Getting Rid of the Attic Access Cord
For the past several months we have been helping my son and his wife rehab a little 1950’s era rancher. We helped out in totally destroying their new home, sometimes known as demo, but we also put in several weekends installing trim and painting.
While they are not quite done all their finishing work we finally helped them move in this past weekend.
Their new old house has all new electrical, plumbing, roof, windows, walls, fixtures, insulation…
This is the newly installed attic access. The old attic access used to be enclosed within the walls of the stairwell and not really noticeable from the main living areas but with the tearing down of walls and a new open concept living room/ kitchen, there it is. That’s the kitchen with the lights and just to the right is the living room.
Didn’t even think about the attic access pull cord being an eyesore until it was installed. It was definitely not pretty.
It really needed some kind of camouflaged, concealed, low-key alternative. A hook of some sort and something to grab the hook with to pull down the attic stairs.
I knew the happy homeowners would not get to this project during the week with so many other things on their minds, like hot water and closet rods, so after doing a little research when I got home, I found they weren’t the only one with this problem. There is even an Attic-Ease Pull Rod – Brass
I checked my stash of junk and I already had a hook with the screw. I even had a screw eye I could use but I liked this U bolt that comes with the plate and nuts even better. Only needed a dowel to complete my parts.
Because I was making it for my son and daughter-in-law, I decided to pretty up the dowel a bit by sanding the ends.
If it was just for my own use, I probably would have left it as it was.
Predrill a hole in one end of the dowel, slightly smaller than the hook with the screw.
Screw in the hook.
I stained my dowel to make it prettier, but again, feel free to skip this step, it will probably just be put in a closet.
Take the U bolt and mark where the new holes will be drilled. The rope in the middle is the preexisting pull down string.
Drill the holes and insert the U bolt.
Tighten the nuts securely.
Because I drilled from the inside of the door access, the wood splintered around the holes…very cheap wood!!
Some paintable caulk filled in the splintering as well as the rope hole in the middle.
Let dry then paint with the attic door color.
The new attic access is not much to look at but that is sort of the point. The dowel is tucked in a closet until needed.
I installed and took these pictures the day they moved in with boxes and people everywhere. As soon as I get a good uncluttered picture, I’ll be sure to post.
Updated picture. The kitchen is 99% done, just need a board for the ledge. You can see the attic access in the upper right hand corner.
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At first, I thought you might install a pretty piece of hardware, perhaps to match the ones on the kitchen cabinets. But, you’re right—the whole point is for the attic access to be “invisible”. Good job. Not dramatic as some of your other projects are, but a needed update.