Update: My final decision was to replace my old warped attic stairs with the fire rated Fakro LWF stairs which I purchased from Home Depot. Although the building code requires 20 minute burn-through rating, these stairs have a 30 minute rating. The stairs install just like any other attic stairs only the depth of the frame is larger because of the triple gasket, fire rated door and the insulation. The unit is very well made and very sturdy. I installed it with the help of 4 of my neighbors who helped lift the stairs into the ceiling while I fastened the unit from the attic. After everything is square and level, the instructions clearly tell you were to fasten the unit. After that, to meet the fire rating you need to install some rock wool insulation which is fire proof, in the gap between the frame and the rough opening and then use 3M fire block caulk or equivalent top and bottom of that same opening. Then install the trim and you are done. The fire block caulk is important becasue there is no need for a fire rated door if you have an opening around it directly to the attic. The idea is to keep smoke and flames from entering into your attic in case of a fire. The wood trim is not going to do that. If you install this yourself or have someone do it for you, make sure the hinge side of the frame is flush against the header in the rough opening for maximum strength. You can shim the other three sides when fastening the frame to the joists and header. Also, make sure you use construction rated screws or lag bolts and NOT wood or deck screws. Wood and deck screws don't have the same sheer strength as construction screws or lag bolts which is especially important on the hinge side of the stairs. I looked at many Youtube videos of attic stair inspections and missing fasteners and incorrect screws are the most common mistakes which eventually lead to failure of the stairs. As a final installation comment, most modern wood stairs have plastic feet for the bottom of the ladder where it rests on the ground which gives you the correct angle to the floor. So all you need to do is get the measurement of the last ladder segment to the floor and make a straight cut then install the plastic feet for the perfect fit. No more trying to calculate the correct angled cut. On the Fakro stairs there is also an adjustment bolt where you can adjust the ladders angle if you cut the feet slightly short or long. This is a premium attic stairs where everything is well thought out and engineered properly.

At the end of the day, the Fakro fire rated attic stairs is not cheap but you can't put a price on safety and this is a "once and done" project. Also, if you sell your home at some point, you won't be called out on the attic stairs on inspection. For example, the Majic stairs and other units like it cost around $3,500 installed. These are great stairs but we don't have the room to install these in our home. We have the Majic Lift to cart items in and out of the attic and the Fakro stairs just to go in and out of the attic. No carrying stuff up and down any stairs.

As a final note to this saga, I did find Fire Retardant Paint. It's made by Insul-X and you can purchase it at Ace Hardware. It's fire rated for 30 minutes and from what I understand you can paint it on any wood, pre-painted or not, and when flame hits it, the paint creates an intumescent film increasing the time it takes for the wood to burn. The label also says you can paint over it and not effect it's fire retardant properties so no need to color match the paint. It's also water based and colored white. All this said, if you have a good attic stairs that fits properly, in order to meet the Florida building code you could paint the outside of your attic stairs with this fire retardant paint BUT, you need to make sure you have a good door gasket and not just plywood butting up against the frame to keept the smoke and flames from entering the attic. If you don't have a gasket, one thing you could do is purchase self stick gasket that's made for a BBQ and has a high temperature rating and won't burn. Amazon sells this.

Sorry for the long response but I hope all this information helps you make a better informed decision when thinking about attic stairs.

Awesome work Jrref - thanks for sharing the details!

Called out as requiring fix in home inspection...thank you jrref!
 

Jrref, So grateful that you give so much detail on this topic! The notes from your update are great- we are going to attempt this for our fix(fire retardant paint, and gaskets) Though you may see lots of plywood in garage ceilings, it is not up to code- - we were told about the fire issue when the company installed our attic stairs, but it was during installation, and not much we could do at the time. Sure enough, we are selling the house and the only thing that came back on the inspection? The plywood attic pull down door needs to be addressed because of the fire concern. :what: