Quick Project: Ladder Hanger

Today's project is a quick one; it only took me about an hour from start to finish.  Inspired by a recent video from April Wilkerson, I decided to hang my ladder from the ceiling instead of using valuable wall space.

April used fairly sturdy angle brackets and a threaded rod to hold her ladder.  Instead of making a trip to the hardware store to pick up the parts, I scavenged what I could find around my workshop.  In the end, I opted for slightly less rigid angle brackets, and I used a 1/2 inch dowel instead of a threaded rod.  My step ladder isn't very large, nor is it too heavy, so I should be able to make do with what I have.  I doubled up on the angle brackets just to be on the safe side.

In addition to the dowel and brackets, I used a pine 2x4, standard 3/4 inch PVC pipe, two cup hooks, and one of the ladder hanging brackets that I previously used on the wall.  With the materials gathered, construction was straight forward.  I cut the 2x4 into two pieces, each 10 inches long.  I attached two angle brackets to the top of each 2x4, and drilled a 7/8-inch hole 1 inch from the bottom.

I cut the 1/2-inch dowel to about 24 inches long, and I cut the PVC pipe slightly shorter than 19 inches.  I screwed a cup hook into the side of the dowel at one end.  The cup hooks will keep the dowel from sliding out of the PVC.  I could have used just about anything for that purpose - a nail, a screw, a pin, etc - but I have a box of cup hooks and they were convenient for the task.

Once the all the pieces were prepared, I screwed each 2x4 to the ceiling, making sure to screw them into one of the ceiling joists.  I placed the 2x4s 22 inches from edge to edge.  This will give plenty of room for the ladder.

I slid the dowel through the first 2x4, inserted the dowel into the PVC pipe, then slid the dowel the rest of the way through the second 2x4.  I put the second cup hook on the other end of the dowel from the first cup hook so that the dowel was secured in place.

All that was left was to attach the ladder hook to the ceiling, about 4 feet from the 2x4s.

Hanging the ladder is simple.  I slide the top of the ladder onto the PVC pipe, then back it into the ladder hook.  I'll probably replace the current ladder hook with a different design in the near future.  Ideally, I want the hook to wrap around so that ladder can't work its way out.  The current hook is designed to screw into a wall, and because I screwed it into the ceiling I'm relying on friction to keep the ladder in place.  I need a hook like this so that the end wraps back to the ceiling, effectively suspending the ladder.  My current solution isn't ideal, but since the hook has a rubber coating it should hold well enough in the meantime.