Safety message about ladders

[Ronstar]

....If you have a $3-4M portfolio, why are you cleaning your own gutters?.....

Habit leftover from the days when my portfolio was $12.

I minimize my accident chances by sending up my drone first. We now have gutter guards, but tree debris collects in the valleys. Those are the only spots I need to clean. I'm not going to hire someone just for that.

 

[frayne]

Turning 70 next month and have sworn off most if not all outside house maintenance that requires climbing ladders or strenuous type work. A year and a half ago underwent L4,5,S1 spinal fusion and don't want to chance anything that might screw that up. Still able to exercise and play plenty of golf and want to keep it that way.

 

[Amethyst]

I'm past 60 and I trim branches, fronds, etc. up to 10 feet high. I also get up on a ladder/rolling scaffold (depending on the surface) to clean mildew off the soffits, which are 10 feet up. I don't like the overly aggressive way the "pro" cleaners attack the soffits.

Depends on how high she's reaching beyond the ladder's reach, how good her personal sense of balance is, and whether she's being careful about ladder placement. If any of those are compromised, you're right to be concerned.

My problem is I can't keep my 60 yr old wife of off ladders. She has her greenhouse and fruit trees she in trimming and picking every year. I have chastised her several times for not being safe on a ladder.

 

[misanman]

DW feels compelled to wash windows when they get dirty. You can reach some of our 2nd story windows by climbing out on the roof of the attached garage. Makes me really nervous as it is a pitched roof but she doesn't seem to care (even at age 75) - out she goes! We need windows that you can wash both sides from the inside!

 

[jollystomper]

Reason number 5,643 that I saved for an extravagant "buffer" beyond my retirement needs - to pay others for tasks that require anything beyond a step ladder .

 

[sdtech]

Long ago I was on a steep roof and slipped - stopped at the gutter but kicked the ladder off. On my stomach with feet overhanging gutter. My 3 year old daughter was at the swing set in the yard- I yelled at her to get her mommy - and she quietly told me, "I can't daddy, I'm playing". It was a long wait for her mom to come looking for us.

 

[1242Vintage]

Reminds me of a ladder incident many years ago.

My youngest daughter (5 y.o. then) was helping me in the yard where I had a 10’ extension ladder leaning against the chain link fence of the dog run. She was about five then. Didn’t see her climbing the ladder … until … she climbed the ladder higher than the fence of the dog run it was leaning on and the ladder tipped with child on it like a big see-saw. She was then holding on head down on the ladder in the dog run yelling for help.

All ended well with no injury to child or dog.

Caught hell from my lovely wife for not watching the kid and daughter, now 22, still reminds me to be careful around ladders.

 

[Eastbayboy]

About 20 years ago I used my 25 foot step ladder (my teenage son spotted me) to tar a small leak on my roof. After I completed the small job, I looked down and thought to myself "What the f&*% am I doing up here?" To get back down, I had to face the roof, and blindly put me feet on the rung. My son was guiding me, but I was downright terrified. I got down completely unscathed, but vowed I'd never do that again. And I held true to that vow.

I got rid of the ladder a few years ago. Risk-benefit of climbing a tall ladder makes hiring someone else to do it a no-brainer, to me.

Your experience reminds me as a 23 year old doing telephone pole climbing at a Pacific Telephone training yard. I had to climb in increments of 6 feet and go around the pole with gaffes. No pole steps on these climbs. I then went to 12 feet...no issues. Then to 18 feet. I then stopped to look around and said oh S*#t don’t panic. I took a deep breath and maneuvered around the pole with sweaty hands but did my task of reaching out 5 feet with my body belt and gaffes to hold me up. I then came down relieved. The instructor laughed and said I was not a virgin and passed me.

In the training rooms the instructors had pictures of pole climbers in Oregon the forest climbing poles 50 feet or more on gaffes. God bless them for their courage but those pictures made my palms sweaty .

 

[Eastbayboy]

DW feels compelled to wash windows when they get dirty. You can reach some of our 2nd story windows by climbing out on the roof of the attached garage. Makes me really nervous as it is a pitched roof but she doesn't seem to care (even at age 75) - out she goes! We need windows that you can wash both sides from the inside!

Can your wife come over to do some tree trimming?

