£150 labour for fitting a loft ladder. ok?

pealy

I need a loft ladder fitted, I'm planning on sourcing the ladder myself and asking a joiner to fit it. The existing hatch will need extending to accommodate the bigger hatch which comes with the ladder. I have been quoted £150 for a days labour by one joiner. Does that sound fair?

Dora_the_Explorer_5

Joiners charge more than carpenters or home handymen because they are more skilled and knowledgeable in working with wood, craftsmen rather than workmen. A local firm that does all types of household work/maintenance may be cheaper.

Sumostar

Hi

Seems a bit steep to me. We have a number of companies advertising locally to supply and fit the ladder, plus part board the loft for £299 including materials!

flyer

depends where you are. I pay joiners £170-£180 per day in the West Midlands. Seems a fair price to me.

pealy

Sumostar wrote:

We have a number of companies advertising locally to supply and fit the ladder, plus part board the loft for £299 including materials!

I had a good look round for somebody to do an 'inclusive' deal but couldn't find anyone offering this kind of thing near me.

Dora_the_Explorer wrote:

Joiners charge more than carpenters or home handymen because they are more skilled and knowledgeable ...

Definitely worth a try, although I've got a suspicion the hatch might need reducing in width as well as extending in length so a skilled joiner might be a good idea.

Ghost

Had a leaflet come through letterbox this morning; local firm offering:

1. Loft ladders fitted from £165.

2. 13m of T&G flooring, with 100w rated light, 2 section aluminium stowaway ladder and new drop down hatch = £359 inclusive.

pealy

Ghost wrote:

Had a leaflet come through letterbox this morning; local firm offering:

1. Loft ladders fitted from £165.

2. 13m of T&G flooring, with 100w rated light, 2 section aluminium stowaway ladder and new drop down hatch = £359 inclusive.

Lucky You! I think I could be waiting a long time for a leaflet.. If anyone near Preston/Blackburn has any recommendations I'd be interested.

gardnt1

I fitted my own a few months ago, and even though I'm not suggesting you should do this, i had a few unexpected surprises!

I had a few quotes and all seemed to be about 300-400 pounds including ladder. All the craftsmen were going to cut a joist here and there etc, but i decided to do a bit more digging as a friend who is a chippy said i should never cut the trus rafter roof i had.. I posted on here and got the same advice, so before committing to anyone check its not a truss rafter roof that these guys are going to cut as its a big no no......the tradesman i had were quite happy to do it and never mentioned the roof, so i was glad i checked!

in the end i managed to site it in a location that required no cutting and although took half a day, looks great......if i had wanted rafters cut then in my situation i would have needed structural engineers!

pealy

gardnt1 wrote:

before committing to anyone check its not a truss rafter roof that these guys are going to cut as its a big no no

How do I tell??? Does your original thread have any info in it? If so, do you have a link?

cargo

Seems fare to me.

Dora_the_Explorer_5

Trusses are the big lumps of wood that hold the roof up - like fingers pointing up at an angle (or in some houses they're fixed at roof height flat against it and held up by purlins and run from wall to wall. )
Usually loft ladders are made so they fit between the joists, they're the long bits of wood that lay flat from wall to wall that the ceiling below is fixed to. Joists have lumps of wood fixed widthways between them every so often to maintain the spacing and strengthen.
That's all written in lay-girly language, now some blokes can post all the technical words. HTH