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Nearly made a real prat of myself

mrtaytay

Well-known member
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2,076
Location
South Wingfield
I so nearly embarressed myself on Monday:

I have a massive mansion type property that I clean. Most of the bedrooms have old stone balcony`s....a bit like those you see at Buck Palace. They are very high as well. This means that I have to lean my ladder against the balcony then climb over the balcony to get to the windows. Normally not a problem.

Well, on Monday it was a damp foggy day and I wasnt to happy with the ground...it felt slightly slippy. For this reason, I positioned my ladder against the first balcony much more vertically than I would normally have done (to ease the risk of slipping). For some reason, I didnt raise the top of my ladder much higher than the top of the balcony. Well!!...i was fine climbing over the balcony and cleaning the windows, but getting back on the ladder to get down was a nightmare. It was too vertical and i couldnt hold onto the top of the ladder because it was at the same level as the top of the balcony. What a fool!!. I made several attempts but couldnt get onto the ladder. I got a little bit panicky which made matters worse. No one was around to help. I even contemplated calling the fire service! What an idiot I would have looked. I saw the postman down the lane and nearly shouted for his assistance. I must have been up there for 30 minutes before I finally got myself onto the ladder and back down. It could have gone badly wrong! My life was certainly flashing before me as I kept attempting to get back on the ladder.

A very scary lesson!

 
LOL, I've had a similar experience. Now I make sure I raise the ladder much higher so I can easily get on and off any balcony or railings etc.

 
Yep we have all experience that I'm up shite creek without a paddle moment.

Now apart from setting the ladder higher what else have you learnt from that?

 
I got stuck up on an unrailed balcony once on a massive place out in the country. The ladder blew down in a gust of wind and all I could do was shout for help. I now have a bungee cord wrapped round a couple of rungs, just in case I need to secure it.

What a plonker.

 
We all want to earn a few bucks but also sometimes can take unnecessary risks to do so. As that you are well aware that could have been a catastrophic mistake you made but was more luck than judgment you got down ok in the end... Thank god

With that type of work I would highly recommend you get an ankalad fixed to your ladder so when the outriggers are deployed properly you know the ladder is not going to go anywhere. I would have also used a mircrolite standoff myself at the top of the ladder set 3 rungs down that could be position to rest on top of the stone balcony wall if was safe to do so.

 
Help help...think it has happened to the bet of us tuffers /emoticons/biggrin.png

I got stuck up on an unrailed balcony once on a massive place out in the country. The ladder blew down in a gust of wind and all I could do was shout for help. I now have a bungee cord wrapped round a couple of rungs, just in case I need to secure it.
What a plonker.
 
smurf its andy from a t window cleaning. mrtaytay i got the ankalad and micro stand off on smurfs advice got a 8mt ladder ankalad and the stand off on ebay got the lot for £105.00 best bits of kit iv bought. No point earning a s--t load of money and die for you can spend it.

 
Hi Andy, you got a great bargain there bud...nice one /emoticons/wink.png

I've found the most dangerous thing you can do on a ladder that's not stabilised properly to stop it moving is to step on and off it at the top.

 
Rubber mats. Laddermat. Gripper ladder which is what I use. No chance of slipping. Would rather lose a few quid by not doing a window rather then take a chance. It's situations like these that make you think. Certainly gets the ole ticker going. We've all been there.

 
I did a gutter job last week on realy slippery decking used the ankerlad and micro stand off solid as a rock. iv got me eye open on eay for a cheap set of them ladder spurs you were on about smurf.

 
Sorry to hear of your misfortune mrtaytay, made me laugh though picturing a poor ol windy stuck up on high lol

On about feeling a prat, sort of reminded me of the last time i had a bail out situation while up ladders, i fully extended my set of 11's but on this particular window it just reached the underneath of the sill. Goes up starts cleaning......big gust, ladders and me get pulled away from the wall by a foot or so and twisted round by 90 degrees, i decided to just get off so jumped, i landed on my feet but my pants ripped from my crotch down to my knees......not a good look

That evening i started googling wfp lol

 
Fleebay have some listed now if you take a look. Also seen a new copy of the easi-dec ladder spurs being sold on their too.

I did a gutter job last week on realy slippery decking used the ankerlad and micro stand off solid as a rock. iv got me eye open on eay for a cheap set of them ladder spurs you were on about smurf.
 
Thanks for all your comments. You are all right......I was a total tool for even attempting the window. I do have a stand off, but its cumbersome and makes the ladder very heavy. Are micro light stand offs pretty light (guessing they are, going by the name). Never heard of an ankalad though I suspect I may have seen one on one of your photos smurf.

You are right, it could have gone terribly wrong. I lost my composure which made matters worse. Simply not worth it for a few extra quid. I will take a look at getting some of the equipment mentioned.

It has to be a lesson learned.

 
Sorry to hear of your misfortune mrtaytay, made me laugh though picturing a poor ol windy stuck up on high lol
On about feeling a prat, sort of reminded me of the last time i had a bail out situation while up ladders, i fully extended my set of 11's but on this particular window it just reached the underneath of the sill. Goes up starts cleaning......big gust, ladders and me get pulled away from the wall by a foot or so and twisted round by 90 degrees, i decided to just get off so jumped, i landed on my feet but my pants ripped from my crotch down to my knees......not a good look

That evening i started googling wfp lol
 
We have all done stupid things in the past so you are not alone there bud.

The main thing you have learnt a good lesson without getting hurt.;)

I don't have a pic of using my ladder setup on a balastrade but take it you mean something like this?

L1.jpg


The microlite is quite lite bud and unlike other standoff will rest on flat and slopping roofs too.

Now this ladder setup I use is not going anywhere.

View attachment 2478

If I was using it to access say a balastrade etc I would set the mirolite so had at least 3 rungs above to step off/on the ladder safely.

 
Yes smurf, the balcony's are like that but with great big stone cannon balls on top. I would normally extend my ladder well above the top so that I could get back on easier. Who knows what I was thinking.

That set up with your ladder looks nice and secure. The ankalad looks brilliant for giving you that extra bit of reassurance. Is it fairly straight forward to set up.

 
It's very easy to setup as the ankalad stabaliser arms just fold flat to the stiles of the ladder when not in use. Takes very little time to pull out each side and adjust them to how you want them set. /emoticons/wink.png

 

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