I’m interested in opinions as to why this attic stair pull-down assembly failed. The jamb completely failed, and broke in half and a service man fell 10’ to the ground on his back. Pictures provided. It is my opinion that improper fasteners were used and operation over time weakened the jamb until is severed and failed. You can see in the pictures; finishing nails, and a screw fastener that I cannot identity. There are certainly no 16d nails and I don’t believe these screws are the proper 1/4 X 3" lag screws/bolts. One of the finishing nails appears to have been driven through a natural wood knot in the jamb. Would that weaken the structural strength of the jamb and could that have contributed to the failure? Any and all opinions welcomed. Many thanks!
obviously improper installation, it is best to inspect for proper fasteners before using one of those pull down stairs as few seem to be properly installed…how big was the service man ???
No shims, incorrect fasteners in incorrect locations (16D nails or 3" lag screws only), fasteners missing from provided holes in the pivot plates and piano hinge brackets.
All the fasteners are bent straight down and most are still attached to the frame or joist. That tells me that the wood frame (still largely intact) pulled away from the fasteners. Possible causes:
Not installed per manufacturer’s instructions, including:
I see this often. And I write it up as a safety hazard. You unfortunately got to experience this first-hand.
Incorrect installation will not be warranted or guaranteed by the ladder manufacturer so your only recourse may be to go after the builder who ignored the safety instructions written multiple times on the instruction sheet and on stickers directly mounted to the product itself.
Thank you Bert. Thankfully this is not a house I inspected or had anything to do with. I am providing an opinion in a legal matter ongoing regarding this ladder. Poor guy hurt himself pretty good I’m told. As this is my first expert witness experience, I was just hoping to reinforce my opinion I was ready to submit, which I did thanks to the several responses.
Aside from the fastener issues already discussed, this really is a crappy piece of wood that was used at the factory. This is a great example of the comparatively poor quality of wood used today. The board is super-weak around that knot and it’s no coincidence it failed right around it.
I agree. Although the wrong fasteners were used, as is almost always the case, this might be just as much a material failure as an installation failure.
How is it that the header strip of the ladder (attached to the hinge) is still attached to the ladder? Were there no fasteners at all in it. That’s the most critical part to have fastened to the floor joists.
