Could anyone advise me on the safe angle a ladder should be at for working
on the outside of the house?
I want to paint the sofits and facias, so advice would be useful so as I
know what size ladders to purchase.
The house is a two storey detached.
Also, where should I purchase the ladders, as I don't think B&Q are the
cheapest.
I am based near Preston, any advice is welcomed.
TIA, Ewan

On 03 Mar 2004, ewan wrote

Could anyone advise me on the safe angle a ladder should be at for
working on the outside of the house?
I want to paint the sofits and facias, so advice would be useful
so as I know what size ladders to purchase.
The house is a two storey detached.
Also, where should I purchase the ladders, as I don't think B&Q
are the cheapest.
I am based near Preston, any advice is welcomed.

Personally, I'd look into buying/hiring a tower to work from, rather
than a ladder.

Your mileage may vary, but have you worked at height on ladders? Sh*t,
that's scary.....

{I can't even clean gutters from a ladder -- never mind trying to wield
a paintbrush whilst both hands are white-knuckle gripping the ladder
rungs... ]

--
Cheers,
Harvey

For e-mail, change harvey to whhvs.

On Wed, 3 Mar 2004 21:52:33 -0000, in uk.d-i-y "ewan"
strung together this:

Could anyone advise me on the safe angle a ladder should be at for working
on the outside of the house?

For every 4m in height the bottom of the ladder should be 1m from the
wall.
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.

"ewan" wrote in message
...
Could anyone advise me on the safe angle a ladder should be at for working
on the outside of the house?

Some ladders have this marked on them.

I want to paint the sofits and facias, so advice would be useful so as I
know what size ladders to purchase.

Long enough to reach the facia with some overlap and not so long that you cant
store it easily


The house is a two storey detached.
Also, where should I purchase the ladders, as I don't think B&Q are the
cheapest.
I am based near Preston, any advice is welcomed.

A stand off to keep the top of the ladder away from the wall can be useful for
this job.

Look at the feet of the ladder for any non slip properties.

See http://www.dti.gov.uk/homesafetynetwork/dy_rldr.htm


Michael Chare

Could anyone advise me on the safe angle a ladder should be at for
working on the outside of the house?

Whatever you do, don't climb up such a long ladder without someone
stabilising at the bottom, or one of those stabilising contraptions. Falling
off ladders is one of the most common forms of accidental death.

All the (metal) ladders I've used have had a line marked on a side panel
that should be made vertical for optimum angle.

Christian.

In article , Christian
McArdle writes
Could anyone advise me on the safe angle a ladder should be at for
working on the outside of the house?

Whatever you do, don't climb up such a long ladder without someone
stabilising at the bottom, or one of those stabilising contraptions. Falling
off ladders is one of the most common forms of accidental death.

It is better to tie off the top of the ladder to an eyebolt fixed to the
house. The person at the bottom can really only stop the ladder bottom
sliding away from the wall. If you start to fall sideways they can't do
much (been there).

Regarding where to get them from, I got mine from Wickes. They are only
"DIY" standard and are priced as such but are fine for occasional use.
--
Tim Mitchell

"Harvey Van Sickle" wrote in message
...
On 03 Mar 2004, ewan wrote

Could anyone advise me on the safe angle a ladder should be at for
working on the outside of the house?
I want to paint the sofits and facias, so advice would be useful
so as I know what size ladders to purchase.
The house is a two storey detached.
Also, where should I purchase the ladders, as I don't think B&Q
are the cheapest.
I am based near Preston, any advice is welcomed.

Personally, I'd look into buying/hiring a tower to work from, rather
than a ladder.

Your mileage may vary, but have you worked at height on ladders? Sh*t,
that's scary.....

{I can't even clean gutters from a ladder -- never mind trying to wield
a paintbrush whilst both hands are white-knuckle gripping the ladder
rungs... ]

--
Cheers,
Harvey


Cleaning the gutters is more of a chore than painting IMO, as you need to
reach up and over, but a proper stand-off could solve this problem.

Now drilling some holes for soffit vents recently was far more fun and had
a couple of hairy moments as a fair amount of force was required to get the
hole saw through the soffit board, but thats what I get for buying a cheap
hole saw ;-)

But then there was the time that I stayed in a 3 storey tenemant and cleaned
the gutters once, this was done from the roof side of course, and no
ladders were involved ;-) but there were some great views from up there and
some strange looks form down below.

cheers

David

On Thu, 4 Mar 2004 09:49:57 -0000, "Christian McArdle"
wrote:

Whatever you do, don't climb up such a long ladder without someone
stabilising at the bottom, or one of those stabilising contraptions. Falling
off ladders is one of the most common forms of accidental death.

Rubbish. It's hitting the ground that is one of the most common forms
of death - falling off a ladder is not of itself dangerous, neither is
the short-term flight that occurs immediately afterwards.....

PoP

---
If you need to contact me please submit your comments
via the web form at http://www.anyoldtripe.co.uk. I'll
probably still ignore you but at least I'll get the
message.....

Rubbish. It's hitting the ground that is one of the most common forms
of death - falling off a ladder is not of itself dangerous, neither is
the short-term flight that occurs immediately afterwards.....

But when you fall, you'll go over about 30mph, which will suck all the air
from your lungs meaning instant, but painful, death.

Christian.

Christian McArdle wrote:
Rubbish. It's hitting the ground that is one of the most common forms
of death - falling off a ladder is not of itself dangerous, neither
is the short-term flight that occurs immediately afterwards.....

But when you fall, you'll go over about 30mph, which will suck all
the air from your lungs meaning instant, but painful, death.

Christian.

