Am planning to install loft ladders. What's the minimum size of the frame
in
the roof. We've got a Barret's house (I know!) where the hatch appears to
be quite small and am worried about whether loft ladders are practicle.

I recently fitted a loft ladder and there are three basic choices as far as
I can tell:

1. Ladder slides up and back - you need space behind the hatch. Not sure
what size hatch you need but guess reasonable small might work if you have
the space for the ladder to slide into (on the floor of the loft)

2. If there is no space behind hatch, then you can get timber ladders that
collapse into the space of the hatch. However, these require the hatch
extending lengthways.

3. Aluminium concertina type - this fit in almost no space at all and work
with pretty small openings

I had to go for #3 as I wasn't able to extend the hatch space for option #2

Price goes upwards :-)

Cheers, Rob.