Introduction
This is a walkthrough guide on how I enlarged an existing loft hatch and fitted loft ladders to the hatch.
I didn’t expect loft ladders and a hatch to be the first job when we decided to renovate the house.
Renovating before you move in is certainly a lot easier than doing it after living there for 3 years! There is one way to make things a bit easier. Having useable loft space whilst we ripped the house out. This meant having to make a hatch and installing loft ladders. The first job that I write about which was the start of the journey!
Step 1 – Investigate what was up there
Don’t try this at home
We never actually looked looked up into the existing hatch before we brought the house. Don’t do this. You might have the misfortune to find birds nesting, wasp nests, rot or who knows maybe even a squatter!
Fortunately there was none of the above in our loft. Using some step ladders I hoisted myself into the attic to find we had the recommended amount of 270 mm insulation. This covered all the joists running from one next door neighbour to the other. Other than that I got a fright spotting a warning sign stapled to a purlin. I thought it was going to say something much worse than “Don’t step onto the ceiling.”
Step 2 – Work out where to make the opening
I was going to enlarge the existing opening in the hallway which was ideal. If you have no existing hatch then you have the benefit of choosing to put it wherever you want. If this applies to you make sure you don’t go cutting holes in the ceiling without verifying there’s no electrics or plumbing above you. There are plenty of tools available to help identify this.
I was going to use a loft ladders kit for my hatch rather than doing it separately. This meant I had some specific measurements to go against helping me work out how much to cut back.
The only other thing you need to account for is the arc of the ladders and it won’t hit a wall on its way down.
Step 3 – Measure out the hatch size for the loft ladders
My house seemed to go against what most online tutorials would mention. The joists in other houses (pre truss roof) tend to line up to the roof rafters. This is so that the pressure exerted down from them gets transferred to the joists. In my house the joists run between the next door from one side to the next door on the other side. The roof rafters sit on purlins that rest on the two party walls in the terrace. Purlins are pretty common to be fair but I haven’t come across this in any older terrace houses?
This guide was a good starting point, but like most the guides it talks of enlarging the hatch in parallel to the run of the joists. I also secured it even further than this guide by using joist hangers. It might be overkill but I intend on these ladders lasting longer than me!
Original Loft hatch. Joists are A – D at 400 mm centres. E-F is the existing hatch. 
Red lines are the planned cuts with temporary supports.
Where I got my loft ladders
I checked the major UK DIY shops and I’m sure all their loft ladders are from the same factory under different brand names. The packaging and design were just far too similar. I ended up getting the Abru variant from Homebase which cost about £15 more. This was because it came with a 5 year guarantee as opposed to 1 year. Feel free to source a cheaper on at B&Q as I’m confident I’d never need to claim on the guarantee in hindsight.
I really recommend going with a wooden loft ladders kit. The aluminium ones are just so flimsy you worry is the next step on it going to be its last. If you don’t take my word for it go on any forum discussing this. No one praises their aluminium loft ladders kit! It’s worth paying the small premium for something that will last. Especially as it will be a permanent fixture in your house.
How much joist do you cut for the hatch opening?
The loft ladders frame needs to screw into a timber frame around the joists. This means the red cut signs in the diagram above needs to account for this and not just the width of the ladders frame. I used two 6 x 2 (150 x 50mm) timber frames for both sides of the length. I’ve seen some tutorials use just one 4 x 2 (101 x 50 mm) for the sides of length. The reason I went with what I did was to match the existing height of 150 mm. The height adds to the strength of the frame. I doubled up on each side because best practice states that for the joists you are cutting you should double up to compensate for them.
Taking the additional timber into account you will also add a few more mm (stated in the loft ladders kit instructions). This is meant to give you leeway for things not being cut perfect. The idea is that when you finally fit the loft ladders in you would use packing to straighten it out with the room you’re installing it into.
Step 4 – Draw out the hatch and cut
This next image is going to make most DIYers cringe. I currently don’t own a multi tool so I think you would agree I went about this a horrible way. I ended up drilling countless holes along the cut line and then used a jigsaw to play dot to dot. It certainly doesn’t look good but it wouldn’t show in the final product!
Using a drill to cut the ceiling down 
Then using a jigsaw to ‘connect’ the dots
The amount of mess cutting out that relatively small section of ceiling was unbelievable. It completely caked all the surfaces of the house with 100 year old black dust. This wasn’t too concerning as we were getting the carpets replaced but if I was to do it again I’d certainly contain the cut off ceiling into a bag straight away.
Step 5 – Brace the existing joists
You need to add temporary supporting timbers along the joists that will be cut. The logic behind this is that any weight that is loaded onto these is transferred across to a joist that is still intact. This means that your timber will have to be long enough to reach the joists that wont be cut either side. I just used some 4 x 2 timbers and secured them with screws into the 2 inch side straight into the top of each joist it was securing.
The middle two joists (B2 and C2) are being cut here so the outer two joists would be screwed into to ensure it was safe.
Step 6 – Cut the joists sections not needed
The scary bit! Well at least for me. Something that has been part of the house over 100 years ago being taken out! Unless you’re a pro at cutting straight I would not recommend a hand saw as I did. On one of the joists I didn’t cut straight so had to use packers for the timber frame. Therefore I’d recommend temporarily screwing scrap wood along one of the faces that you know is perfectly straight. Or just get a better tool to do the job
The existing hatch frame was really stubborn to remove. I used a mallet and chisel to pull sections off. 
The reluctant hatch frame giving way. Top joist with a nice clean cut.
