Cold

[seye]

Sometimes a scrim under your ladder feet works a treat on decking.

 

[boarcity]

gettin your ladder footed is the best way. altho quite expensive you cannot put a price on safety , upside is you can continue working [and earning] in all weathers with a helper /

who naturally will also be cleaning windows for 99% of the time

 

[Posh]

Not starting until about 11ish and packing up by 4, quite pleasant when the sun comes out. Anyone with decking stupid enough to run the planks straight down the garden so I can't use my aluminium thingy's will only get wfp'd when they're slipperey.

You can use them when the decking runs straight down. There sould be a sticker on them showing you. You just turn them round & the points dig in & stop you.

Still best to have someone footing it tho.

 

[Danfire]

Mine do have points on one side, not sure what they would dig into when dropped in the gaps between the planks as they are not in contact with the ground. If I can find a joist to slide them up against they sort of work but not as intended. One of the decks gets so swollen you could not get a playing card in the gap so no chance with my thingys, wfp all the way on wet, slippy, winter decks.

 

[Smurf]

Bonkers

Sometimes a scrim under your ladder feet works a treat on decking.

 

[Smurf]

So what stops the guy footing the ladder slipping as the ladder starts to slide down the wall?

I been on decks that I can hardly walk on without slipping over so I'm dammed if I'm going to get someone to foot the ladder.

gettin your ladder footed is the best way. altho quite expensive you cannot put a price on safety , upside is you can continue working [and earning] in all weathers with a helper /
who naturally will also be cleaning windows for 99% of the time

 

[boarcity]

So what stops the guy footing the ladder slipping as the ladder starts to slide down the wall?I been on decks that I can hardly walk on without slipping over so I'm dammed if I'm going to get someone to foot the ladder.

if the ladder is footed correctly , i.e. toes touching each stile end , plus spikes permanently fitted on the ladder , the risk of slip is minute

if the ground is treachourous, the trad pole can always be used of course

 

[Posh]

Mine do have points on one side, not sure what they would dig into when dropped in the gaps between the planks as they are not in contact with the ground. If I can find a joist to slide them up against they sort of work but not as intended. One of the decks gets so swollen you could not get a playing card in the gap so no chance with my thingys, wfp all the way on wet, slippy, winter decks.

You don't need the gaps. There made to sit on top of decking as well as go into the gaps.

 

[mrtaytay]

I thought the slowness was just me so I'm not getting paif itssed it yet, another flurry of snow up here last night and ground pretty icy lovely day though.

I am like you Seye....jobs seem to take a lot longer when the temperatures are freezing. I try not to wear gloves as much as possible as I find them really restrictive, but sometimes you have to bang them on. Wore them all day friday as it was ******* bitter!. At least we have some mild temperatures for the beginning of this week......apparantly much colder towards the end.

 

[Dave B]

I was up a ladder on a townhouse once in the snow and the guy footing it called up as his whole body was slowly sliding backwards with the ladder feet

That certainly puts the wind up you

I wouldn't trust being footed on decking for that reason

 

[Tuffers]

I footed my ladder on a piece of ply in a very muddy garden once. The ladders would normally sink up to the first set of rungs, so I thought I'd use the ply to set the ladder on. I got up to the bedroom window and the ply started to slide back....sharpest descent I've ever made

 

[seye]

Bonkers

I knew you would pick up on that smurf. Bare in mind my ladders have block feet and do not budge otherwise would not do it, grips better than a ladder mat believe it or not. Not on icy decking or seriously slippy decking. Do not try this at home.

 

[seye]

At least we have some mild temperatures for the beginning of this week......apparantly much colder towards the end.

Only thing is warmer weather at this time of year brings the rain.

 

[Dave B]

Only thing is warmer weather at this time of year brings the rain.

Good..no smears then

 

[Smurf]

Most don't know how to foot a ladder properly and get bored so their mind wanders so does their attention to the job in hand. Would I rather put my life in someones hands footing a ladder I'm on or use an ankalad? My choice would be I would choose and ankalad all day long as would be safer for me and a darn site cheaper too.

I was unaware until recently that the ankalad was tested by HSE in 1999 and was found to be a safe alternative than having someone foot the ladder. I wonder why?

if the ladder is footed correctly , i.e. toes touching each stile end , plus spikes permanently fitted on the ladder , the risk of slip is minute
if the ground is treachourous, the trad pole can always be used of course

 

[Dave B]

Nice..i didn't know that either

Rated hse oc200/30

 

[Smurf]

I'm not that brave to put my faith in scrim or a bit of carpet that old school painters tend to use. Weather can change whilst your up a ladder so once a surface gets damp/wet can turn into a death trap. At least me using an ankalad I know the ladder is not going to go anywhere even on the most slippery surfaces.

I knew you would pick up on that smurf. Bare in mind my ladders have block feet and do not budge otherwise would not do it, grips better than a ladder mat believe it or not. Not on icy decking or seriously slippy decking. Do not try this at home.

 

[Smurf]

I still won't work on ice or snow though as thats just being silly /emoticons/biggrin.png

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[Dave B]

This is what hse say about footing ladders

Not very safe

Footing

39 The effectiveness of footing was measured in Research Report 205 and is less effective than it was thought to be and it is not of equivalent effectiveness to tying or using an effective ladder stability device. This is further compounded by the fact that there is no agreed method of footing. The best measured method of footing from the Loughborough work is for the footer to stand on the bottom rung of the leaning ladder with feet rung width apart and the footer should stay in this position until the leaning ladder user has descended half way. This means that the footer's total static weight is used to stabilise the leaning ladder and it does not require an active effort (pushing, etc.) on the part of footer. The problem with this method is that it puts two persons on the leaning ladder, which will overload many leaning ladders and the British Ladder Manufacturer's Association (BLMA) only recommend one person on a ladder. However this is a currently used method, so it is foreseeable use. If HSE is asked which is the best method then this is the best measured method but with the caveats of overloading and that it is not a method supported by the BLMA.

40 Other methods of footing leaning ladders can actually destabilise them, eg placing one foot on the rung and both hands on the stiles, if the foot is off centre and on the same side as the person is working/reaching, it will actually decrease the ladders stability making a flip failure (ladder rotates around one stile) more likely.

 

[boarcity]

thats intresting that the ankalad was tested by the HSE . the other [lethal in my opinion] gizmos on the market should be tested, im sure at the moment theyv not been tested properly. testing by "independant laboratory" is a flawed test, it needs to be done by HSE only

 

[Dave B]

Ankalad ladder levellers also have been rated.good by hse