliant at? 😀

[@SkillBuilder]

Making money

[@TYLERCONSTRUCTION]

@@SkillBuilder fair play

[@AdityaMehendale]

re-upload?

[@Oli_Hudson]

What happened Rog???

[@SkillBuilder]

We ( I) made a cock-up on the first video and we had to take it down to make a surgical implant and full frontal lobotomy. Hopefully the patient will go on to live a full and happy life

[@express375]

yerman uploaded the wrong vid. not as bad as painting the wrong house

[@mrh4rrysingh]

I'm having a feeling of de ja vu

[@GlennBroadway]

Me too!

[@SkillBuilder]

Didn't you say that before?

[@t5jerry]

Why don't keylite ( the manufacturer) put a simple sticker on that baton saying DO NOT DISPOSE !!! it ain't rocket science is it ???

[@SkillBuilder]

To be fair they have a lot more instruction on the product than most people

[@eddjordan2399]

deja vu

[@anthonyworthington6495]

Been on before🤷🤦

[@chiefgilray]

100 quid... For their smallest one on your link they are 236...

[@bazzatron9482]

This loft ladder is now £150-200. 2% inflation my arse.

[@zdenkavirova2175]

Hi Nicola 😏

[@paulthompson5416]

Did key-lite send out a new ladder as the first was cut short 🤷🏼‍♂️😂😂 Easy mistake to be fair.

[@SkillBuilder]

No it was fine because there was enought adjustment to simply slide it down by 10mm

[@paulthompson5416]

@@SkillBuilder If I were James I’d just blame Rodger on talking to much 😂😂

[@dave1secondago]

worse than the bbc for repeats

[@davehole643]

its always on the tread😒

[@mikee2773]

Erm🙃

[@motionlessss]

Jojo is so sweet! Can I have his instagram please? :)

[@vinnysurti]

Never easy! But step by step 🪜

[@SteveAndAlexBuild]

Enjoyed this both times , you ran out of content Dillon ? 🤔🤣🧱👍🏼

[@SkillBuilder]

We had to fix a wee error.

[@SteveAndAlexBuild]

@@SkillBuilder we’ve all done a few of them 😉😁🧱👍🏽