![stira wraparound hinge stira wraparound hinge](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/54/9d/06/549d06e571400ad94639ea029007b26e.jpg)
Its important to bear in mind that you should check both sides of the stairs, don’t assume that the floor is level. Leave about 1/4″ gap between the architrave and the actual trapdoor all around.Ĭutting to length is crucial to the proper sitting of the stairs on the floor. It's best to start at the front end of the opening with the trapdoor closed. Once the frame is secured you can remove the temporary laths and fit the architrave. To secure the frame to the joists use 80mm screws. The simplest way to do this is to drive a small wedge between the frame and the joist on the left hand side at the hinge end of the frame. If the inner frame is hitting the outer frame on the left hand corner then you need to move the outer frame forward on the left hand side. You may need to enlarge the opening slightly to allow the outer frame to move that little bit. The inner frame is catching the outer frame and the trapdoor does not close freely. If the trapdoor opens and closes freely click here to move to the next step if not continue scrolling down the page for problem solving. If the trapdoor does catch the frame may not be square. It’s important that the trapdoor opens and closes freely and that the door does not catch when closing. The trapdoor to make sure the frame is square. Once the temporary laths are in place you can lower the Stira into the opening.
#STIRA WRAPAROUND HINGE FREE#
The reason for this is so that when the Stira is positioned into the opening the frame of the Stira will rest on the laths and the trapdoor will be free to open.
![stira wraparound hinge stira wraparound hinge](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2c/1e/f6/2c1ef67ac0701b1a10140f93f6ba853b.jpg)
It’s important that the timber does not extend any more that 1/2″ into the opening. Any piece of waste timber will do, you could use the old architrave you removed earlier. Once you have the Stira in your attic you need to screw two pieces of timber to the underside of the ceiling at either end of the opening. At this stage you can fit the door handle before you raise the Stira into the attic. The best way to actually fit the Stira is to lower it into the opening from above. Once the opening is complete, we can move to the actual fitting. Once the plasterboard is cut away to the desired size you can now cut the rafter.ĭepending on how the rafters are running you may need to use a bridging piece to create the rectangular opening needed to fit the Stira. If you have a Jigsaw this makes the matter easier. The old fashioned way is to use a Stanley Knife to start the cut on the underside of the ceiling, once you have the cut started you can use an ordinary carpenters saw. You can cut the actual plasterboard in one of two ways. Measure the frame of the Stira and cut the opening 1/2″ (12mm) longer. Important! The Stira will arc about 14″ beyond the end of the opening as it is unfolding, so you should keep this in mind when fitting, you may need a new opening.
![stira wraparound hinge stira wraparound hinge](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/cf/06/23/cf06235490168956366d7cb5efde6760.jpg)
Just mark the length of the opening onto the plasterboard. Now you need to mark out the length of the opening. This should be removed so what you are left with is bare rafter. When you remove the old trapdoor you will see that there is a small lath around the opening on which the trapdoor sits.