Google has failed me, so I was hoping someone here might be able to steer me in the right direction.
My husband and I bought a house last year that has a trap door leading down into the basement. The previous owners had a system in place using gas springs to assist lifting the trap door up (it's pretty heavy, we are waiting on finding a scale to use, but my husband is estimating 150-200lbs), but shortly after moving in, one of the springs popped off the side and we think it was broken from the get-go. Currently I can't access our basement (which we use heavily for storage) without having my husband man-handle the door, and then we just stick a plank of wood in there to keep it propped open. Definitely not safe, and definitely not useful!
I've been browsing McMaster-Carr for parts to replace the old system, but I'm not much of a DIY-er, and this is just completely out of my realm. I really like the gas spring system and want to stick with that because I'm pretty sure the old one failed because it wasn't rated for the weight of the door or was installed improperly.
I've gone through and found a gas spring that is similiar in measurement (extended length) to the old one, and is rated for 150lbs. But I'm just not understanding which type of bracket I need to order with the spring.
Anyone have any advice? Anything I'm maybe overlooking? My husband brought of the idea of using a counterweight, but the door opens directly to stairs that curve around, so I don't want a weight hanging right over your head when you open the door, and I was worried about making sure I would be able to close it against the weight.
Here are pictures of the trap door closed (we have a hook that we use to get it lifted off the ground and then lift from there. Before the system broke, once we got it about an inch off the group, the springs kicked in and lifted it from there. To close I was able to just pull down on the door and once it was close to the bottom, put the hook back in and lower it all the way).
Here's the old gas spring that's still attached.
This link to imgur has a couple other pictures of the mountain equipment that failed.
http://imgur.com/a/woFxS
Thanks for any help or suggestions. I'm hoping if I can just order the right parts, it'll motivate my husband to actually install it. But who knows, maybe this can be my first house DIY? ;-) I'm open to any other suggestions for a system that allows people of all sizes to open and basement door.http://www.houserepairtalk.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/
My husband and I bought a house last year that has a trap door leading down into the basement. The previous owners had a system in place using gas springs to assist lifting the trap door up (it's pretty heavy, we are waiting on finding a scale to use, but my husband is estimating 150-200lbs), but shortly after moving in, one of the springs popped off the side and we think it was broken from the get-go. Currently I can't access our basement (which we use heavily for storage) without having my husband man-handle the door, and then we just stick a plank of wood in there to keep it propped open. Definitely not safe, and definitely not useful!
I've been browsing McMaster-Carr for parts to replace the old system, but I'm not much of a DIY-er, and this is just completely out of my realm. I really like the gas spring system and want to stick with that because I'm pretty sure the old one failed because it wasn't rated for the weight of the door or was installed improperly.
I've gone through and found a gas spring that is similiar in measurement (extended length) to the old one, and is rated for 150lbs. But I'm just not understanding which type of bracket I need to order with the spring.
Anyone have any advice? Anything I'm maybe overlooking? My husband brought of the idea of using a counterweight, but the door opens directly to stairs that curve around, so I don't want a weight hanging right over your head when you open the door, and I was worried about making sure I would be able to close it against the weight.
Here are pictures of the trap door closed (we have a hook that we use to get it lifted off the ground and then lift from there. Before the system broke, once we got it about an inch off the group, the springs kicked in and lifted it from there. To close I was able to just pull down on the door and once it was close to the bottom, put the hook back in and lower it all the way).
Here's the old gas spring that's still attached.
This link to imgur has a couple other pictures of the mountain equipment that failed.
http://imgur.com/a/woFxS
Thanks for any help or suggestions. I'm hoping if I can just order the right parts, it'll motivate my husband to actually install it. But who knows, maybe this can be my first house DIY? ;-) I'm open to any other suggestions for a system that allows people of all sizes to open and basement door.http://www.houserepairtalk.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/