A $700 Fakro attic ladder has to be good, right? WRONG
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- Опубликовано: 3 июн 2020
- We will be reviewing our experience with a Fakro insulated steel scissor attic ladder.
www.homedepot.com/p/Fakro-LST...
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My take away from this was that it was the 31.5" opening size that was the problem - it was nothing to do with the attic ladder kit/assembly per say.
You are lucky that you have the option to make a longer opening.
Thank you for this video :)
Hey,
Yes and no. The kit didn't efficiently utilize the space. The design of the hinges used up valuable space and made the opening too small to use for storing stuff in the attic or climbing up the steps without hitting your body off the trim.
Hope this helps and thank you for watching!
Have a wonderful evening and a Happy Thanksgiving.
Thank you so much! Super helpful analysis. I will end up doing the same thing (making the opening bigger) as a result of watching this.
Hey Sherrie,
We are very glad we were able to save you some heartache and backache. 😀
Thank you for your encouragement ,feedback and for watching.
We hope you have a wonderful day!
I was looking at this model and had concerns about the dimensions. Thank you for posting this.
Hey Chris!
We're glad we could help. We hope your project goes smoothly!
Thank you for watching, and have a wonderful day.
I don't understand for what reason you guys didn't get a 55" length opening from beginning...!?
Our attic access is in our walk-in closet, so space was limited to begin with. We were also trying to utilize the rough opening we already had without enlarging it. The Fakro scissoring ladder didn't take up as much space while open as a normal attic ladder does, allowing for easier maneuvering around the fully extended ladder while in a confined space. We also didn't anticipate the hinge system on the Fakro ladder consuming usable opening space and limiting the item sizes we could transport up the stairs.
@@thelarewsdo same as mine. I double checked the attic, there is no way I can make it larger.
Hey Dawson,
In your case, if a larger opening isn't an option, the Fakro scissor ladder offers an alternative to using an 8ft. step ladder. At this point, I'd take into consideration how much you'll be in the attic or if there would be a better location for the access. A step ladder wouldn't be the worst option if you won't be up there much (such as for seasonal storage).
Let us know what direction you went with or if you have any other questions.
Have a great day and thank you for watching!
@@thelarewsdo thanks for the suggestion. I basically don’t go up in attic. But the second furnace is installed there, it needs to be checked every year. I will look into the step ladder option. Thank again.
So basically you don't like it because the steps are slippery (you could add grip tape) and because it's too small, which you could of looked at the dimensions before purchasing.
Hey James,
Please check the comments, this has been addressed multiple times. The dimensions in the description do not correlate to the usable dimensions and the high price of this ladder shouldn't require additional slip protection to be installed.
Thank you for watching.
What a comment 😂 are u a shill or just a jerk?
I'm in the market for the 22x47 or 22x54 of this unit. What I'm finding is that it's just as much work planning where it's going to open, where your LANDING is going to be in the attic, and what you have to move to accomplish. I have to re-route a few A/C ducts that the builders threw down. Worth it for the usable space. Good video!
Putting in a new attic ladder can be quite the task! Planning is important! Good luck with your project!
Thank you for sharing I really like pro and cons,
You're very welcome! We hope we were able to help. Thank you for the encouragement and for watching!
Have a wonderful day. 😊
Great review!
Thank you for watching!
Not very helpful. They just purchased too small of a ladder for the application. Not other ladder will solve their problems until they increase the size of the opening.
Hey Thomas,
The rough-in opening size wasn't the issue. The problem was the inefficiency of the hinge design. The hinge position reduced the usable opening dimensions by 4 inches.
Thanks for watching and for the feedback.
Thanks for the info
Thank you for watching!
I'm looking to buy a Fakro attic ladder and you helped me figure out I need a wide one :) Thanks
Excellent! 😀 We are glad we could help! Good luck on your project and have a wonderful weekend.
Lol they bought the size knowing how large it was and then complained about the size as if it’s the companies fault wtf
Hey Nexus,
We encourage you to read the other comments, as we have addressed this. The original hole size was not an issue until we put the ladder in it. The ladder's design took a marginally usable space and made it unusable.
Thank you for watching.
Sounds perfect for me.
Thanks for watching!
I have already 6 years the Fakro stairs ( 100x70 cm) and they are fantastic.
Glad they work well for you! Thanks for watching and have a great day!
If you wanted a bigger opening you should have bought a bigger hatch size.. Common sense really!!! Iv just fitted a 120mmx60mm fakro hatch and I'm very happy with it.
James, we're happy to hear the fakro door works for you! The opening size isn't the issue, as a bi-fold attic ladder that meets our specs works just fine for us. The scissor mechanism on the Fakro takes up a lot more opening space than the hardware on a bi-fold door does. Thanks for watching!