 

[Car-Guy]

Your experience reminds me as a 23 year old doing telephone pole climbing at a Pacific Telephone training yard. I had to climb in increments of 6 feet and go around the pole with gaffes. No pole steps on these climbs. I then went to 12 feet...no issues. Then to 18 feet. I then stopped to look around and said oh S*#t don’t panic. I took a deep breath and maneuvered around the pole with sweaty hands but did my task of reaching out 5 feet with my body belt and gaffes to hold me up. I then came down relieved. The instructor laughed and said I was not a virgin and passed me.

In the training rooms the instructors had pictures of pole climbers in Oregon the forest climbing poles 50 feet or more on gaffes. God bless them for their courage but those pictures made my palms sweaty ��.

OMG, now that brings back memories... My first mega corp job, I had to learn to climb poles too and also learn to properly use ~20 extension ladders... I still remember the "fireman rule" for spacing a long extension ladder. The poles we were climbing were only about 20' high but it sure seemed higher... There were about 15 to 20 poles in the "pole yard" and they were spaced about 15' apart. The students each climbed up their pole and belted off... Then the instructor would throw up a basketball to one of the climbers.. Then we had to pass the ball around to others at the top of their poles.... If you dropped the ball, you had to climb down to get it, throw it back up and then climb the pole again. Taught me to trust the gaffes and belts. Also had to drill holes, hang wire, etc. It also taught me the value of "thinking" about the job I was going to do and bring everything I needed up the pole the first time.

 

[Eastbayboy]

OMG, now that brings back memories... My first mega corp job, I had to learn to climb poles too and also learn to properly use ~20 extension ladders... I still remember the "fireman rule" for spacing a long extension ladder. The poles we were climbing were only about 20' high but it sure seemed higher... There were about 15 to 20 poles in the "pole yard" and they were spaced about 15' apart. The students each climbed up their pole and belted off... Then the instructor would throw up a basketball to one of the climbers.. Then we had to pass the ball around to others at the top of their poles.... If you dropped the ball, you had to climb down to get it, throw it back up and then climb the pole again. Taught me to trust the gaffes and belts. Also had to drill holes, hang wire, etc. It also taught me the value of "thinking" about the job I was going to do and bring everything I needed up the pole the first time.

I forgot about the basketball tossing! I just remember the instructor’s mantra “ Three Point Contact”! To this day when climbing ladders, I repeat to myself “ Three Point Contact” at all times. You sound like a ol’ phone or power guy.
Times were fun when you’re young and a bit dumb in chances and not worrying about the “what if’s”!

 

[Amethyst]

That would have been a "hire somebody" task for me at 35. She is badass!

DW feels compelled to wash windows when they get dirty. You can reach some of our 2nd story windows by climbing out on the roof of the attached garage. Makes me really nervous as it is a pitched roof but she doesn't seem to care (even at age 75) - out she goes! We need windows that you can wash both sides from the inside!

 

[Exchme]

Finally got in to see the ortho and the elbow needs surgery to put in a plate and screws, so that's on the docket for today.

You have to watch the helpers though. They made a new splint which first felt nice and snug but by dinner time I was in pretty bad pain and my hand looked like a purple swollen balloon.

Tried calling them, but too late in the day, so I decided the problem was they made it too tight and cut off the circulation. Had DW take it apart and re-do it looser. Mostly better this morning, but now it doesn't immobilize the elbow very well so that hurts. Glad it's getting repaired today.

My observation over the years is that medical errors are fairly common and you always need to watch out for yourself or have an advocate on your behalf.

 

[SVHoper]

All the best for 100% recovery and thanks for the warning.

The only time I fell off a ladder was because the leg broke, lightweight aluminum ladder had barely been used so I felt it a bit unfair, but now something to watch out for.

The time before where it was a bit close, but a good warning: I was drilling and bit got stuck so the drill rotated and whacked me on the jaw. Not hard enough to knock me off but gave me a fright.

 

[SeanPizzle]

I am a cheap..er...frugal b**tard. I dont pay people to fix anything for me until I am way over my ski tips, and even then, it is hard for me to call in a pro. But if it involves a ladder? No way, I'll pay the premium all day long and twice on sunday.

 

[2177V]

Scared DW when I came in and was telling her I also hit my head but was fine, then promptly collapsed. At least that time was on carpet. Never lost consciousness and head felt fine almost immediately after. I don't have any other concussion symptoms, but it was scary to just suddenly not be in control.

