Buying A Ladder For A Weekend Project Is A Snap Or So You Thought - My Adventures

Buying a ladder for a weekend project is a snap. Leave the coffeepot on. Drive to the nearest hardware store. Get a ladder that fits the height requirement for the job. Load the ladder in the back of the SUV. Return home.

Nope!

My local hardware store has a courtesy questionnaire that you must complete before you can buy a ladder. Then there is the release of liability form if you don't watch the safety video.

"What is this?" I asked the clerk. It seems my local hardware store owner had been sued on two separate occasion for selling unsafe equipment. This owner was taking no chances with customer injuries coming back to haunt him.

There may be some support to his requirement. Over 160,000 people are injured in ladder related injuries each year. If you don't know how to choose a ladder for the job or you attempt to use a ladder that is not safety inspected, the chances of injury are high.

I signed all the forms and sat down to view a thirty-minute video entitled "Ladder Safety". The video was not interesting but the dumb things that people do on ladders had me laughing.

Then I saw a video clip that applied to me. The person was on a ladder cleaning out gutters. Suddenly the extension ladder collapsed. The video showed the ambulance. The video person failed to engage the locks on his extension ladder.

The clerk stopped the video to remind the group "Do Not USE a METAL LADDER IN A LIGHTNING STORM" (There were 10 bored homeowners looking at this video). All we needed was the clerk to do commentary. But we had to listen to everything because We wanted our ladders. The clerk reminded us of a basic safety principal. " If you are working outside in a lightning storm, get off a metal ladder". Store the metal ladder in your garage. Do not leave a metal ladder propped against your home during a thunderstorm".

We all snickered under our breath and thought "DUH"!.

The clerk turned the video back. There on the screen we saw three electrical incidents involving metal ladders. I thought everybody knew that metal ladders conduct electricity. So stay away from electrical wires and lightning and come in out of the rain. Everyone does not know this so I paid closer attention. I was glad to find out that I could buy a ladder made of fiberglass.

The Clerk showed us how to check the maximum load for a ladder. When you check the maximum weight that the ladder supports you must add your weight plus whatever materials you are carrying Up the ladder. No way. I'll just purchase a high load weight for my ladder because I'm not asking any of the females in my house to calculate their weight plus anything.

Fortunately for the hardware store I was finished with all the requirements to puchase a ladder. I knew I needed to select the right ladder for the right job. The store had A huge selection of ladders made of several types of material. They also stocked several styles of ladder.

Unfortunately for me, I needed to purchase several ladders to meet the requirements of the jobs I did around the house. I chose my ladders carefully. I didn't want a ladder made of metal for obvious reasons For mundane outdoor jobs, the metal ladder was the least expensive.

Then the clerk pointed out that the cheap metal ladder did not have slip resistant material on the bottom I had to spend additional money to get that feature.

Since ladders are so common, we tend to take using a ladder for granted. We forget about the dangers associated with this household tool. Being safe on a ladder is as important as being safe in your house or car.