Werner Easy Stow Loft Ladder

Is the Werner Easy Stow Loft Ladder worth buying?

Yes, the Werner Easy Stow Loft Ladder is worth buying if your loft floor sits up to 3 m above the room below and you want to spend as little as possible to reach it, at £79.99. It is a three-section aluminium ladder rated to 150 kg, and the Easy Stow spring carries the weight on the way down so the sections do not fall open above your head.

For a hatch you open every few weeks it does the whole job for under £80. For a hatch you open every weekend, the extra £7.00 for the Abru 37000 buys a stowing pole and a much longer owner record. Either way, the five-year manufacturer warranty is the longest on any ladder compared for this page.

How much does the Werner Easy Stow Loft Ladder cost per metre of reach?

Divide £79.99 by the 3 m it covers and the Werner Easy Stow works out at £26.66 for every metre of floor-to-ceiling reach. That is the lowest figure of any fixed loft ladder on this page, against £29.00 a metre for the Abru 37000 and £74.12 for the Youngman 301001.

In practice the gap is small in pounds but real: the Abru costs £7.00 more for the same 3 m, and the BPS Aluminium Slider costs £20.00 more at £99.99, which is £33.33 a metre. Nothing about the Werner's reach is reduced to get that price, because it still tops out at the full 3 m with a 150 kg load rating.

What do you get in the box with the Werner Easy Stow Loft Ladder?

The box holds the ladder and its fittings, and that is all: there is no stowing pole, so closing the last section means reaching up to the hatch by hand or with a hook you already own. The ladder measures 35.4 cm wide, weighs 6.9 kg and is finished in silver aluminium, light enough for one person to lift and seat in the opening.

The loft opening has to be long enough for the floor it passes through, and that length grows with the joists: 0.40 m for a 76 mm floor, 0.41 m at 102 mm, 0.43 m at 127 mm, 0.44 m at 153 mm, 0.45 m at 178 mm and 0.46 m once the floor reaches 203 mm. A handrail sits inside the loft at the top of the climb, which is where most people want a grip as they step off. Werner covers the ladder against defects in materials and workmanship for five years.

What are the drawbacks of the Werner Easy Stow Loft Ladder?

The owner record is the weakest part. It carries 4.2 from 297 owners, the lowest score among the top five fixed loft ladders compared for this page, and less than a third of the 1,049 owners behind the Abru 37000's 4.4. The ladder is not badly regarded, but you are buying with less other people's experience to lean on.

It is also the heavier of the two £80 ladders: 6.9 kg against the Abru's 5 kg, and 1.4 kg more than the 5.5 kg BPS Aluminium Slider. That extra mass shows up when you are holding the ladder overhead while a second person drills the fixings. And with no stowing pole in the box, the last section has to be pulled down and pushed up from floor level every time.

How does the Werner Easy Stow Loft Ladder compare with the Abru 37000 and the BPS Aluminium Slider?

The Abru 37000 costs £7.00 more at £86.99 and reaches the same 3 m, which is £29.00 a metre against the Werner's £26.66. In exchange it puts a stowing pole in the box, uses non-slip D-shaped rungs, weighs 5 kg instead of 6.9 kg and backs itself with 1,049 owner ratings at 4.4. If you expect to use the hatch often, that £7.00 is the best-value upgrade on this page.

The BPS Aluminium Slider at £99.99 is £20.00 dearer and reaches the same 3 m at £33.33 a metre, but twin pivot arms and two red handrails turn lowering it into a one-handed job, and at 5.5 kg it lifts more easily. Buy the Werner if the loft is storage you visit now and then and price decides it; buy the Abru if you want the pole and the longer owner record; buy the Slider if you are up and down the hatch most weekends.