Thank you very much for this video. I am looking at putting in an attic ladder with a similar pre existing opening as well. Which is why I have started looking at this ladder, but the price has given me sticker shock though it would save me time to install (similar to your situation). Question, did you find the ladder hot to handle in the summer because it is metal (assuming you used it in the summer)? Thank's again
Hey!
Yes, the price is quite steep. Home Depot had the one we purchased on sale for ~$599.96 including tax and shipping. So watch for sales.
As far as the metal retaining heat, it was not noticeable to us, but maybe that's just WV weather. Outside temps were in the 80s and 90s with attic temps in the 120s.
Good luck with your project and thank you so much for watching!
Thank you so much for posting - I was about to buy this one. But I will now extend the size of the attric entrace. May I ask which attric ladder are you planning to install? Thanks in advance
We installed a Century Aluminum Attic Ladder with a rough opening size of 25.5 x 54. We purchased this ladder at Lowe's. It has been a much better option for our needs as far as affordability and access space.
Good luck on your project!
Thanks for the helpful video. Which brand did you end up with?
Hey Ty,
You're welcome, thank you for watching and supporting the channel!
We ended up going with the
Century Elite Aluminum Attic Ladder
Item #1599686 Model #AL2511R5
from Lowes.
We hope this helps!
Have a wonderful day!
I have small opening and bought telescope ladder 330lb capacity years back, lightweight and easy to store in closet. Hvac in attic and they use this ladder to service up there. Amazon for $99 Bowoshen Telescoping Ladder 12.5ft Aluminum Telescopic Extension Multi Purpose Steps Non-Slip 330 lbs Capacity for Indoor Outdoor Work.
That sounds like a great solution if you're not up in the attic all that often. Those are handy, compact ladders.
Thanks for watching 😃
I have the 25x47 fakro with scissor stairs and it's perfect for storage but I would not go smaller. The scissor stairs are far better than trimming a ladder and much easier to open and close. The smaller sizes are good for work and maintenance access but not storage.
Yep, we can definitely agree that the smaller ones are handy for maintenance access only. Stepping up to a larger opening opened up the option for a cheaper trifold attic ladder. That made the most sense for us.
Thank you for watching.
Thanks for your great information. I was about to purchase one same size now I’m not 👍🏼
Hey Scott!
You're welcome. I'm glad we could help you with your decision. 😃
Have a wonderful day!
was wondering what brand of attic ladder you chose to replace for this brand. thank you!
Hey Julie!
We ended up going with the
Century Elite Aluminum Attic Ladder
Item #1599686 Model #AL2511R5
from Lowes.
We hope this helps!
Thank your for watching.
Thanks for the video! How tall is your ceiling? is it 8'? Also, my opening is 29x29. Will this work or will I have to pull out the 2x4 and make more room?
Hey Mike,
Yeah, our ceiling is 8ft tall. Those dimensions seem a touch to narrow if memory serves me. Our original opening was framed to 27.5 x 31.5, I believe. It may pay to frame out for a larger ladder IF you will be using it often to allow for easier access. Otherwise, a little modification to one dimension of your opening should allow you to install something like the original Fakro model we started with.
Hope this helps!
Have a wonderful day!
@@thelarewsdo Awesome. Thanks for the quick reply!
I avoided this model after seeing your review and went with the LMS model. What I want to know is what size screws did you use since it doesn't come with any hardware?
Hey Thomas,
We are glad our video was able to help you out! We went with #8 or #9 - 3 inch wood deck screws. We framed the opening to be a tight fit, slid it up in place and anchored it with the screws. On the one we used, the end that the door hinges on had L-brackets with holes so we utilized them as anchor points also. We used around a dozen screws total and it seems rock solid.
Thanks for watching!
I have a Uk business installing loft ladders and the ladder dimensions are not reflective to usable space.....my no 1 conversation before i even show options ....been to many houses where a ladder has been thrown in cheap then client can not get anything down as hole is now smaller with the ladder fitted
We realized usable space was not equivalent to rough ladder dimensions. Given identical rough dimensions--the Fakro ladder's usable space vs a folding ladder's usable space is quite decreased due to lay-out of the ladder hardware. And Fakro is anything but cheap!
Thank you for watching! Have a great day!
Which ladder did you end up installing?
Hey James,
It is a Centry Elite Aluminum Attic Ladder from Lowes.
The only complaint we have is that the length of the fold out legs aren't equal, which makes our situation difficult. For instance, if our attic ladder is 9 ft, it tri-folds out 3ft, 5ft, & 1ft instead of something better like 3ft, 3ft, & 3ft.
Hope that makes sense and helps!
Have a wonderful day!
Usually I will contact a company and offer them my idea(s) as to how they could change their design, or whatever, so that their product may better meet their customers' needs. I did learn from your video that I will need to purchase a larger ladder. My concern, however, is price. If this one is $700.00, how much would a larger one cost?
Hey Paul,
The company actually contacted us via one of the earlier comments on this video.
If your heart is not set on the accordion style stairs, a larger, quality set of bi-fold attic stairs will cost you under $200.00.
