Best Loft Ladders for Elderly
The key things we advise our customers to consider are ease-of-use, stability and safety. Factors such as durability and maintenance are also important, especially where the loft ladder is a long-term investment.
Therefore, which loft ladders are best for elderly people?
Concertina loft ladders
Concertina loft ladders are often overlooked by elderly customers, mainly due to fears of instability. However, a good quality concertina loft ladder provides provides a very stable and solid means of access to a loft. Another benefit is that they tend to be very easy to extend and retract, thanks to spring-assisted operation. It also means that the ladder will not fall to the ground under its own weight.
Furthermore, concertina ladders are manufactured from metal (normally aluminium) components, and so are very durable and provide many years of regular use. This is great for those looking for a long-term investment to future-proof their home.
Electric loft ladders
An electrically operated loft ladder offers the most convenient access to a loft and therefore a superb option for elderly people. At the press of a button, the ladder will open and extend to the ground, without any sort of manual intervention. The best electric loft ladders also feature an automatic safety stop in case of an obstruction, as well as battery back-up and manual override.
However, an electric loft ladder is much more expensive than an equivalent manually-operated ladder. Also, you need to consider the additional cost associated with installation, especially if an electricity supply needs to be added to your loft.
Folding Wooden Loft Ladders
Folding wooden loft ladders offer the benefit of a rigid ladder and desirable timber aesthetics. Almost all offer a counter-balanced hatch, which can be opened with ease. The ladder can then be unfolded and extended to the ground. Whilst the effort needed to un-fold and fold is not that great, it often requires quite a lot of bending, which may present an issue for some. Also, for high ceilings, folding ladders can become quite cumbersome to operate.
What loft ladders should be avoided?
Firstly, avoid any loft ladder that does not have some sort of descent control/counter-balance to the point at which it can be controlled by hand. For example, the loft hatch should have some sort of spring mechanism to stop the hatch and door swinging fully open under its own weight. If the ladder operates independently of the hatch then elderly people should avoid a ladder that is not counter-balanced.
Also, we generally don’t recommend pull-out sliding loft ladders to any of our customers, but especially those who are elderly or future-proofing their home. We find that these can be more cumbersome to operate and we have come across dangerous examples of this ladder type when visiting sites. Furthermore, sliding ladders take up valuable space within the loft.
To Summarise…
Where budget is not an issue, an electric loft ladder is without-doubt the most convenient and easiest way to access your loft. However, it is a very expensive investment and is probably not worth it for just getting down the Christmas decorations. Instead, we would recommend buying the best manually operated ladder that is within your budget.
For example, the heavy-duty Supreme concertina loft ladder can be operated with minimal effort and is a great alternative to an electric loft ladder. It also benefits having very deep treads and handrail as standard. Alternatively, the Ecco is a lighter-duty concertina ladder that is perfectly suited for occasional use. Its space-saving design and made-to-measure hatch box also means it can be installed into quite small ceiling apertures.
The important thing is that you choose a loft ladder that you are comfortable operating and suits your specific needs. Please feel free to contact us to discuss your requirements and we would be pleased to offer some recommendations.
We hope you found this helpful!
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