I would not attach it to the cabinet. Have you searched on "library ladder hardware" to see what the manufacturers recommend?

Hi Practigal - Thanks for the response. I have seen the hardware and understand you can purchase this. Sorry, I think I'm not being clear, I know I need to attach the library ladder to a rod with brackets, but would you attach the brackets to the cabinet or something sturdier?

I would definitely want to attach it to something more structural than cabinet boxes. If my GC didn't have experience with installing a ladder, I would check with the manufacturer to see the specs and recommendations for installation.

When I saw the title to your thread, I immediately remembered a kitchen reveal that included a library ladder. After searching, I found The one I was remembering. It includes a link to hardware. Such a cool element to a kitchen.

NH...that is exactly the kitchen I was thinking of when the op mentioned a library ladder in the kitchen. I loved their house and the kitchen but that ladder seemed bothersome to me. I've wondered if he ever regretted the installation of the ladder in the kitchen.

Future...you may have problems finding a company willing to honor the warranty with this type of installation.

i agree that it is kind of cool.

In the OP's photo it looks like the ladder is attached to some sort of super structure installed against the wall between the first set of uppers and the to-the-ceiling uppers.

Thank thank you Anglo. I have children and our kitchen will have 12' of linear cabinet space with 11' ceilings. I am worried about safety. I thought maybe storing the ladder away when not in use as a solution? Do you think having cabinets that go all the way up to ceilings is a bad idea? I guess we could always use a regular ladder stored in the basement, but then it feels like having cabinets up that high becomes useless.

Are you saying 12' on one wall or 12' altogether? If 12' is all you have, in the whole kitchen I would not put a ladder up to get in the way.

is this new construction or an existing space?

lots of experts here (not me, lol). You should post your space and ask for help.

Yes, I would expect it to be attached to a frame of 2x4 or 2x6. Also, how could it attact to a cabinet and have the cabinet be functional?

Ilovered - it would be 12' on one wall and it is a remodel.

practigal - I'm not saying to attach it to the cabinet door. I would attach below the cabinet door.

You would attach it to a separate frame that's well attached to studs in the wall. The only thing this frame would is to provide support for the ladder bracket. I would not recommend attaching the ladder or rail to any parts of the cabinet.

Thank you beachem!

Ditto what beachem suggested.

We installed a library ladder to provide access to a sleeping loft and upper level storage in a studio apartment. The rail for sliding the ladder is attached to studs that frame the ceiling in the closets below. Note that there is a narrow swath of wall at the left end where the ladder is parked when not being used for storage access. The bottom of the ladder ladder does pull our from flush with the wall for ease of moving up and down,

Thank you hattysue!

Ladders are VERY heavy, especially if they're wood. Hauling that thing out and getting it on the rail would be a two- person job - not real convenient.

Look on the Internet for English cabinet companies such as Plain English and see how they deal with very high ceilings. You'll see the cabinets never go to the ceiling. If a storage space is awkward/difficult to access, it's useless.

I think Anglophilia's 2 posts expressed everything perfectly. One other thing to think about - that ladder is one more thing to clean. Who wants to have to wipe down those rungs? They will collect dust and grime.

This 3-step Williams-Sonoma ultraslim step stool is the "darling" of the Kitchens Forum.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/ultraslim-aluminum-step-stool/?pkey=e%7Cstep%2Bstools%7C11%7Cbest%7C4294967004%7C1%7C24%7C%252Fstep-stools%252Fhomekeeping%7C1&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH

In our case, neither weight nor cleaning presents a problem. The ladder mechanism is well-engineered to make manipulating it easy. http://www.cshardware.com/rolling-library-ladder

Since our tenant uses the ladder at least twice a day to get into and out of bed, the rungs do not accumulate dust. The larger issue is finding floor-to-rail a bit of wall or infrequently accessed storage to park the ladder when it's not in use.

Great link to ladder in useRecent gw post

Practical! Great information. This is what I need. Thank you.

Hi! Practigal just linked to our kitchen before and after. Here's our experience (and my DH is a big guy at 6'4" and no problems with the ladder):

1. We talked with the people at Rockler before putting in our order and talked through various questions. They were super helpful.

2. I acted as GC for this project but had a retired contractor friend who did the cabinet install, carpentry, and generally helped me manage this beast. He built "boxes" of 2" x 3" (I think that was their dimension) to lay on top of our upper cabinets and attached to the wall. These were then covered with filler pieces for our cabinets for the finished look. These boxes are rock solid and nothing's going anywhere.

3. The brackets were attached to this filler piece (3" was the minimum, the only thing I'd do differently is maybe make this piece an inch or two wider/taller). This allows you to open the "upper-uppers" while on the ladder.

4. The ladder weighs about 25 lbs, which isn't light nor too heavy to manage. I don't lift it other than to hang it on rails. I'm pretty good at rolling it upright on the floor to where I need it, then lift it. ;)

5. (Additional edit) We store it on a wall so it's out of the way unless in use. With kids, this may still be a temptation, but since it's a rail just for the ladder, at least they couldn't try to fly across the floor on the rollers!

If you have more questions, feel free to reach out. We love having the storage up there for the infrequent items (that fondue pot and the heart tart pan, among other things...).

If you are still around, I would love an update with photos of your kitchen ladder. We have a vaulted ceiling that goes from 8”8in at the shortest point to 13’4”. We need more storage, and honestly, my daughter and I already can’t reach the top shelf and have a chair or a stepladder out all the time. Having rails between two layers of cabinets is an easy enough structure to build securely to the studs. (Here is one we did with a bunk bed. We also did it in a closet to convert the closet into bunk beds.)

A few years ago there was a new house here with a pretty kitchen that included a library ladder. i think it was buckheadhillbilly. the house was beautiful. maybe you can still find it.