Pete's Painting

Yup, had a minor fall last year. Ladder slipped on a moldy deck.
bucket of paint bounced about 10 feet in the air, me not so much. I walked away with some nasty bruises and a slightly separated shoulder, but was back on a ladder the next day, very lucky.
Since then, I've been taking some rather crude precautions. When working on grass and on a slope, I would drill a hole into a 2x4 and drive a stake through it and put it behing the ladder. Doesn't really damage the lawn as long as you don't leave it there all day, and I sprinkle a little seed after. On decks, especially composite, where everyone seems to be crashing down, I would put a screw through a 2x4 (not into the decking, but between the planks into the joist as to not damage the deck) and use that behind the ladder to prevent it from slipping.
Are there any products to help with this? It's a bit time consuming and customers do get a bit concerned about damge to the lawn and deck.
Haven't lost my nerve, but I don't like 1 foot planks though they save time, and feel much more comfy on a ladder.

plainpainter

Screws shear - don't trust them. On grass - reverse the feet so the spike into the grass - having ladders on a slop is a big no-no, and you had better figure something around that like gettting a bigger ladder and putting it at the very bottom of the slope. Or actually digging out the sod like a foot and create two areas of flatness. Or get a hammer drill and install two heavy duty fish eye hooks into foundation and run chain link through the bottom rung of the ladder and into figsh eyes. As to decks - they are slippery - my dad came crashing down from a ladder on a deck - the crudest way is to stack 4 shingle bundles in front of the footing - so you have 320 lbs of dead weight the ladder would have to push in order to move - it would have to be slippery like an ice rink before that moved! And you could try getting a riggers' license and learn about proper ladder use in doing so.

GMack

Safety has to be number one for everyone here . . . On soft surfaces like grass, dirt, gravel, simply flip the feet up and dig them in. You're ladder will go nowhere . . . On decks, have someone foot the ladder . . . I'm always amazed at the chances I see other guys take with ladders. I have never, never, not one time had a ladder slip out from under me and I never will. I'm too cautious. And don't get me wrong, I'll go up as high as anyone but I don't trust equipment not to slip out. I trust myself not to slip off and people or setups to ENSURE that the ladder won't slip. Think big picture. Would you rather take some chances to make a few bucks or would you rather be around tommorrow to make a few more?

Last season, we were working off a plank on a steep standing seam roof that, in my opinion was a pretty shady setup. The carpenters ahead of us went up there, did their job and were fine. In my opinion, they had luck to thank as much as anything else for their health . . . My employee and I tied off with harnesses and rope when we went up. Luck had nothing to do with our health. It was precaution . . . Be careful out there!

AALory

The answers to this query so far are right on, especially the one about having someone else foot the ladder. A team of two is the necessary first step to ladder safety. The only tip I can add is to drive a pry-bar deep into the grass behind one or both feet (one foot has always worked for me). These bars are usually about 14 to 16 inches long, and when hammered in good, they hold the ladder firm.

PaintProfessor

Working primarily on ladders in the last 15 years, I have only had one slip out from me, but that was because I was "pushing the envelope" a little too much. I set the extension ladder on a pitched porch roof to reach the dormer. I was moving slowly and cautiously not to make any sudden movements and continued painting. Out of nowhere, the ladder started sliding, so I grabbed onto the roof to balance and stabilize the ladder until I called one of my guys over to help. I would've been screwed if no one else was there.

But, I have never had a ladder slip from driving the foot spikes into the lawn and having someone foot it when there are times of uncertainty. You always know or should know when a ladder setup is questionable.

timhag

Try this Ladder Safety

__________________
Doesnt hurt that you are a handsome and smooth Italian gentleman. Try selling with my looks and social graces. V DAWG

ProWallGuy

Ah, the memories.....

ProWallGuy

Don't forget that the stupid stuff doesn't always happen on the exterior....



And yes, that was my foreman telling me what he thought when I said "Git up there!!!!"

timhag

__________________
Doesnt hurt that you are a handsome and smooth Italian gentleman. Try selling with my looks and social graces. V DAWG

YubaPaintPro

hey, check this website out. These products are out"stand"ing. The are reasonably priced for safety and very easy to use. Buy 1 leveler for each truck and enough brackets for all the ladders and your set.

Check it out. Tell 'em Painttalk & Kelly-Moore Paints sent you.
www.buyladder-max.com/

__________________
Go beautify & protect,
Brent
Kelly-Moore Paints
paintknowhow@gmail.com

Pete's Painting

thanks for the input guys. So don't trust even 3 or 4 screws into a 2x4?
Kinda like the shingles idea.

GMack

Pete,

Consider this: I feel like there are a number of little setups you could use/configure to help you and most of them would probably be safe. I think some of this unfortunately comes down to image as well.

Pretend you are the customer. Which image are you more comfortable with? The image of the company with one man on a ladder while another foots that ladder or the image of the one-man band driving screws into your deck?

IMO it doesn't matter if you damge the deck or not. It matters that Mrs. Jones will look out the window and WONDER if you're damging the deck. Don't mean to take this thread into areas you weren't even asking about but this is something I think you should consider.

Mack

Plushpaint

Bought this last year, don't know how I managed without it
[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Dad/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg[/IMG]

__________________
www.plushpainting.co.uk

vermontpainter

I agree with the Professor and GMack that there is no substitute for having another person as a ladder safety measure. I remember the good old days as a one man show doing extension ladder stuff and every single aspect of it is unappealing.

Also, in the picture posted by Prowall, I will never, ever, ever have a drop cloth under the feet of an extension ladder again. I had a situation about 8 years ago where I was on a 16' ext in a dropclothed foyer with no footing and from the top I felt the bottom start to slowly slide the drop. The only thing that prevented catastrophic failure was the rubber bumpers held just enough friction on the wall so that I, like the professor, could yell for an employee to come and foot it. Since then, any questionable situation gets human ladder footing, and no drops under the feet.

__________________
Scott

Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them. To die. To sleep. No more.

CApainter

There's so many situations where the 1:4 rule, required by OSHA, doesn't apply. That's why I carry a lot of rope.

mcgipe

I am a safety and health professional and this is my first post. This site is very similar to a site i post on called fishin.com. I have been researching devices for ladder stabilization. I found one that is different and just available to the USA five days ago. I hope i'm not breaking rules on here because I am selling them but more than anything promote ladder safety. The website is www.basemate.ca Wernerladders.com makes some stability products too. Guardianfall.com also makes some good stabilizers. Also for step ladders check out this video on youtube http://youtube.com/watch?v=HpOuuSob7Lk Hope this helps and feel free to contact me for more information.

T200

Hey, THAT is neat!

__________________
---
Tom

JNLP

Now that looks like something worth while. The step ladder one is clever too, but I could see me getting frustrated with it as I seem to always be positioning my step ladders over one thing or another on the floor.

__________________
Saying "no" to someone else, is actually saying "yes" to yourself.

Housepainter

use scaffolding as much as possible.
http://scaffoldmart.com/ has some excellent pricing on sets.

premierpainter

www.ladlock.com makes great stuff