How To Install A Library Ladder
DIY Rolling Library Ladder Tutorial
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Feb 24, 2022
SHARe
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I love rolling library ladders! My initial love stemmed from watching the Disney movie "Beauty and the Beast". I loved the library ladder in the bookshop that Belle rolled then gracefully across the room on! I knew I wanted a rolling ladder somewhere in the house. In the cease, we decided to put one in the chief cupboard! Keep reading for a total DIY rolling library ladder tutorial!
Estimated reading fourth dimension: 11 minutes
Notation: This mail may incorporate affiliate links that won't change your cost merely may share some commission.
The Plan
When nosotros renovated our master closet we created custom built-ins using the Ikea PAX wardrobe system. (To see all the main closet makeover details cheque out DIY Custom Closet on a Upkeep). It's a fairly small space and a rolling ladder allows me to reach the high shelves without having a stool or stepladder taking up valuable floor infinite!
There are rolling library ladder kits available online that come with a track, mounting hardware, wheels and ladder. However, most of the kits include ladders that are too large or the angle is wrong and they are super expensive! So we knew that for our small principal closet we were going to take to get creative and build our ain! We needed a track that was only five ft long and a petite ladder that would fit the space. I also wanted a pretty blonde wood!
The Hardware
Instead of using rolling library ladder hardware we bought a barn door hardware kit! I institute ane with a track that was 60″ long. This runway fit perfectly into the space without having to cut it!
The barn door kit immune usa to mount the ladder in a more vertical position so that information technology didn't beetle out into the small amount of flooring space!
We bought a rolling ladder kit from Amazon and used the wheels that came with the kit. They were almost impossible to find separately! (We sold the rails that came with them!)
The Wood
We splurged a flake on the wood! Mark found gorgeous solid maple wood in three ane/two″x v/4″ pieces. And yes, that says 5/four″. (This type of forest is made slightly larger than 1″ so that when it's cut downwards its finished size is one″)!
We ended upwards with pieces that were 1″ 10 2 ane/2″ after Mark cut them down to the size we wanted. We found this wood at Windsor Plywood here in Edmonton, AB.
DIY Rolling Ladder Tutorial
Here'southward how nosotros made this simple, petite ladder to fit our small space!
Supply Listing
- Woods – 3 10 8′ lengths of (3 1/2″ x v/4″) maple or forest of choice and flake wood to brand a jig for the notches in the side track.
- Level & pencil
- C clamps & wood glue
- Palm Router with three/4 in. Straight 2-Flute Router Bit
- Mitre saw to cutting lengths of wood
- Tablesaw if you need to make rip cuts (to make thinner pieces)
Check out this video if y'all need more information on using a tabular array saw.
- Cordless drill & 3/16″ drill flake
- Apartment five/viii″ Allen head Lag bolts, 2″ length (look prettier than screws)
- Allen key
- Sandpaper – 100 Grit & 220 Grit
- Waterbased varnish & three″ flat cut paintbrush
Ladder Build Instructions
The ladder we congenital is 15″ broad and eighty″ tall with 13.v″ wide rungs! This petite size was just correct for our small master closet, but you could scale yours to whatever size you need for your infinite!
STEP 1: Cutting your forest
Cutting 2 ten (80″H 10 two 1/2″ D ten 1″ W) pieces of woods to brand the side rails of your ladder using a mitre saw.
Cutting 5 x (13″50 x ii 1/2″ D x ane″ H) pieces of woods to make your ladder rungs using a mitre saw.
For more info on using a mitre saw cheque out this Intro to Using a Mitre Saw video!
Stride ii: Marking where your ladder rungs will go
Place the ladder side rails in the space you will be installing the ladder at the angle y'all wish to install it. Concord up i of your ladder rungs and utilize a level to make certain the stride volition exist flat.
Trace the rung with a pencil to marking where to notch the side rail.
Build a jig around the lines that were drawn to allow y'all to reproduce the aforementioned bending for each additional rung. We used fleck wood and wood gum. Use C clamps to hold the structure until the gum dries. (Nosotros will take a tutorial on this soon if you lot need a fiddling more help with this part!)
HOT TIP: Yous need to build two jigs – one for the left side rail and one for the right side rail. You lot can't use the same jig for both sides!
STEP 3: Router notches in the side runway
Clamp the jig you fabricated onto the side rail and router a ane/4″ deep notch into the rail. The palm router will sit down on top of the jig and you can adjust the depth of the scrap.
Make 5 notches on each side track. Start at the lesser and notch every 14″.
STEP 4: Install the rungs of the ladder
Clamp the rungs in place and drill holes through the side rails into the rungs. Use the Allen key lag screws to secure.
Stride v : The Finishing Piece of work
Now that you lot've put it all together, take it all apart lol! Disassemble the pieces and sand down whatever rough spots with 100 grit sandpaper. Round the edges of each component merely slightly for a overnice smooth end. And so sand it all again with the finer 220 grit sandpaper until information technology'due south buttery smooth!
Next, seal with the clear waterbased varnish. Apply ii or 3 coats every bit per the instructions on the product. Now you tin put it back together again!!
Rolling Ladder Installation
Nosotros mounted the rails direct onto the front of the Ikea cabinets at the top using the lag bolts that came with the track.
We used a 7/sixteen″ drill chip to predrill holes into the peak of the cabinets and and then secured the rails to the cabinets.
By installing the ladder more than vertically than is typical, we were able to save floor space in the cupboard. A typical rolling ladder would have extended into the heart of the closet at the base.
A con of installing the ladder vertically similar this is that it does make it harder to climb! I but need to step on the kickoff rung of the ladder to reach the elevation shelf so this wasn't an issue for me! But something to keep in listen if y'all need to actually climb upwardly higher!
Next, we fastened the back of the ladder to the track hardware using the supplied bolts. The roller wheels accept enough flexibility to allow the ladder to sit at a slight bending as designed.
We attached the wheels to the outsides of the side rails. Make sure they are installed vertically to the floor to let them to roll properly.
See The Finished Production
I'm and then happy that my dreams of having a rolling library ladder take come up true! Nosotros definitely had to go artistic to make it happen. I hope this DIY rolling library ladder tutorial will inspire y'all to install a rolling ladder somewhere in your home too! Maybe there's a infinite in your domicile that this petite version might merely fit! Any questions? Merely get out a comment at the end of this mail service!
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Source: https://thegingerhome.com/diy-rolling-library-ladder-tutorial/
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