Looking for plans and ideas for making a ships ladder

[williams130]

I am building a large loft (20' x 6' with 6.5' from floor to ceiling) in my garage that will be 7' off the floor and I'd like to make a ships ladder for access. Does anyone have any plans and/or suggestions for materials and construction?

Thanks,
Craig
:icon_scra

 

[Ray Martin]

Craig,

I'm not sure what your construction experience is, so I'm not sure what to offer here. The loft is a major undertaking and most likely requires a permit from Cary. You'll have to submit a detailed set of plans to the buildings folks in Cary in order to get the permit.

What plans or decisions have you come up with so far? You mentioned headroom of 6.5' in the loft area and 7' below the loft. Do these meet code requirements? How high is the ceiling in the garage now? You'll need about a foot for the loft floor (joists, sub-floor, floor). Do you have room to place load bearing columns or wall below the loft? The additional load on the exterior walls of the garage also has to be considered. What kind of a load will you place in / on the loft? Is this a light storage area or will you include stairs and people walking around on the loft floor?

Tell us a bit more about what you are planning and how the space is to be used and that way we can offer better advice.

Ray

 

[williams130]

I didn't want to ramble in my initial post so I just got straight to the point about wanting to make a ships ladder. Here are more details which I am happy to provide. I have an approved permit from the town of Cary to build a loft/platform in my garage. The front of the loft will be supported by an LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) beam which I installed Sunday (7/27/08. (whew!) The beam was designed to support 30 psf live load and 10 psf dead load. It is a 2-ply LVL beam 14" deep. The left and right ends of the beam are supported by jack studs that I installed in the existing garage side walls. On the back side of the loft I will install a 2 x 6 ledger board to the rear garage wall. I plan on using joist hangers to install the floor joists between the beam and the ledger board in the same plane as the beam. (The joist will not rest on top of the beam to conserve verticle space). After completing all the above I'll lay down some 3/4" plywood decking, add some shelves/railing and the ladder. I'd give more details now about the height dimensions but they are escaping me right now. I must have worked too hard yesterday installing the beam! I'll confirm these in my next reply tonight. I'd like to install the ships ladder on one end of the loft so that as you ascend the ladder you come up through a rough opening about 30" by 24" (maybe bigger?) in the loft floor.

I'm happy to share with anyone my plans and look foward to some feedback/ suggestions/ ideas.

 

[Gotcha6]

I'm not totally up to speed any more on residential codes, but you may want to check with your local Code Enforcement Official. IIRC, ship's ladders are not permitted as the principal means of egress for any habitable space. Attics are ok, but if you're planning a finished room up there, look out! You may be required to install a traditional stairway (no, spiral stairs don't count either DAMHIKT).

 

[jeff...]

How close are you to the water - could you install a diving board instead?

 

[DaveO]

I had no idea what a Ships Ladder was so I did a little Googling and ran across this -

I don't know if that will help you build yours but it helped me understand what you're asking about.

From what I've read 68º is about the right angle.



Dave

 

[Ray Martin]

Craig,

I hope you had loads of help with that beam... or maybe a couple of forklifts. I use LVL beams to support floor systems for houses... and they are insanely heavy.

Sorry I wasn't more help... I don't have plans for a ship's ladder. I assume that your won't be building any rooms up there since the loft will only be 6' deep.

Ray

 

[williams130]

More details: The loft is to be a storage loft and not a habitable space so I don't think there will be a concern for the headroom. I measured it last night and the distance from the floor to the bottom of the beam is 7'. The distance from the top of the deck to the ceiling will be about 6.5'. As far as installing the beam I installed most of the beam myself. (The specs require a 2-ply LVL and I installed each ply seperatly then nailed them together). I raised and set the left end in place with the right end on the floor. Then my wife and I raised the right end together. I made sure the left end didn't slip out of place by guiding and lifting the right end of the beam and my wife did most of the lifting using a hoist that I bought at Northern Tool for $10. Well worth the money. After nailing the first ply to the king studs we repeated the procedure with the second ply. Each single ply beam weighed about 160 lbs.
Regarding the ships ladder I found a website that had some design critera for safety:
http://www2.worksafebc.com/Publications/OHSRegulation/GuidelinePart13.asp#SectionNumber:G13.2(1)

I think I will try and make some sketches using these guidelines.