I am 69 retired and I decided to re-roof my shingle house. I have fall protection for my one story house and I did repelling in the US Army so I know how to rig for the fall protection. I still snow ski and surf in Hawaii so my balancing skills are very high.

However, Ladders are dangerous because it is designed for the "center of gravity" of home owner to be in the middle of the ladder. Once your center of gravity moves beyond the middle of the ladder, falling is a strong possibility because the ladder becomes "unstable".

Knowing this, I decided to lash the top of the 12 foot ladder to the top of the roof, and lash my 8 foot step ladder to some scaffording on the ground. The lashing stabilize the ladder. During lashing, I made sure I was in the middle of the ladder. The other method is having your wife or a helper stand on the ground to stabilize the ladder. Without any stabilizing assistance, you are taking a risk.

 

[SALTedOut]

Came here to learn something about CD ladders and walked away with a different safety tip.

 

[rick55]

I’m kinda surprised that they have not sent you for a CT scan of your head since you fell from a height and collapsed ( loss of consciousness or not) and will be having surgery on the injured elbow. It seems to me that they need to rule out a subdural hematoma. That’s a slow bleed, and can take a few days to manifest itself.

Hope all goes well and you are back to your old self soon!

 

[Sunset]

Habit leftover from the days when my portfolio was $12.

I minimize my accident chances by sending up my drone first. We now have gutter guards, but tree debris collects in the valleys. Those are the only spots I need to clean. I'm not going to hire someone just for that.

Clever idea, and a really nice backyard too

 

[Kroeran]

Ladders and bicycles seem to have a high accident rate.

If you are unwise enough to engage in inherently dangerous activity, you better be obsessively safety focussed to avoid that activity culling you from the herd.

Drives me crazy that I have to pay thousands of dollars this summer to deal with our failed gutter foam.

Me on the ladder, I could replace the foam with a retrofit gutter cap for hundreds.

But it’s two stories over hard surfaces. Any error would be a life changing error, if I survived the fall.

Paying pros to go up a ladder, may as well update the gutters.

FYI Mavic Mini 2 is a great idiot proof drone for fun and gutter photography

 

[Caskem]

Just pay the man.

 

[oldtrig]

My wife fell in the front yard 10 weeks ago and broke her right hip. She will be 72 in three weeks and its been a slow go for her. Very active until the freak fall.



A life changer for both of us and she was not on a ladder. Things happen when least expected. Been a long 10 weeks for the both of us. She can walk but still needs the cane most of the time. Not sure if she will ever be the same hard working lady she once was.
We have been married for almost 51 years and this is the first time she has slowed down. Hope to see better days soon.

 

[meleana]

We just recently purchased a new ladder- one of those multi-position kinds. The one we had was a very old- I mean VERY old- like 45 years old- step ladder.


Although we live in a tiny cottage, we have a cathedral ceiling and also our home has high eaves and is on a very steep slope as you go towards the back. There are actually two windows we cannot reach to clean and it goes without saying we cannot reach the soffits- which are very dirty from all the construction that went on with our house and all around us with other homes.


We thought this ladder was the answer, but it is extremely heavy and also it does not help with the steep slope.



Hubby had a hard enough time putting up an outside decoration above the garage door and with trying to clean the two windows- even using an extension pole window cleaning tool. I "spot" him but of course, I wouldn't be able to hold that ladder with him on it should it fall over.


So I am thinking most of the soffits will have to remain dirty and I have to tolerate the two dirty windows. Not worth taking the chance, that's for sure.


Thankfully we do not have gutters. (just a really tiny one near our front steps which get no leaves as we have no trees).



In our former home- which was a 2 story colonial- we had the leaf guards installed years ago. The house was vinyl sided and the last few years there we hired a company to pressure wash the house and clean the outsides of the windows.



(We cannot use a pressure washer as our home is a wood eco siding and a neighbor tried that and it turned out to be a disaster - so much so that he had to repaint his house!)

 

[Exchme]

Opposite what the urgent care folks said, the specialist said it really was displaced, so the fix was a plate and screws. Had the surgery yesterday, spent a bad night last night dealing with the pain.

They almost cancelled in the middle of prep when the routine EKG showed Afib and it had never been diagnosed before. Had to do an Echocardiogram to prove it there were no clots as they don't want you stroking on the table. Supposedly very mild case and I should just followup. Proving that we don't last forever.

 

[MarieIG]

I am wishing you a very speedy recovery.