Loft Hatch installation

[Keithmac]

You can find the studs, by finding the nails/screw heads with one of those rare earth magnets. Mark where it sticks, then the line of the stud should be obvious. The ladders come in various types, some swing up and over in two sections and need clear space height to land - others can fold up just on the door.

I can make the 4 section ladder fit where existing hatch is so that's saved me a load of work!.

 

[MoonMan2]

Djangobanjo, that is a superb looking loft hatch! The rectangular cutting in the ceiling looks PERFECT! How did you get it to look so good? Most loft hatches I've seen overlap your plasterboard cutting a bit, hiding any ragged bits.

Do you need to cut perfectly to use this particular loft hatch?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I can make the 4 section ladder fit where existing hatch is so that's saved me a load of work!.

Check the size of the opening needed, it looks longer than just a basic access hatch.

 

[JP_]

Djangobanjo, that is a superb looking loft hatch! The rectangular cutting in the ceiling looks PERFECT! How did you get it to look so good? Most loft hatches I've seen overlap your plasterboard cutting a bit, hiding any ragged bits.

Do you need to cut perfectly to use this particular loft hatch?

Hatch was installed before the ceiling was overboarded and skimmed

 

[MoonMan2]

Hatch was installed before the ceiling was overboarded and skimmed

I knew it looked way too good to be a simple and cheap install.

 

[JP_]

I knew it looked way too good to be a simple and cheap install.

It was pretty cheap, as I was having the ceilings boarded and skimmed as part of the renovations, so made sense to have a new hatch - the previous had no ladder and weighed a ton, and no springs - pretty deadly! The hatch was installed so the door was level with the new ceiling, so put in about 1cm below the old ceiling level. I was going to put in architrave but thought it all looked pretty tidy so didn't bother.

 

[RandomGrinch]

Sorry for the late post, but what really helped me was going into the loft first and clearing up. 100's of years of coal dust was vacuumed up with an industrial vacuum and cutting through the lath and plaster was far less messy!

 

[JP_]

Yeah, def clean up first!

 

[Keithmac]

Mines arriving today ready for Sunday, have to make hatch opening longer but should be fine width wise.

I had no access when I cut my Dads Lath and Plaster ceiling, it made a right mess!.

 

[Keithmac]

Cut opening bigger and boxed it out on Friday/ Saturday night after work.

Managed to fit new hatch yesterday.

Didn't fancy hanging it from string as per instructions so fitted 2 temporary supports underneath and dropped it in from the top. This was a double edged sword though, easy to shim up square but I'd have been knackered without my right handled drill!

Pozi Drive screws are the work of the devil!, managed to find some Torx Spax in the shed later and went back and replaced the lot.

Just needs some trim sorting now.

Big thanks to @Djangobanjo , I'd written a stair ladder off as a bad job due to hatch location!.

 

[Keithmac]

Bought a PVC trim kit but it didn't cut the mustard.

Found some skirting in loft, ripped it down to 60mm and cut the mitres.

Ended up screwing it into the timber boxing so it supports the plasterboard as well.

Coving needs a bit of filler then it just needs painting (my wife can do that bit, she's got more patience than me!).

5mm clearance all around the hatch door.