On the right image you can see I’ve cut back to take the double timber support into account. The hole isn’t cut as far back as it only needs to be the original dimensions of the loft ladders kit. If you cut the hole to where the joist ends you’d end up with a massive gap around the edges of the ladders kit showing the timber support from the room below.
Step 7 – Construct timber frame
As you can see there are plenty of pictures of what not to do. At least this would help anyone reading save a lot of time and to do a better job. I didn’t have a worktop to do my cuts, a big mistake as it just made my life a lot harder. Here is how I did my cuts for this job –
The Joist Hanger
I attached joist hangers to the ends of the timber batons that sit flush against the newly sawed joists. This is F1 and F2 in the diagram. The reason I make this distinction is because you can’t add joist hangers to both pieces of timber that will sit side by side.
Grandad Bob made sure to ask that I nailed every available hole in the joist hanger. I actually thought the excessive holes were a design feature for specific joins but followed his orders as he had been told back in his day!
Building the frame for the loft ladders
So we have the two outermost lengths of timber on joist hangers to the joists which haven’t been cut. F1 and F2 in A and D. The next stage is to screw them into the cut joist ends with long enough screws. To ensure a tight grip this is where one of my none straight cuts needed packing. So a straight cut makes your life a lot easier here.
By now these two bits of new timber will be in place pretty firmly. We’re ready to add the two additional lengths (G1 and G2 orange) which will be secured slightly differently. Cut to length they should slot in pretty neatly. Because we can’t use joist hangers, the first place I screwed them in was with long enough screws on each cut end from the other side of the untouched joist (A and D). On a 150 mm height I could fit two screws for each end.
The first timber frame (F1), supported by the joist hanger on the cut ends and screwed twice to each side connection. 
The second timber frame (G1), screwed into the ends from the joist end and two longer screws to go through the first timber frame and into the cut joists. 
Accurate pencil marks to make sure those screws end up where they should be!
Once they were in I got even longer screws and screwed them into the timber frames F1 and F2. I had to make sure they made it through to the original joists B and C.
And for the two widths?
This secures the lengthways frame for the loft ladders kit. For the two depth ends (H1 and H2) I couldn’t use timbers 50 mm (2 inch) thick. This was because with my joists being at 400 mm centres I’d end up too short for the ladders. Or I’d have to cut a third joist and make a new sub frame at one end for the sake of a few centimetres. I used a lot thinner bits of timber and screwed them directly into the joist it was running parallel with. Just for good measure I then put corner brackets on the 90 degrees of my new frame.
The clean hatch hole for the loft ladders kit. Note that the two width ends don’t have their additional timber frame in yet. 
Working full time means having gaps in DIY time. In winter this hole would take all the heat from the house so here is my improvisation to cover the hole!
Step 8 – Lift the loft ladders kit up and brace temporarily
This is a two man job! I did watch a video on Youtube of a guy doing this himself. He gets it done but does drop the ladders at some point. Me and my wife did this and holding a bulky awkward to handle 25 kilo weight well above your head is just asking for trouble. I ended up getting Grandad Bob and my brother-in-law to come over and help here.
Firstly I got myself into the attic and they lifted the loft ladders up into the hatch. Secondly the guys below hold up the ladders, I pull on the loft ladders to alleviate some of the weight. Finally Grandad Bob screws a long piece of leftover 6 x 2 timber into the joists on either side of the hatch opening, as demonstrated below. One side of the 6 x 2 can be pre screwed and swivelled into place. This reduces the time someone has to hold the loft ladders up.
Loft ladder kit inside the attic whilst we screwed the 6 x 2 timber into the joists. 
Then with the help of others secure it down onto the support, this then allows me on top to screw the loft ladder kit into the new timber frame.
Step 9 – Secure loft ladders kit and remove brace
Packing
This is also where you need a second pair of eyes to help you packing the sides. This will ensure the frame looks square with the room. Make sure to take enough cuttings with you and you can slot it into the gaps. I had to pull the ladders up to get more packing material up. The instructions will also tell you do this as screwing directly into your new timber frame would make the loft ladders kit bow.
Secure
At the time I did this I didn’t have a battery operated drill. Don’t let this be an error you make as I have shown you plenty I’ve made! Trailing an extension lead back and forth was just an added complexity I could have done without!
This is when I secured 3 screws into both length sides of the loft ladders and 2 on the ends. By this point that should be the loft ladders firmly set and secured into the timber frame and no joists being compromised.
Step 10 – Get out, but not via the loft ladders!
I guarantee whoever is below helping you out at this point will make some joke about not letting you down. Or losing the ability to help pull the loft ladders down. Once that’s passed they can pull the hatch door down and you can exit. Make sure to leave via step ladders and not your newly installed loft ladders. They will probably need the bottom cutting to be level with the ground.
Changing the floor at some point?
A handy tip if you’re changing the flooring. Because I knew I’d replace the flooring I didn’t want to cut the loft ladders to the wrong future size. This was because the new flooring would most likely be a different thickness. What I ended up doing was cutting the carpet where the feet touch. Then the ladders would rest directly onto the floorboard. That way you know the maximum length the feet will be and you can just cut it again when the new floor goes down. Had I cut to the existing carpets and the new floor was thinner then my loft ladders would end up being too short.
And that’s it!
It’s a dirty and messy job. Cold in the winter, sweltering in the summer. With old school lat and plaster it’s even worse. However every time I go up and down those loft ladders I can’t help feeling satisfied with them!
This what I did next when it came to boarding the loft
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