loft ladder installation

Jonnyredpants

Hi,

I want to get a loft ladder, flooring and light installed in my loft.

So far I have had a couple of quotes from companies that offer this service. I am concerned about the following things -

Does a qualified electrician need to install the light? How do I know the person is qualified?
A company called "Cheshire Lofts" runs under two names (also Brittons Lofts) and says it's part of "Loft Ladders Installers Association" - I can't find this organisation anywhere?

I'm getting quoted around £600 for a ladder, light and around 150 sq ft of flooring, is this a good price?

thanks

sancho

The ladder and flooring is relatively simple (well i managed it ) It's not fun doing the floor but £600 seems a lot to me, mainly because doing it myself would save the money.

bockster

hi there,
no you don't need to be qualified to install a light in the loft, so no probs there, just competent would be nice.
some things to think about when flooring the loft, will your loft floor happily take the extra weight (and that of the stuff your going to place on it?), howdeep is your insulation (should be 270mm min nowadays) is it going to be squashed in the process? are you going to be doing any works below the loft that will require access to the wiring in the future? don't let them nail down loft flooring, could result in ceiling damage depending on house, use screws. probably other things that escape me now.
hope this helps,
bockster

Jonnyredpants

Thanks for the replies, I will ask about how the flooring will be attached. Does it need to be nailed/screwed down? I've put in my email and reply from a quote from another loft installer. This quote is for £570. there are people in the local paper that advertise the service for £250-£300 but I am a little worried about them as companies.


My message
I would like a quote for a loft ladder, flooring and light installed.

Our house is about 18 years old, the hatch is a standard size that currently just pushes up to open. We only really want to use the loft as storage and want the main area within the trusses flooring. We have been told by another installer it is around 150 sq ft. We don't mind what kind of ladder we have but would like a safety hand rail on the ladder.

How much would this job cost?
What kind of light would you put up in the loft? Id the light installed by a qualified electrician?
What ladder would you use? Would the hatch be insulated?
Would the flooring support heavy boxes? (Boxes with books in)


When could you do the job?
How long would the job take?

We are currently doing other work in the house, would you be able to work with other tradesmen in the house?

The Reply

To install a 2 section ladder with handle. A pvc insulated hatch. A 4 ft fluorescent light ( this would not be installed by an electrician as within lofts building regulations do not require it. I can arrange for an electrician to fit the light but it would cost an additional £65. ) 150 sqrt ft on 2 by 2 for strength and to allow for insulation. Would be £522 plus vat. £570 in total. Within reason we can work with other trades in the house. But we would need access to the stairs and the area around the loft access Hope this helps regards

Gloomendoom

Having done the job myself, including deepening the ceiling joists to allow for the insulation, I would say that quote is reasonable. Having said that, it looks like you will end up with around 5" of insulation, which is half the recommended thickness. It's still a lot more than many homes though

If you are tempted to do it yourself, do it in the winter, the loft is not a pleasant place to work when the sun is shining.

missprice

Gloomendoom wrote: »

If you are tempted to do it yourself, do it in the winter, the loft is not a pleasant place to work when the sun is shining.

lol this made me laugh cause i did mine in summer well it was started in feb but with only weekends it took a while
gawd did i sweat
for OP it really is pretty easy i am blonde and girly yet i managed with a bit of help from teens, as getting the boards up was not easy, they had to be sawed to fit and manhandled up the stairs around the corner and through the loft hatch, that was the most difficult bit tho and the whole thing cost less than $200 for materials

flissh

I had a loft ladder, enlarged opening, ( no giggling at the back please!) and floor about 100 sq ft.

I paid just under 500 pounds. They did the work in an afternoon, and cleared up the mess as they went along.

So your quote sound about right, my opening was wood frame and mdf hatch, and not as much floor.

Well worth the money to me as it would have taken us loads of weekends to do what they did in a few hours. (Ours would probably been a bit wonky too!)

Slothy

I had the same work done a few years ago (sorry, can't help with the quote, was part of a much bigger project), and I'd certainly recommend getting someone in to do it. It's no fun working under the roof for hours (possibly days), hot, pink wool roof insulation everywhere, possibly some saw dust too. And the remote chance of putting your foot through the ceiling...

One tip - we had transformers for our bathroom halogen lighting on top of the insulation in the attic, never any issues. However, they were put under the boards and failed in a few months. They literally came out melted.

fuzzyrich

I know this is an old post but I'm interested to see if anyone has used Cheshire lofts. Like the original poster I can't find any mention of the Loft Ladder Installers Association of Great Britain on-line. It looks like Cheshire Lofts are the only member!