Ladder/stairs against wall instead of loft - bad idea?

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Small Cabin Forum / Cabin Construction / Ladder/stairs against wall instead of loft - bad idea?

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willywilly2020
Member

# Posted: 9 Sep 2020 02:27am
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Hi friends! Cabin build is going swimmingly (and by swimmingly I mean all I want to do is drop kick my busted planer)!

I'm doing some forward looking planning toward my loft stairs. Basically going to build a glorified ladder up to my low loft. I'd really like to be able to build the ladder "leaning" up against the wall instead of against the loft (See rough sketch). Is the a bad idea? Would it be a bad load on my wall over time?

Thanks friends!

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willywilly2020
Member

# Posted: 9 Sep 2020 02:28am
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Take two!

IMG_3537.jpg

Brettny
Member

# Posted: 9 Sep 2020 07:17am
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The wall wont care about the small loss from a ladder. The window under the loft may care that theres no header to support the loft floor though. Same thing for the low head room side of the loft. The window under there dosnt have a header to support the loft floor.

WILL1E
Moderator

# Posted: 9 Sep 2020 08:05am
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I really like this style of cabin more and more...so much light coming in. Curious, which direction is that window side facing?

I would agree your windows, especially the ones under the loft joist, need headers.

Your wall should be fine with the ladder loads as a majority of the load is still going to the floor where the ladder touches the ground. If you bolted the ladder to the floor and wall, you'd actually be improving the rigidity of that wall by adding the ladder.

frankpaige
Member

# Posted: 9 Sep 2020 09:40am
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Have you considered? A ladder that is attached to the left (high) side of the loft and then pulled up out of the way? Do like all the windows. Enjoy

willywilly2020
Member

# Posted: 9 Sep 2020 12:30pm
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Quoting: Brettny

The wall wont care about the small loss from a ladder. The window under the loft may care that theres no header to support the loft floor though. Same thing for the low head room side of the loft. The window under there dosnt have a header to support the loft floor.

DANG. I didn't think of this. Is there any good way to correct this?

willywilly2020
Member

# Posted: 9 Sep 2020 12:32pm
Reply

This window on the right actually has a header, you just can't see it. The window on the left is supported by the beam that runs across the top of the wall, but it doesnt account for the loft (fail).

WILL1E
Moderator

# Posted: 9 Sep 2020 01:21pm
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It's hard to see in the picture, but could you just remove the 2 or 3 studs below the loft window, drop in the header and then shorten and add those 2-3 studs back in? Aside from the couple nails/screws for that loft header board you shouldn't have to disassemble anything else.

ratfink56
Member

# Posted: 10 Sep 2020 01:43pm
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6x6 post at the two corners of the high side supporting a header on the inside of the wall rather than a header in the wall?

DaveBell
Moderator

# Posted: 10 Sep 2020 01:52pm
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Another poorly engineered loft. Where is the independent loft framing transferring the loft load to the foundation? You added the loft load to the walls.

Brettny
Member

# Posted: 10 Sep 2020 02:55pm
Reply

You dont need a 6x6 to support a loft. 2 2x4/6 will work just fine. But either way you need a header over any opening under that loft. Add the header and use structural large head screws to attach the loft ledger to the wall.

It also would have been better and you wouldnt have exposed brackets if your loft floor joists sat on a jack stud in the walls. The brackets dont look to bad painted black though.