I've never been in the attic of my new house

debodun said:
I assume this hatch in the garage ceiling is the portal. I don't know what to do. There's a hook in the garage that I thought would be used to pull down stairs, but I don't see anything on the door to grab onto. I also don't know if there are stairs or it's strictly ladder access.

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Hmmm portal to who knows what??? I hope you find a way to check it out!
 

I never went into the attic of that house I owned. There was no need. I can't even remember where the access was. If something needs to be done up there, hire a professional.
 
That's similar to my Loft access on the top landing of my stairs. There is no hook to pull the door down and open... as the door isn't on a hinge. Instead it sits on a lip just inside the loft.

It's a damn dangerous thing... I literally have to get up on tall ladders, push the very heavy door upwards and across onto a space on the loft floor, then extend my ladders to their fullest right into the loft and climb up and in. So dangerous . soon2BX always would go up there and he would hand things down to me standing at the bottom of the ladder.

previously to that it was even more dangerous, in that it had no flooring , and no lighting.. Husband sorted that, and laid flooring and installed lighting

I've only been up once since he left,.. and it's now just too dangerous for me to get anything down by myself... so I'm going to call in a loft clearance company, and get the whole loft cleared out , and close it up for good...
 
If it were me, I'd hire a professional to get up there and take pics to show you, and then together make a plan to close it up permanently or renovate the attic access so you will be safe and comfortable having easy access. You could have a wasp nest up there or termites, etc
 
My attic is not a place I like to be! It is very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. One may very easily punch through the ceiling below so you must knee your way over the trusses. And hit my head many times! And since I had the fascia down for a while in order to put up siding, there are now probably a whole lot of hornets.
 
Lara said:
If it were me, I'd hire a professional to get up there and take pics to show you, and then together make a plan to close it up permanently or renovate the attic access so you will be safe and comfortable having easy access. You could have a wasp nest up there or termites, etc
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Yeah, I'd have that professional make a new attic door with retractable ladder for it. Even if Deb never goes up there, a plumber or electrician might need to at some point.
 
Nathan said:
@debodun , you'll need a stepladder to move the crawl hole lid out of the way, then to safety climb up through the access you'll need an extension ladder .
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that's exactly what I have to do. the stepladder has to be a big one tho' to be able to reach up high enough to push the door open... then you have to use an extending ladder..as I explained earlier
 
In many places it is code to have attic access. Wiring often runs through the attic so that is reason enough to have access, even if it is only access with a tall step ladder. Don't close up that access point.

Our attic has no head room, so I would never store anything in it. I only have step ladder access. But for some attics where there is sufficient space, you can extend the floor joists up a bit over the insulation and then put flooring (plywood) over and use it for storage - my father-in-law did that. For that situation, you will want a pull-down attic ladder, something that any handyman or handywomen can install.
 
Michael Z said:
In many places it is code to have attic access. Wiring often runs through the attic so that is reason enough to have access, even if it is only access with a tall step ladder. Don't close up that access point.

Our attic has no head room, so I would never store anything in it. I only have step ladder access. But for some attics where there is sufficient space, you can extend the floor joists up a bit over the insulation and then put flooring (plywood) over and use it for storage -
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My attic is used for storage.. my husband put wood flooring over the joists . However the attic door sits within a deep frame so it's not possible to have a pull down ladder fitted within the attic..instead I have to use a combination of 2 ladders. One to reach to push the door upwards and slide it across the attic floor.. then the extending ladders to push right into the loft itself.. fine when I was younger, pretty dodgy and unsafe now..
 
In the house I lived in til I was 10, we had an attic that was reached by a staircase outside the house. The attic was mostly floored and we kids played up there a lot.

One day, I got pushed off the floored part onto the part that only had insulation. My foot and part of my lower leg (thank goodness that was all) went through to the room below, the living room.

Needless to say, my father was less-than-thrilled to have to repair the drywall on the ceiling.
 

I've never been in the attic of my new house. Be warned your attic is closer to the sky than your basement, if you have a basement. Same theory applies to the first floor of your house.​

 
My former house had a staircase accessed from a door in the upstairs hallway. The people that bought the house did away with it. Now to get in the attic there's a hatch in the ceiling of the hallway with a pull-down ladder. I don't know why they would do that, but it's their house...

The old way:
attic stairs1.jpg
 
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