The recommended ratio is 4:1, eg at 20' height, the ladder base should be 5'
from the wall. Ideally the ladder should be secured at the top and footed
by an assistant at ground level. Never lean sideways when up the ladder.
Move the ladder instead. Wear a hard hat, especially when working at roof
level. It's silly not to, when they're available for about £3 at Arco.
Always remember that if you fall, you will almost certainly suffer a serious
injury - please don't take any unnecessary risks.

Terry D.

"Terry D" wrote in message
...
.. Wear a hard hat, especially when working at roof
level. It's silly not to, when they're available for about £3 at Arco.
Always remember that if you fall, you will almost certainly suffer a
serious
injury - please don't take any unnecessary risks.

Terry D.

Is that in case you get hit by low flying aircraft? Or to give you a handy
missile to launch at the half-wit footing the ladder who's forgotten what
he's supposed to be doing and has gone walk-about?

Richard.

On Thu, 4 Mar 2004 19:35:23 -0000, in uk.d-i-y "Frisket"
strung together this:


"Terry D" wrote in message
...
. Wear a hard hat, especially when working at roof
level. It's silly not to, when they're available for about £3 at Arco.
Always remember that if you fall, you will almost certainly suffer a
serious
injury - please don't take any unnecessary risks.

Terry D.

Is that in case you get hit by low flying aircraft? Or to give you a handy
missile to launch at the half-wit footing the ladder who's forgotten what
he's supposed to be doing and has gone walk-about?

I thought it was for low flying pigeon crap.
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.

Tim Mitchell wrote in message news:
Christian McArdle writes


Could anyone advise me on the safe angle a ladder should be at for
working on the outside of the house?

Whatever you do, don't climb up such a long ladder without someone
stabilising at the bottom, or one of those stabilising contraptions. Falling
off ladders is one of the most common forms of accidental death.

It is better to tie off the top of the ladder to an eyebolt fixed to the
house. The person at the bottom can really only stop the ladder bottom
sliding away from the wall. If you start to fall sideways they can't do
much (been there).

I've always though if that happens, wrap arms round the sides, take
your feet off and slide down. But... unless you actually practice it,
its unlikely to happen IRL.


Regarding where to get them from, I got mine from Wickes. They are only
"DIY" standard and are priced as such but are fine for occasional use.

Its quicker to make your own than it is to go collect one. And you can
make it fit the storage area perfectly. Are there any BSs regarding
ladders?


Regards, NT

On 4 Mar 2004 14:53:56 -0800, (N. Thornton) wrote:

It is better to tie off the top of the ladder to an eyebolt fixed to the
house. The person at the bottom can really only stop the ladder bottom
sliding away from the wall. If you start to fall sideways they can't do
much (been there).

I've always though if that happens, wrap arms round the sides, take
your feet off and slide down. But... unless you actually practice it,
its unlikely to happen IRL.

I imagine you've got a mental block problem as the ladder starts to
tip sideways - your knuckles will be brilliant white as your fingers
grip hard on the ladder.....I doubt you'd be able to think about doing
what you suggest in time.

PoP

---
If you need to contact me please submit your comments
via the web form at http://www.anyoldtripe.co.uk. I'll
probably still ignore you but at least I'll get the
message.....

In article , Tim Mitchell
writes
In article ,
Christian McArdle writes
Could anyone advise me on the safe angle a ladder should be at for
working on the outside of the house?

Whatever you do, don't climb up such a long ladder without someone
stabilising at the bottom, or one of those stabilising contraptions. Falling
off ladders is one of the most common forms of accidental death.

It is better to tie off the top of the ladder to an eyebolt fixed to
the house.

Could you suggest a suitable rawlfitting to captivate the 'nut' so the
eyebolts can be taken out and threaded into other holes?

The person at the bottom can really only stop the ladder bottom sliding
away from the wall. If you start to fall sideways they can't do much
(been there).

Regarding where to get them from, I got mine from Wickes. They are only
"DIY" standard and are priced as such but are fine for occasional use.

--
Z
Remove all Zeds in e-mail address to reply.

In article , Z
writes
In article , Tim Mitchell
writes
In article ,
Christian McArdle writes
Could anyone advise me on the safe angle a ladder should be at for
working on the outside of the house?

Whatever you do, don't climb up such a long ladder without someone
stabilising at the bottom, or one of those stabilising contraptions. Falling
off ladders is one of the most common forms of accidental death.

It is better to tie off the top of the ladder to an eyebolt fixed to
the house.

Could you suggest a suitable rawlfitting to captivate the 'nut' so the
eyebolts can be taken out and threaded into other holes?

I'd leave them in place for next time. They are fairly inconspicuous.
--
Tim Mitchell

Tim Mitchell wrote in message ...
writes
In article , Tim Mitchell
Christian McArdle writes

Could anyone advise me on the safe angle a ladder should be at for
working on the outside of the house?

Whatever you do, don't climb up such a long ladder without someone
stabilising at the bottom, or one of those stabilising contraptions. Falling
off ladders is one of the most common forms of accidental death.

It is better to tie off the top of the ladder to an eyebolt fixed to
the house.

Could you suggest a suitable rawlfitting to captivate the 'nut' so the
eyebolts can be taken out and threaded into other holes?

I'd leave them in place for next time. They are fairly inconspicuous.

I cant resist saying you'd have to climb the unsecured ladder to drill
and fit the eye

I understand that if youre working with a potential fall of more than
2m you should wear a harness... and preferably connect it to something
so it works. Cant say I've used one for myself but if youre employing
someone else youre required to. And if I was going far enough up I
would anyway. But 2 feet... its not much is it!


Regards, NT