How to Change an Attic Pull String to a Hook

4 Materials
$10
10 Minutes
Easy

Our house had a pull down attic with a dangling string to open it. I HATED that string. It hung low and was in your face, plus it was old and ratty looking. So, we removed it and replaced it with a hook and dowel system. Much better! Be sure to check out this project and hundreds of more DIYs on my blog!

Pull string before


Here is what the pull string looked like on our attic door before.

Pull string before


It was super ugly and dangled too low!

Open attic and see how string is attached


See how your string is attached on the backside of the door. Ours went thru the hole and was tied in a knot around an old rusty nail. Cool cool cool! Super safe and aesthetically pleasing.

Remove string


I just used scissors to cut the string and pull it out. It came out without issue and went straight in the garbage.

Eye bolt + nut


We purchased eye bolts to fit our hole. The 1/4 x 3 inch size worked for us.

Add hook


Screw the eye bolt into the hole that previously held the rope/string. Add the bolt to the back and tighten until tight.

Much better!


That looks so much more clean!

Create your hook


Screw a screw hook into the end of a dowel. We just screwed this in by hand. This will be used to pull the hook and open the attic. When not in use, we stored it behind out laundry room door.

Enjoy!


Enjoy your much better looking attic door!

Resources for this project:
See all materials
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Morgan McBride
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  1 question
  • Phyllis Rodgers Phyllis Rodgers on Sep 01, 2020

    Any ideas on how to seal around an the inside of the attic door like this to keep out hot air leaks in summer and cold ones in winter?

Comments
Join the conversation
 1 comment
  • William William on Sep 01, 2020

    So simple. Very cool. Since the end of the dowel is end grain I like to predrill the hole. Then a dab of super glue on the hook threads before screwing it in to prevent the hole enlarging and loosing the hook in the future from use

Next