On Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:55:47 -0700 (PDT), puffcat
wrote:

Hello everyone... I live in an older two storey home. I want to
purchase an aluminum ladder so that I will be able to safely clean out
the rain gutters and eavestroughes. Will a 32 foot ladder be suitable
(grade 2)? Your thoughts please. Thank you for your time.

Harry

I live surrounded by trees maybe 30 or 40 feet tall on two sides of my
two story house, trees that are only about 20 feet from my house.
And yet, I have either no leaves in my gutters or almost no leaves,
depending on the year, and just a tiny bit of "gravel" from the new
shingles.

After 20 years, I still can't figure out why there are no leaves --
they're a lot of leaves on the grass -- but I'd try to make sure I
actually get leaves in the gutters before buying the ladder. Maybe you
can borrow one.

I love the |___| shaped thing that clamps on near the top of the
ladder. Makes it much more stable. There are two or three models,
including one model that can be used two ways, narrow and far from the
house, or wide and close to the house. Also meant to span windows, if
you have windows narrow enough to span. So think about it a while
before you buy. Most places seem to only sell one model.

On uneven land, I've sometimes put a board under one leg, but when I
do that, I hammer a couple big spikes or wood wedges into the ground
to make sure the board doesn't move. And I've tied the ladder to the
porch railing on occasion.

Does a 32 foot ladder actually measure 32? I don't remember, but do
they just measure two 16 foot pieces and add them together, or do they
take into account that you have to have, what, a 3? foot overlap.