On Nov 29, 7:48 pm, wrote:
On Nov 29, 9:18 pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:





On Nov 29, 6:01 pm, wrote:

On Nov 29, 6:21 pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:

On Nov 29, 3:28 pm, "Frank" wrote:

Just finished my outdoor lights and I saw the guy next door standing on the
metal ladder with lights all around him connecting strings of lights
together. Made me think about how many guys have been hurt --shocked or by
falling from a ladder while doing a"Family Christmas" thing.
I guess I have more respect of electricity than is needed, in fact
I cover all connections with plastic wrap and try to seal them water tight.
Just a thought for a Merry and safe Christmas.
Frank

You wanna hear about ladder safety? I took yesterday off to clean my
gutters since the weather is supposed to turn colder and windier with
freezing rain and snow all the way through the weekend and beyond.
Yesterday's temperatures were in the mid-30's when I began the job.

The leaves were frozen in the gutters so I hooked my hose up to the
hot water spigot and let the water melt the ice and keep my hands
warm. After about an hour of trips up and down the 28' ladder, I
realized that the ladder was getting slick from the water freezing on
the rungs. I began to use the hot water to hose down the rungs before
I went up or down, which gave me enough time to clean each arms-length
of gutter before the rungs got slick again.

Even with the "warmed up" rungs, I was extra, extra careful with my
footwork as I used the ladder.

The lesson? Just like bridges, ladder rungs freeze before other
surfaces.

-- The lesson? Do it when it's above freezing

According to all my thermometers, the air temp never drop below
freezing while I was working. The water did not freeze on the house,
bushes, railings, deck, etc. Only the ladders (aluminum extension and
aluminum step ladder) got a thin coating of ice on them.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The frozen leaves or the fact that the rungs were starting to freeze
while working would have been a good indicator to anyone with common
sense to stop- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Who said anything about having common sense? ;-)

Based on the expected weather over the next week or so, my work and
travel schedule and the need to get the gutters cleaned and the ice
melt wires rarranged before winter really hit, I had a very small
window in which to complete the project.

Considering that I was pretty close to being done when the ice started
to form, and considering that I had the solution to the ice problem in
my hand - a hose hooked up to hot water spigot - I wasn't really in
any danger.

Heat up the rungs before going up and again before going down and my
footing was fine.

It wasn't like icicles were hanging off every rung - it was nothing
more than a thin glaze, easily rectified by a few splashes of the hot
water. Since I hose out my gutters as part of the cleaning process,
the hose with a spray gun handle was always with me anyway.