Loft ladder hatch repair

AliceW

I'm on my own and don't have a handyman in the family, so a bit green about what's worth repairing and what isn't



My loft entrance has wooden folding loft ladders attached to a pull-down hatch. One of the brackets holding the top of the ladder to the hatch has become detached (and the screw hole now looks a bit wider than it should). The part of the hatch the bracket needs screwing back into seems to be made of chipboard so it might not be easy to repair, in which case I’ll probably need a new hatch. (The bracket is on a spring so can’t easily be pulled back into place.)

Do people buy a new ladder and hatch set when this happens or is it something that can be repaired? Any advice would be great.

BargainGalore

You should be able to fix the holes with some wood glue and some matchsticks pushed in to size of hole. When its dry just go excess wood with sharp knife and rescrew. Cost a few quid tops. Some people dont even use the glue


https://www.handleking.co.uk/blog/8-ways-to-repair-a-loose-wood-screw-hole/


No 5 in above link solution

Norman_Castle

If the above doesn't work try a wider screw. If that fails a bolt or machine screw through the hatch will work, visible from outside but can be painted and certainly preferable to a new hatch.

macman

Redrill the hole larger, plug it and reattach the bracket.