Insulating Bessler sliding attic stairs

Has anyone had experience installing a Bessler sliding staircase? These are the attic stairs that are all one piece, rather than the more cusromary folding stairs. They pull down from the ceiling, and slide back up into the attic when closed. (They can be seenat BESSLER.COM) What I have concerns about is how to insulate them, after installed.. Folding stairs can be encased in an insulated box or cover, when retracted up in the attic. The sliding stairs, being all one piece, approx. 10 feet long, look too unwieldy to be tightly insulated. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I called the company, and they seemed like it was the first time that they had ever heard of insulating attic stairs.
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Sorry to hear that you have the attic stair problem. I would like to see them go the way of the dinosaurs as they are a pain to insulate and airseal without at least 1/2- 3/4 of a day's labour. There are no easy solutions for yours except to maybe remove them and install a pre-built insulated and weatherstripped hatch- a great piece of energy conservation gear.
Thanks for the response. You got me intrigued with oyur mention of insulating such stairs with 1/2-3/4 of a day's work. What specifically would you recommed doing during this half day, to insulate the sliding stairs? I am fairly capable with tools & techniques, this being my third "fixer upper" house. I like the rigidity and shallower angle (rise) of the Bessler stairs, compared to the more common folding stairways.
You already have my answer about rebuilding/insulating/weatherstrpping the door!!
I`ve installed Bessler stairs in the past, but not recently. Having spoken to the manufacturer, you`d know better than I....but I could swear they offered a model or models with an insulated door.
Perhaps I`m imagining. If thats the case, perhaps you could replace the the stock door (hatch) with a more solid custom made version, and add your own weatherstripping.
Lemme get this straight....
YOU BANNED REZ?!?!
Holy bagels and lox Batman!
Thanks for the input. The existing panel doors that come with the stairs are reported to be hollow core. I was considering two possible options :
1) Replacing the hollow core door with a homemade version, with foam insulation in all interior voids, between two skins of 1/2" paint grade plywood (poplar or luan). I would need to have solid wood in all areas that would receive crews, to mount hardware.
2) Using the door supplied by Bessler, but cover the whole thing with an insulated homemade hatch door, as above. The opening in the ceiling would have to be 2-3 inches deeper than usual, to accomodate the additional door.
What do you think? Do either of these make sense?
You definetly made the right choice in stairs. Bessler is top quality and the sliders (so long as you can spare the clearance space) make accessing your attic at least 50% easier than with the typical fold downs.
Like I said.....its been a while since I`ve installed a set....so I`m trying to recall their construction.
Is it possible, either before installation or after, to remove the hollow core "door", and replace it with a solid core rather than try and modify the one that comes with the set?
Lemme get this straight....
YOU BANNED REZ?!?!
Holy bagels and lox Batman!
Actually, I haven't bought the stairs yet. I have just ordered the set from my local lumberyard.
I did have a further conversation with Bessler, about insulating the door. The woman in their customer services department told me that there should be sufficient space between the ladder and the door to apply rigid foam insulation. She said that the amount of space would vary, depending on my distance from ceiling to attic floor. In my case, this will be 12 inches, so she said I would have lots of space. Does this sound logical?
Thanks for the input.
Actually, that might work out real well. You`ll just need to make sure that whatever you put there doesn`t infringe on the clearance of the stairs sliding as you open and close the unit.
I may actually be checking into a purchase of these satirs over the weekend. I`ll let you know if I find any info that might be helpful.
Lemme get this straight....
YOU BANNED REZ?!?!
Holy bagels and lox Batman!