Thanks for watching! Feel free to contact us if you have anymore questions.
I wonder what attic stairs they decided to get?
Hey,
It is a Centry Elite Aluminum Attic Ladder from Lowes.
The only complaint we have is that the length of the fold out legs aren't equal, which makes our situation difficult. For instance, if our attic ladder is 9 ft, it tri-folds out 3ft, 5ft, & 1ft instead of something better like 3ft, 3ft, & 3ft.
Hope that makes sense and helps!
Have a wonderful day!
It looks like a well built product that suited your initial space requirements and most all of your complains are not about the quality of product but actually about your own design limitations? And who goes into the attic in sock feet anyway?🤦♂️
To each his own and we don't wear shoes inside of our home.
Thanks for watching.
Have a wonderful day.
Thanks for doing this review! You helped me to decide not to buy this brand of attic ladder
Thank you for watching! We are glad we could help!
Have a wonderful day!
Forgive me but all of the cons you list are do to your own restrictions, I don't see how any attic stair could measure up given that small of an access point, most attic stairs will generally be at least 47 to 54 inches long which is more than enough, would recommend you guys just take a moment to do a little carpentry and extend the opening, from the video it seems you have the ceiling space but I can see how your trusses are laid out.
Hey James,
We did end up extending the opening and installed a larger set of stairs. They were actually considerably less expensive also.
We would have potentially kept the Fakro stairs, if the hinges would have not taken up so much of the opening. Prior to having the stairs, we utilized the original opening with a step ladder and was able to store what we needed without much issue. The Fakro stair's design reduced our usable opening to the point that we ran into the issues we discussed in the video.
We appreciate your feedback.
Thank you for watching!
Great ladder. Small hole.
Expensive ladder that makes a small hole smaller ,but it is decently constructed if that is all you can use. Just watch the steps, they are a bit slick.😀
Thank you for watching
@@thelarewsdo Don't expect a cheeper ladder will extend the whole... 😉
Nope, but since we chose to extend the opening, there were a lot more ladder options at more competitive prices.
Thank you for watching. 😀
Honest.
This is the way.
Thank you, Joe. We try to be as transparent as possible.
Thank you very much for watching!
Have a wonderful day.
Not to mention the cheap finger jointed lumber they use for the frame. Poorly stapled together and not even square out of the box. Just got my 22x47 LMS and am very disappointed
If I remember correctly, when we installed this we had a similar experience. We had to "conform" the ladder frame to fit into the square hole we had framed out.
Thank you for watching!
Two legs won't hold as much donuts and got cocoa like a four legged ladder would
Lol It just depends on if the 4 legged ladder is rated for more than 350lbs, I guess. And who keeps donuts and hot chocolate in their attic? 🤣
@@thelarewsdo serious risks to fall and pinch injuries here on this contraption
Please do not store donuts and cocoa in the attic, like someone I know
Do it Your Self nightmare. Dude, next time check you R/O and or make a larger opening
Hey,
The opening was ok until the original ladder was installed and we realized the inefficiency for the ladder to utilize the R/O. The hinges could have been designed differently to not close the opening up as much.
Thank you for watching and supporting the channel.
Have a wonderful day.
OK, so basically everything that’s wrong with it besides, the steps that can be easily fixed by applying adhesive tape is because you bought the wrong size. Got it, thanks.
Hey CaptainMcFarthead,
We bought the appropriate size for the opening, but the inefficient design of the hinges overly decreased the size of the opening. This rendered the space unusable for anything other than occasional attic access, and only as long as you are of small stature. That is the point we are trying to get across. If one has intentions of using this to access the attic to store stuff they will not be able to even get a normal sized tote through the hole after the ladder is installed.
Thank you for watching and the sunshine you bring to the world.
Have a wonderful day!
They make bigger ones though
They do ,but for the price we chose to go with a different bi-fold unit from another manufacturer for 1/4 the cost of the Fakro. Thank you for watching.
Socks??? who goes up into their attic in socks???
Someone who doesn't wear shoes in the house and keeps a pair at the top of the attic steps.
Have a great day.
Well,for 2 fire officer,I assume from the video,it's your own fault for not doing your research,and then complaining about it afterwards!
That's a big negative ghost rider. We did plenty of research and the issue is not the size of the original opening it's the inefficiency of the ladder's design that eats up needed space making access more limited. We explained this. If a person purchases this ladder expecting to utilize more than 80% of the opening size, they will be disappointed. So we were simply shining some light on some of the issues that one could not realize from research alone. Not sure the point of your fire officer comment, but I hope that straightened up some of your misconceptions.
wrong ladder for you.
Hey Edi,
It could have been the right ladder if the hinge design was different to allow for more usable space in the opening. The way the ladder opened it used up an additional 4 inches of the opening. This 4 inches was the difference of being able to fit a normal tote in the attic and not.
Thanks for watching :)