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stira and attic flooring

I am about to get a stira fitted and also get them to floor out the attic for storage.Has anyone been down that road and how did it work out
 
Re: stira and attic flooring

We had a stira fitted a few years ago and it is brilliant. Our's had to be specially made up as we have it in the celing in our hotpress. The bottom half is double jointed to allow it to open & close easily in a small space. The gentleman who came & measured and fitted stairs was very nice and helpful & even put architrave around the opening without being asked.

We had put up 8 x 4 sheets of ply in attic before plasterboards for celing underneath went up to save hassle in flooring later on. Hubby floored it himself.
 
Re: stira and attic flooring

We also had one fitted - stira and flooring, and an attic window. Got it done several years ago and it was a great job.
 
Re: stira and attic flooring

May I ask how much it cost to have a basic stira fitted and attic partially floored for storage?
 
Re: stira and attic flooring

All the prices are on Stira's website depending on what size you want. For example, here are the prices for 8ft standard ladder: [broken link removed]
 
Re: stira and attic flooring

They are also advertising [broken link removed] - you could probably do that much cheaper yourself if you have the time - it doesn't really need to a piece of master craftsmanship if it's hidden up the attic.
 
Re: stira and attic flooring

Stira are very expensive. Most building suppliers stock equivalents for around the €120 mark if you want to fit it yourself or know someone you can pay a few quid to fit it.

I've also seen ads posted in the door including fitting at far less than €400
 
Re: stira and attic flooring

Shay O Toole said:
I am about to get a stira fitted and also get them to floor out the attic for storage.Has anyone been down that road and how did it work out
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Buy a stair from woodies/B&Q and get someone handy to help you, bith should it in about 4-6 hours save you a few hundred
 
Re: stira and attic flooring

I had Superior Attic Ladders (from Limerick) supply and fit a Dolle attic stairs today. Took one man about 3 hours. Did a good clean job, and Eur 100 cheaper than Stira.

My mother has a Stira in her house and I would consider the Dolle to be a more solid stairs. Also, the Dolle door is insulated with polystyrene and a rubber gasket seal, compared with the non-insulated Stira my mother has.

Would definitely recommend Dolle over Stira. Also, Superior Attic Ladders for fitting in mid-west area.
 
We got our attic done last week from a company called atticspacesolutions.com, a flyer comethrough the door,

We got a fold down stira type ladder 100 ft of flooring and a light and switch fitted.

it was all fitted very well for cheaper than a stira.

Our neighbour got a stira and the main difference we noticed is stira fit the ladder and put un painted architrave around it and the whole botttom of it is brown. this other crowd have a white base on it and the architrave is finished with white gloss paint so it blends in well with the ceilings
 
Re: Attic Ladder

Carpenter said:
Legend99
No, I think you'll find most doors are standard. I had a tight fit on the one I installed in my own house. I had to plane down the sides very slightly and this combined with some gentle persuasion (hammer) allowed me to ease it into the slot. However my door was only a few mil over size. If you have a cut roof you can cut and trim the ceiling joists relatively easily to suit the door. If the roof is trussed you cannot modify the timber joists without impairing the structure of your house, certainly not without consulting an engineer. Try locating the door elsewhere and see if truss spacings are more favourable.
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I was going to get a Stira but I had second thoughts when the Installer said he would have to cut a main load bearing joist supporting the roof.
Went for a cheap solution, I bought a Youngmans 3 stage aluminium loft ladder from Woodies for €70. I installed it myself hardest part was having to make a drop down trapdoor. After having made and fitted the trapdoor the rest of the installation can be done in less than an hour.
this ladder would not be of the same quality as a Stira , but it suits my purposes and it does not in any way interfere with the support structure of the roof.
 
Can personally recommend atticladders.com, got them from this.
Got a package with widening of opening, flooring, a very sturdy wooden ladder & a light. Very impressed with the service & result. They turned up on time on the day arranged & had the job done in a few hours with min fuss.
 
Have used a Stira - pretty good but expensive enough - anyone use this one from http://www.woodiesdiy.com/productdetail.aspx?pid=1876&loc=P&catid=11.6.1 (woodies)?
 
Just tried McMahons and Brooks in Cork looking for the Dolle as recommended here and neither do it. Both of their products are uninsulated. Seems a shame these days when there should be 10" insulation in the attic that you just have a thin sheet of ply in a trap door to keep the heat in. Only the bedroom has room for the stairs ladder with the trusses/water tank in the way so I would like to go the insulated ladder option.

Did a search for Dolle in Cork and came up with the following:

Dolle Attic Stairs, Douglas Cork, Cork, (087)2902907. Dolle Attic Stairs, Douglas Cork, Cork, (021)4361067

Rang them and they quoted Hobby version with 20mm insul for 385 fitted
Asked them about Deluxe and they said they could order it: Deluxe version with 50mm insul for 525 fitted
No extra charge for new hole unlike Stira, which is uninsulated. (quote 540 I think)

Would like to hear if anyone has used the Douglas people, or knows anyone else in Cork/East Cork to fit a Dolle
 
I want to get an attic ladder fitted - lots of good advice here, thanks everyone! But...I want to know if there's a certain angle that the ladder has to come down at, as I have cupboards built in the rather large landing space. The ladder would have to clear the tall cupboard and so would be at a less acute angle than I see in all the pictures.

Anyone know if there's a restriction on the angle? Thanks
 
Get Recommendations!

Just a reminder to be sure to always get references - I learned the hard way last week/this weekend about doing this before taking someone on. Needing my attic floored for storage, with a new ladder and light, I hired a youngish guy called Mark who contacted me online, as my partner and I both 'thought' he seemed reliable and was grateful for the work. He said he'd start on Friday and finish the job off on Saturday (Saturday was his suggestion, not ours).

He was due to arrive by 10.30 on the Friday to start, but actually didn't turn up until about 12.45 (with no phone call) blaming this on stock issues at the builders providers. When he left at 6pm on the Friday, he said that he'd be back the next morning to finish off, would do a full day, and agreed that he would be there by 10am, as we had to leave for an appointment.

Yes, you've guessed it 10am on Saturday came and went, we no sign of the tradesman. No answer from his phone either. We had to leave and when my partner eventually got him on the phone at 3pm, he made no apology and said that he had had a personal matter to attend to. He agreed to come the next day, Sunday instead.

Sunday of course came and went with no sign of the elusive Mark. For good measure, he'd also switched his phone off, and didn't reply to my calls or texts.

Come today, Monday morning at 8.10, and Mark had magically resurrected, and was hammering at my front porch (though still unable to ring me), which I had thoughtfully locked, as he'd left some materials in there. We left him outside, and when my partner left at 8.30, he told Mark to wait in his van until 9.30 - when I let him in. And was there even an apology at this point? No! He just said that instead of turning up to finish our job, he'd "gone to Oxegen, partied, and gotten wrecked".

What a joker. GET REFERENCES. Lots of them:)
 
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