Getting stored items in and out of the attic is a job normally reserved for a weekend or another free day, when adequate care and attention can be given to the task at hand.  Climbing a ladder is never a risk-free endeavour, but when you are also carrying items up or down with you it is impossible to maintain three points of contact with the ladder, making it much more dangerous.  For this reason, it is vital that you take your time and have another person present to hand you items and take them from you, reducing the amount of time you are not in proper contact with the ladder.

Having a safe and sturdy loft ladder makes storage retrieval much safer, and ideally your loft ladder will have a handrail and a less acute angle than a standard straight ladder.  That angle can make all the difference as it is much harder to climb a steep incline, especially when you are holding a box of possessions.  Badly fitted folding loft ladders can be very unstable and in the worst cases, even present a different angle on each section, so if your loft ladder is too steep, does not sit at the same angle all the way up or is prone to suddenly shooting out when you open the loft hatch, it is time to replace it with something much safer.

Many of the injuries sustained while using a loft ladder are to the head; in America there were 18,000 loft ladder injuries over a 13-year period, of which 3,500 were head injuries, as a result of the ladder dropping down unexpectedly.  Other injuries were as a result of falling or slipping off a steeply angled ladder.  In addition to these injuries, people have sustained sprains and pulled muscles as a result of trying to carry heavy items up or down with them, so there is a multitude of ways in which a person can injure themselves while using a loft ladder.

Modern loft ladders have design features that stop them from dropping down the instant the hatch is opened, and many come with handrails as standard, or as an optional extra if you want a second handrail.  There are even concertina styled ones for small loft openings and small attics, which are not able to take a standard loft ladder without using up a lot of the available storage space.  Telescopic loft ladders also address the issue of in-loft ladder storage space and they are just as reliable as a traditional sectional loft ladder.

If you have a large loft and intend to store large items, or even if you want an easier way to lift heavy or unwieldy items into the attic then take some inspiration from America, where attics are much larger and generally used a lot more to store items.  Ladder lift and pulley systems are becoming more popular across the pond, as they offer a hassle free way of getting items up and down and the larger lifts make it possible to get furniture and large toys in and out ,without ever having to get them up a ladder.

Smaller ladder lift systems, like those offered by The Attic Ladder Guy use a motor to raise and lower a small platform that can take up to 113 kilos.  These lifts require a second hatch to be cut in the ceiling near to the original loft hatch and can be operated with the push of a button.  Having an attic lift means that it is possible for one person to complete the task of retrieving or storing items as there is no need to lose contact with the ladder while ascending or descending because nothing needs to be carried up with you.

Larger attic lifts are robust enough to lift a person and are big enough to load furniture on to (although a sofa would be a challenge).  They also require a new hatch to be cut, but the benefit of having such a system is considerable if you regularly use the loft for storage, or are considering making more of that unused space overhead.  There are several models available in America but the general principle is the same; motors operate cables at each corner, raising and lowering the platform in a synchronised motion with the entire machine operated by a switch.

There are currently no companies offering a dedicated attic lift service in the UK, but it is surely only a matter of time before this feature is readily available in Britain.  In the meantime you could create a DIY version of a loft lift with a mechanical hoisting system and a builder to cut a new hatch.  A lower tech version of a small ladder lift would be to install a pulley system and platform for a manual version of an automatic attic lift.

If you are looking for a new loft ladder then take a look at our range .