Ladder or scaffold
 

I am going to paint my living room that has a 17 foot high ceiling. I
must be able to reach the top because I need to fix popped nails, so
stretching is not really an option.

Would I be better off to buy a very tall ladder or rent scaffolding?
I have to work alone, so I need what is easiest to use and is the
safest.

Thanks for any helpful information you can give me.

On 1 Sep 2004 00:50:13 -0700, (arjay)
wrote:

I am going to paint my living room that has a 17 foot high ceiling. I
must be able to reach the top because I need to fix popped nails, so
stretching is not really an option.

Would I be better off to buy a very tall ladder or rent scaffolding?
I have to work alone, so I need what is easiest to use and is the
safest.

Thanks for any helpful information you can give me.


Scaffolding.

With a ladder the lateral reach is very limited and the higher you go
the less reach there is. You don't want to be climbing up and down so
that you can reach the next 6 inches to the side. You don't want to
have to bend back because your ladder's lean is away from the nail.
And you certainly don't want to fall from anywhere near 17 feet.

If possible replace the nails with screws. You may also need to touch
up with paint. You can have a drop cloth on the scaffolding but not
when using a ladder..

I was once on a 6 foot ladder and was undoing a length of telephone
cable I had strung up earlier in a warehouse. I was on the fourth
step, reached over and the whole ladder flipped. I landed on my hip
and the pain was so excruciating I just yelled as loud as I could to
release the tension. I was alone and laid down for 20 minutes to let
the pain pass before I got up. Fortunately no bone was broken or
fractured. There is no way I will lean over when on a ladder.

not only safety issues, but from a fatique factor also (feet and legs), a
scaffold is the way
to go. If you use a rollaround type, don't be tempted to move
around while you are on it. Lock all the wheels down when
using it.
bill

"arjay" wrote in message
om...
I am going to paint my living room that has a 17 foot high ceiling. I
must be able to reach the top because I need to fix popped nails, so
stretching is not really an option.

Would I be better off to buy a very tall ladder or rent scaffolding?
I have to work alone, so I need what is easiest to use and is the
safest.

Thanks for any helpful information you can give me.

2 words... hire someone.


"arjay" wrote in message
om...
I am going to paint my living room that has a 17 foot high ceiling. I
must be able to reach the top because I need to fix popped nails, so
stretching is not really an option.

Would I be better off to buy a very tall ladder or rent scaffolding?
I have to work alone, so I need what is easiest to use and is the
safest.

Thanks for any helpful information you can give me.

I had a similiar situation and since I had pump jacks, I built
a fake wall, like parallel bars, and attached the pumpjack poles
to the new fake wall. Worked like a charm. I made the wall such
that I could push it around our great room. One word of caution....
use screws and 2x6s min.

arjay wrote:
I am going to paint my living room that has a 17 foot high ceiling. I
must be able to reach the top because I need to fix popped nails, so
stretching is not really an option.

Would I be better off to buy a very tall ladder or rent scaffolding?
I have to work alone, so I need what is easiest to use and is the
safest.

Thanks for any helpful information you can give me.

"arjay" wrote in message
om...

Would I be better off to buy a very tall ladder or rent scaffolding?
I have to work alone, so I need what is easiest to use and is the
safest.

If you're going to buy, get a Little Giant with a stand. Great ladders.