Louisville Ladder has recalled about 1.77 million attic stairway ladders sold at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Do It Best, Orgill and Amazon because a bolt in the folding mechanism can break while someone is standing on the ladder. The recall covers 4 brand names and 81 model numbers sold between November 2012 and July 2026, which means a ladder installed in your ceiling more than a decade ago may be included. Checking yours takes about a minute, and the repair kit is free. This guide covers which ladders are affected, how to identify yours, how to get the repair, and what to do if an attic ladder has already failed and injured someone in your household.
Why Choose Goings Law Firm, LLC for Attic Ladder Recall Questions
When a household product fails and someone gets hurt, the broken part usually reaches a dumpster inside a week. Goings Law Firm, LLC handles product liability cases throughout Columbia and South Carolina, including claims involving manufacturing defects in ordinary consumer goods. Our attorneys understand how these cases are proved, what physical evidence matters, and how quickly it can be lost. For most households the free repair kit settles the whole thing. If someone in your family was injured, call (803) 350-9230 to talk it through with one of our attorneys.
What Louisville Ladder Recalled
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall on August 6, 2026 under recall number 26-661. It covers attic stairway ladders that use gas struts, which are the small pressurized cylinders that help the ladder fold up into the ceiling and hold its position. Ladders without gas struts are not part of this recall.
Louisville Ladder, Inc. of Louisville, Kentucky imported the ladders, which were manufactured in Mexico. Health Canada issued a parallel recall covering roughly 13,054 additional units.
The 4 Brands and 81 Model Numbers
The recall covers 81 model numbers across 4 brands that Louisville Ladder sells:
- Louisville (59 models)
- Century (10 models)
- Featherlite (8 models)
- Lite (4 models)
The brand name and model number are printed on the inside of the attic door, so you have to pull the ladder down to read them. Louisville Ladder publishes the complete model and UPC list at atticstairwayrecall.expertinquiry.com.
Where and When They Sold
The ladders sold at The Home Depot, Lowe’s, Do It Best, Orgill, other retailers nationwide, and online at Amazon.com from November 2012 through July 2026, at prices of $170-$600. They came in frame widths of 22.5, 25.5 and 30 inches, in 54 and 60 inch lengths, and were built for ceiling heights from 7 feet 8 inches up to 12 feet.
How to Check Your Attic Ladder in 10 Seconds
Look at the Spreader Bolt Color
Pull the ladder down and look at the spreader bolts, which are the hardware where the folding sections join together.
If your attic stairway has yellow-colored spreader bolts, this issue has already been corrected. If the bolts are chrome or silver colored and one quarter inch in diameter, your ladder may be part of the recall.
Find the Model Number
The brand name and model number are on a label plate on the inside of the attic door. Enter that model number at atticstairwayrecall.expertinquiry.com to confirm whether your unit is covered. Ladders manufactured on or before June 22, 2026 are within the recall period.
What the CPSC Says the Hazard Is
The CPSC hazard statement is direct: “The bolts on the attic stairway ladders can break while in use, posing a risk of serious injury or death from fall hazard.”
Louisville Ladder has received 11 reports of a bolt breaking, including 1 report of an injury to the neck, head and back. 11 reports across 1.77 million ladders is a small fraction, and it counts only the people who called it in. A spreader bolt fails while the ladder is holding a person at ceiling height, usually while that person is carrying something with both hands, and it gives no warning.
How to Get the Free Repair Kit
Stop using the ladder now. The CPSC’s instruction is to stop immediately, which means before the repair kit arrives and not after.
Register at atticstairwayrecall.expertinquiry.com with your model number, or call Louisville Ladder at 888-679-5132 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday. The kit contains two replacement quarter-inch spreader bolts, washers, lock nuts and installation instructions at no cost.
Two situations deserve extra attention. If you own rental property, most of your tenants will not have seen this recall and you know which units have pull-down attic access. And if you are selling a home, clearing out an estate, or listing a ladder secondhand, federal law prohibits selling a recalled product, so the repair needs to happen first.
If Someone Was Hurt by an Attic Ladder Failure
Preserve the Ladder and the Broken Bolt
Do not throw the ladder away, do not let anyone repair it, and do not accept a replacement that requires you to send it back. An expert will want to examine that bolt, and nothing else substitutes for it. These cases most often fall apart because someone hauled the ladder to the dump before anyone thought to photograph it. Bag the broken pieces, including small fragments, in a rigid container. Store the ladder somewhere dry where nobody will handle it.
Document Everything Early
Photograph the ceiling opening, the mounting, the struts, both sides of the break, the label plate showing the model number, and the room below. Take more pictures than seem necessary.
Get medical attention and tell the provider exactly how the fall happened. Injuries from a fall at ceiling height onto a hard floor do not always show up on day one, and an adjuster will read that first note closely. If it never mentions a ladder, expect to hear about it.
Write down what you remember the same night. Who was home, what you were carrying, what you heard, what time it happened. Keep receipts, delivery paperwork and the home inspection report, which may be the only record of when the ladder entered the house if it came with the property.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my attic ladder is part of the recall?
Look at the spreader bolt color and the model number. Yellow bolts mean the unit has already been corrected. Chrome or silver quarter-inch bolts, gas struts, and a model number on the affected list mean it is covered. The model number is on the inside of the attic door.
What does the repair kit include and what does it cost?
Two replacement quarter-inch spreader bolts, washers, lock nuts and installation instructions. It is free from Louisville Ladder.
My ladder came with the house. Am I still eligible?
Yes. The remedy follows the ladder rather than the original purchaser, and you do not need a receipt to register for the repair kit.
Can I keep using the ladder until the kit arrives?
The CPSC says to stop using it immediately. There is no safe way to use a ladder whose load-bearing hardware may fail without warning.
What if a bolt broke but nobody was injured?
Report it to the CPSC at SaferProducts.gov and get the repair kit. Reports like yours are how these problems get identified before someone is seriously hurt.
What if the injury happened on the job?
A contractor, HVAC technician, cable installer or pest control technician injured on a customer’s attic ladder may have a workers’ compensation claim and a separate third-party product liability claim. Those run under different rules and different timelines, so it is worth asking about both.
How long do I have to bring a claim?
Deadlines vary by the type of claim and by who the defendant turns out to be, and some are shorter than people expect. If someone was seriously injured, get advice promptly rather than waiting.
Contact Goings Law Firm, LLC Today
If a Louisville, Century, Featherlite or Lite attic ladder failed and injured someone in your family, what you keep in the first few days decides whether anyone can still prove why it broke. If you believe an attic stairway failure caused a serious injury, call or text us at (803) 350-9230 for a free and confidential consultation.
If you came here only to find out whether your ladder is on the list, go check the bolt color. That is the reason we wrote this.
Sources: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Recall 26-661, August 6, 2026. Louisville Ladder recall administration site, atticstairwayrecall.expertinquiry.com. Health Canada recall notice, August 6, 2026.
