Home · Hatches & Ladders
Hatches and ladders
A bigger opening, an insulated frame and a ladder that stays where it is.
The way in
Most people stop using the loft because of the hatch.
Not because of the space, and not because of the floor. Because the opening is small, the edge is high, and the only way up is a ladder carried from the garage. Fix the entrance and the loft becomes a room you use rather than a place you post things into.
A bigger, insulated hatch
Older houses were given a hatch wide enough for a person and nothing else, so a suitcase goes up at an angle and a boxed Christmas tree does not go up at all. We fit a larger opening where the joists allow it, in an insulated frame with a draught seal — an uninsulated hatch is a hole in the work you have just paid for, and it is usually where the draught in the landing was coming from.
A fixed loft ladder
Sized to the hatch and to the drop, fitted square, and tested with weight on it before we leave. Three-section aluminium for most houses, timber concertina where the landing is tight. The ladder folds away into the loft and the hatch closes flush.
A light at the top
Switched from the landing, so your hands are free on the ladder. A loft you cannot see in is a loft nobody uses, however well it is boarded.
What the survey checks
- Which way the joists run, because that decides how much the opening can grow.
- The drop from the ceiling to the floor, which sets the ladder.
- Whether there is a landing wall or a stair edge in the swing of the ladder.
- Anything in the ceiling void that has to move — cables, a pipe run, a light fitting.
Usually the same visit. Where a hatch and ladder are going in alongside insulation or boarding, they are done on the same day by the same crew. It is one price, one visit and one guarantee rather than two trades to book.
Hatches and ladders on their own are a short job and we are happy to quote for them that way. Ring 0161 222 8727 or send us your postcode.