Has anyone come up with an easy to operate counter-balanced or spring-assist means mechanism for basement trap doors that they are happy with?
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Some of these smart devices are more than a leak alarm—they can help you understand your water usage and diagnose plumbing problems.
Featured Video
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
You mean one you're gonna get your mother-in-law to stand on?
(Do you mean "bulkhead door", perhaps?)
No, but Bilco has a newer poly unit that I imagine has much lighter doors than the old steel ones. The steel ones do have a spring of sort on them but are still a little bit heavy.
If you are dealing with wood, I'd suggest ripping it off and converting over to poly or steel just so that you wont have to do it again for a long long time.
Many call it a Dorothy door (straight from the Wiz of Oz) or Bilco as well.
thanks for yer input--i wasn't specific enough. I'm dealing with a trap door in an interior (wood) floor, with a steep stairway (ship's ladder, almost) descending to a basement, which has washer and dryer in this very tiny house (about 550 sq.ft., so no great alternative elsewhere in this place) So this trap door will get used a couple of times a week==so naturally, i want to make it easy to use. Lots of options out there for attic hatches, but basement trap doors??
(this is in Quebec, and up here, outside basement hatches are non-existent)
Gas springs are commonly available in all kinds of ratings.But I suspect that you need this to open well over 90 degrees gas struts wouldn't be very good..
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
where the confusion comes in on this is that you are speaking of a floor hatch. A trap door drops down like in the movies. You want it to lift up on the hinge.It is a difficult problem. No solution from me. Sorry
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I've seen commercial ones, and I's sure something is made. Something for a wood floor is gonna be harder to find.Should be able to do OK with a welded frame and gas struts, though.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
I'd get some replacement hatchback struts at the auto parts store, and noodle around with something like this - one on either side.
View Image
Forrest
Edited 7/26/2007 6:49 am by McDesign
Bilco has all kinds of floor/hatch doors in their Commercial line......I don't know what is allowed in your locale.......http://www.bilco.com/foundations/store/scresults.asp?ngroup=3&category=97Question.....how do you carry the laundry basket on a "ladder" :-)
Never mind the laundry basket, how did the washer & dryer get down there?"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
eddie, THAT'S a real good question! client takes possesion of the house on the first--you bet i'm checking that out! (the hatch--thankyou piffin--is a good bit smaller than 30 by 28, as i remember. i once took out a basement window and a few cement blocks to get a hot water tank into myown basement---that had real ship-type stairs)
we aren't too concerned here about re-doing flooring--it's getting redone anyway. The hatch arms might just be the thing---if the hatch stays open only at 90-plus degrees, and stays firm, i just might fix a decent handhold to the underside.
Thanks, all
Can't give any specific recommendations, but if you're talking about something like a hatch, you might want to look into boat hardware. My dad was a boatbuilder and had specific catalogs of marine products (including things like hardware and hinges), in addition to the usual woodworking catalogs. Our boat had a hatch that was part of the deck so we walked on it all the time and it had to be strong, but it also opened up wide and stayed open by itself (despite movement of the boat) because we had to get all the sail bags in and out through it. So, you might want to google "marine hardware catalogs" or something and see what shows up.
You might ask around at the local historical society, etc. They may know of a house with one.
In the late 50's, I was a tiny tyke ... too young for school .... living in a second floor apartment in St. Louis. The laundry and coal bin were in the basement. To get there, you exited the apartment, descended a long flight of stairs, reached the 1st floor landing, then turned around, stooped over, grabbed a handle on the bottom step and ... LIFTED. This revealed another flight of stairs under the first one.
Even at the age of 3 I could open the stairs. Oh- on the way down, you were supposed to pull a cord, drawing the stairs closed above you.