How to Make the Right Ladder Choice

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There are many types of ladders to choose from today.  The question is how do you make the right ladder choice out of all the different types for the job your doing?  Well, that does depend on the project your doing. Is it inside or outside the house?




Most commonly if you are working inside your home you want an 8 to 10 foot ladder to do the work safely.  For example if you have 10 foot vaulted ceilings and you're painting the ceilings a 12 foot stepladder may do the job.  For the standard 8 foot level ceilings you're fine with a 8 foot stepladder.

Lets take a look at the types of ladders that are available for the inside of your home.

• Painting Stepladder
• Front Stepladder
• Twin Stepladder

The Painting Stepladder usually comes in 8 to 12 foot heights and has a fold out shelf to place your paint cans and brushes on.  Or any other tools your using for the project.  The painting stepladder also falls under the category of Front Stepladder.

The Front Stepladder is called so because of its only having steps on one side.  And the other side has only bracing rungs.  Of course designed for one person at a time.

The Twin Stepladder on the other hand is called so because of its ability to allow 2 people to safely stand on it at the same time.  Why would a Twin Stepladder be needed?  It is very helpful to have one in the event that you are for example, repairing a ceiling fan or rather installing one for that matter.

It will allow one person to hold the fan while the other one performs the wiring attachment.  Or one person could be painting 1 side of the ceiling while another paints the other side.  But primarily I would say it is for safety.

If one person needed to go up very high to work on a ceiling, then the other person could stand on the bottom step of the other side.  Creating balance for safety.




Now lets take a look at some types of ladders for outside the home.

• Stepladder
• Extension Ladder
• Multiple Configuration Ladder 

Of course the stepladder mentioned above in either front or twin sided can be used effectively outside the home as well.  Again depending on the project.

The Extension Ladder and I'm not talking about the one you see the fire department have on their big trucks. That's the one you don't want to see used at your home!...:)  No seriously, the extension ladder is a very useful tool for getting up to those high places such as your roof or maybe a tree to do some trimming, etc.

Extension ladders can come in heights of up to 40 feet.  Most extension ladders extend out in 1 foot increments at a time with latching braces or hooks.  If you have a 2 story house usually a 22 foot extension ladder will suffice.  1 story you can usually get by with a 14 to 16 foot to reach your roof.

The Multiple Configuration ladder can not only be used for all the above but can be also be used in a scaffolding configuration.  In the scaffolding position you just need to use a plank of strong wood to make the base for standing.  And adjusting to different heights also.

As you can see there are many types of ladders to the job your trying to accomplish. And of course there are the different makes of ladders as well.

• Wood
• Aluminum
• Fiberglass 

All of these makes will get the job done, but there are safety concerns with each.  These will be covered in another article.

When picking out a stepladder you need to keep the height in mind. Stepladders have a huge range of height at your disposal.  The same applies for all the above mentioned ladders other than stepladders.  The smallest of the stepladders start out at three feet and can be compared to that of the step stool.

The average stepladder used is between five to nine feet, though stepladders are made as high as twenty feet. The rungs of the stepladders are set apart at ten to fourteen inch increments but most manufactures prefer to set them at one foot increments. The widths of the rungs are set at twelve to fourteen inches.

You can read my review of a great middle of the road stepladder for use both inside and outside of the home. Click here to read the review.

Thank for coming by....

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