The Loft Ladder

Up, up and away, the Foxtail Lily, ( Eremurus ) are back. I worry about them because they are supposed to like sharp drainage and well it rains and snows all the time and the ground freezes into blocks of ice. There is ample moisture in the ground for sure. The steep drop off behind them won't allow for any standing water at least.



Not only are the Eremurus back, I see babies. The tiny grass or onion seedling like foliage in the center of the picture was directly below where I had dropped the finished flowers loaded with seeds. I imagine it will be a few years before they reach blooming size, but hey, they must be happy if they are reproducing. I'll have to spread the seed a little farther to other suitable full sun and well drained locations. The madness lives on in the next generation.



And there was another new arrival today. The trucking company fixed their van and managed to deliver the loft ladder I ordered from Alaco Ladder Company in California. The track was installed and the ladder was hung.



The out position.



The in position.



The track for the mini loft was also installed. I still need to drill holes through the tracks for some stop bolts that were included and that will prevent the track from sliding off the hooks. It was plenty steady without them, but safety first is a good idea.

One day soon I will even take that piece of plywood off the rafters and get it out of the cabin.

Climbing into the mini loft with the new ladder without the grab bars the main loft has does have me leaning strongly towards some type of railing with posts with a wider opening for the mini loft. Something very see through though, metal railings or wood posts with horizontal wire of some type perhaps. I can think about that later.



It was a little freaky at first climbing the new loft ladder after so many years of climbing up there a different way. It felt odd. So I climbed up and down, up and down, a whole bunch of times to get a feel for it. It felt good. It looks good too and will look even better after I stain it the same minwax cherry color as all the other wood in the cabin. I chose the unstained white oak so I could match it to all the other wood.



It is possible I installed the hooks the track slides on upside down. There was no picture in the instructions to show me. After thinking about it I decided I liked it better this way so when you look up you see the solid bar of the track instead of looking at the long cut the entire length of the track that lets it slide past the hooks. It really would work either way.

Whatever. I have a loft ladder now. Then I had a nap.

So if you end up here searching the world wide web for a loft ladder, Alaco Ladder Company is definitely worth the click. I got a custom built ladder to do exactly what I wanted in exactly the materials I needed to flow with the design elements of the cabin. I'm most happy.