In reply to David Kirsfelds:
Ok, with further details, it seems you have to “loose” 11cm but it’s a 4 section one you’re after which I’ve not seen so may be different fixings or the way it folds, etc. Indeed a quick google shows different hinges and possibly different bracket fixings to what I have and may have additional safety locking type devices if not other differences as well. That will change a lot of thoughts I had originally, sorry.
However, some thoughts anyway though these maybe wholly irrelevant. Hope they are of some help.
My ceiling height is approx 240 cm so with the 55mm adjustment on my Fakro 3 section ladder I have would have more than enough scope to alter to your 242 as I have mine at the shortest it can go. That’s besides the in/out adjustments of the brackets from the door which change the angle so effectively in practice can add or remove additional length adjustments in conjunction with the up/down adjustments.
Could you consider a 3 section one and check spec for that to see if it works instead? Or Fakro do sliding extension versions rather than folding so could that type work as least dependant on length?
Notwithstanding checking other available ladders, etc., I can see various ways to cut and adjust my style, but personally though I would try and avoid any cutting of sections and use all the available adjustments and possibly changing the angle of the open hatch door and it’s limit brackets first, all of which should alter the effective length quite a lot. Fakro does though show in their manual about cutting the lower section. Cutting three sections would probably compromise the integrity potentially too much; best seek professional advice on that.
There is some (minor) scope in the fitting height within the joists to consider if this helps in addition to the other adjustments (though possibly with some additional facing needs to finish aesthetically). There is also minor scope of cutting up to 50mm off the feet without affecting any of the treads on mine.
The angle of the hatch when open will alter things considerably if this is thought through. Though mine was fitted professionally it was never adjusted properly and the way it was installed the second section from the top never fully butted onto the top section. It essentially was just like a two section ladder resting on the open hatch albeit held firmly by the pair of hinges attaching it to the fixed top section on the door. Worked fine in practice for a long time like that and though it wasn’t meant to be that way, nor the safest for structural integrity of the original design, I took a while to get around to adjusting it to allow the two upper sections to fully butt each other! This of course steepened the ladder angle.
The overall length, in relation to height of ceiling, in practice will depend on the range of angles available from the hatch door itself. The 55mm slot is just the up down scope, and does not take into account any altered angle and in practice this effectively changes my ladder length (a change of feet placement of some 140-150mm linear on the floor albeit with a small change in hatch angle as well (estimate as mine is on soft carpet which makes it hard to measure accurately). Thus, in addition change of ladder angle over a range of angles effectively changes the overall length of the ladder in practice.
I’ve never altered the latter with mine, (and not any good at physics to work change of length in relation to change of angle!), but there could be scope to “loose” another 10cm of length at a guess and still maintain the structure and it’s weight bearing spec otherwise.
Another option would be other than Fakro models and look for say a fully sliding multi sectional one that’s contained within the length of the hatch door.
