Extension Ladders - how they work and how to use safely

waterwatereverywhere

Hi,

We have an overflowing gutter and think there is an obstruction or the joint has gone.

Have counted the brick courses 59 x 10cm so think the distance to the gutter line is around 6m.

What length ladder do we need to get to/work on the gutters safely?

Have seen one at B&Q which has an extended length of 6.35m but would need it to go under this height so it doesn't sit on the gutter when erected.

Stupid question, but can you put the ladder up to any height up to 6.35m or does it only clip in place when fully extended?

Have read that you should place it an an angle of 1 in 4, so if going up 6 metres the base of the ladder should be 4ft away from the wall of house? Is this correct pls?

Any other safety advice/precautions for novice high ladder users...!

Many thx.

keystone

Big house if its 6m to gutter line. Either that or big drop in ground level. Average house is around 4 - 5m from ground level. Rule of thumb is ladder at 75 degrees. More and the bottom will skid away when you climb it and you'll end up horizontal. Less and its difficult to climb.

Being as you will be probably just under 2m tall and it isn't necessary to put the ladder actually on the gutter to do what you want to do (indeed you don't want to) then the 6.35m ladder will be fine. Indeed something around 5m would suit you just as well. And yes you extend one rung at a time in either direction depending on what you want to do.

Can't you borrow one rather than buying?

If you are not used to working at heights then get someone who is. You'll be frightened off if you read the Working At Height Regs.

Cheers

C_Mababejive

May i give you some advice? If you are not familiar with or confident at working at heights, get someone in. A fall from that height could easily be fatal or,in the modern parlance,life changing.

Further,the kind of ladders sold in diy chains are like tin foil. They are far too lightweight and whippy IMHO and you may well not feel very safe when you get near the top of it !

I have a trade grade triple extension here . It is very heavy, its treads are wide enough for two feet with room and i feel very safe and confident when using it.

A ladder of similar quality might easily cost you £250

http://www.ladders-direct.com/acatalog/ladder-certification.html

I_have_spoken

I did my gutters on a typical estate house - 2 floors - using a 6.77m - 3 Section Extension

IMHO you definetely need a stand-off at the top of ladder, leant against wall, to work on the gutter otherwise you are 'under' it and working awkwardly. Also I had a stabaliser bar across base of ladder and a couple of pegs driven into ground so it wouldn't slide back.

Oddly enough, I found the 'safety' features of the ladder made it far less safe, including stupid straps between each section and spring-loaded hooks which meant you had to push a section up with one hand, while holding the latch open with the other, rather than using two hands to push. I removed all these 'elf-n-safety 'features'.

waterwatereverywhere

Many thanks for your helpful replies. Yes, I fully appreciate the risks that's why I am seeking advice to try and do things as safely as possible.

Have checked the brick courses again and definitely 59 x around 10cm a brick including mortar makes it 6 metres. But if I can get away with a shorter ladder that would be great as this should be cheaper.

I may try and get some quotes for someone to do this instead but am a bit reluctant as have been charged for work in the past which hasn't been done or done properly and as I can't see up there myself without a ladder I won't know what's going on. Any idea what a fair price would be for cleaning the gutters and/or repairing/replacing one gutter union?

I think it should be less "unsafe" because there is an edged path running alongside the house which has a robust stone edging so I think I should be able to wedge/brace the ladder base against that and once it is in contact with the wall and the stone edging hopefully it will have nowhere to slide... and naturally I won't be choosing a windy day!

Re cleaning out the guttering is it just a case of scraping along it with a flat tool of some sort to remove any dried on debris and picking this out by hand.

Many thx.

keystone

waterwatereverywhere wrote: »

Re cleaning out the guttering is it just a case of scraping along it with a flat tool of some sort to remove any dried on debris and picking this out by hand.

I use a set of drain rods with either the round rubber thingy on the end or the hemispherical scraping tool:



to drag it all towards me then get it out into a bucket by hand. That way you can reach a fair bit of your guttering without having to keep moving the ladder. Don't stuff the debris into the top of a down pipe on the basis it will wash down eventually. It won't and it will block. Don't overfill the bucket either. Just enough so that its easy to carry whilst descending the ladder even if it means several up/down trips. Alternatively bit of rope over the top rung long enough to reach the ground and back up again and raise or lower your bucket as necessary from ground level. You can leave the rods in the gutter whilst you do that.

Cheers

C_Mababejive

If you do get the light domestic grade ladder,get some rope to tether it with when its up so that there is no chance of an unfortunate sideways slippage.

I_have_spoken

is it just a case of scraping along it with a flat tool of some sort

I just gaffa-taped a spoon onto the end of a broom handle

bluedrop

Deleted...

MX5huggy

Go and messure the bricks again. Modern bricks are 65mm with 10mm of mortar, so 59 courses = 4.5 meters.

Have checked the brick courses again and definitely 59 x around 10cm a brick including mortar makes it 6 metres. But if I can get away with a shorter ladder that would be great as this should be cheaper.

waterwatereverywhere

Many thanks for the extra replies. I'll double check the brick measurements tomorrow.

Good idea re the drain rods, thank you - I have some of these so will dig them out.

Just a thought, but I have one of those big ikea blue bags and some spare paving bricks - if I were to tie the bag to one of the bottom rungs and fill it with bricks would this act as an anchor to further hold/weigh the ladder down in place to act as another safety precaution against slippage....or could this be detrimental?

Am sure once I get a ladder and pluck up the courage to get up it it won't be as bad as I'm suspecting but at the moment I'm just scaring myself overthinking it all...

Many thx.