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I decided to hang an attic stairway in the ceiling of my
garage. I cut a hole in the drywall, carried up the preassembled unit, set it
in the attic space and added a few supports to complete the rough framing. To
make the job easier, I nailed a 2x4 across the opening below to support the
stair assembly while I climbed up and over into the rough opening to work from
above. I set the unit into the opening, letting the 2x4 support the weight.
This was such a good idea!
After I drove my last nail, I quickly
realized I couldn’t let the stairway down because of the 2x4 across the
opening. I didn’t have a cat’s paw or a pry bar to work the nails
free, so I just sat and waited for my wife to get home. When I heard her enter
the house, I started yelling. She came out to the garage, removed the 2x4, let
the ladder down and didn’t say a word about my ingenious installation
method. She didn’t have to—I could read it all over her
face.
