How to Use Ladders Safely | Ask This Old House

And make sure wooden ladders are dry,wet ladders will conduct electricity

great video for us thanks. the screws on the spreaders of my aluminum ladder have rusted so badly that i can't open them, one spreader fell off today. my question is have you heard of anyone buying new spreaders and from where? or should I just buy a new ladder? Checked home depot, nothing. thanks.

I always find something askew about how they speak to each other on TOH. Like clearly the content is for the viewer but they don't speak to us directly.

The rule of “three points of contact” also applies (of course) to rock climbing. Thx for the video!

Also the rule of angles helps a lot!

Wooden ladders that get wet do conduct electricity.
Ladders must be able to support 4 times their (complete) intended load.
Ladders are color coded for weight and category.
If the labels are not legible you cannot use it.
Ladders cannot be used in a horizontal position.
Extension ladders must extend 36" above the intended landing.

You guys forgot to add, when you extend the ladder above the roof edge, ALWAYS extended it half your body height for easy mount and dismount.

There's = There is

What a thrill.

Real important that the feet are on secure ground. I had used my ladder many times to climb my one story roof. It had snowed one day and not taking a little
time to think I set my ladder up to clean off snow, not realizing there was a thin layer of ice on the concrete. I was at the top and started swinging my leg up to get on the roof when the bottom legs slipped away and the ladder fell to the ground. I smashed my face on it when I went down and was bleeding pretty good from the mouth. Luckily my wife was around and heard the crash and rushed outside and took me to urgent care to get stitches internally in the mouth. Needless to say I’m VERY careful making sure the legs are secure whenever I use a ladder now and put a bunch of heavy stones around them if using on concrete

what kind of safety is this when you don't secure the ladder with something like a rope so it doesn't go sideways and to tie yourself with it so you dont fall back when pushing something like drilling or cutting

How high can an extension ladder go? Can I raise it to the last rung safely?

Me at 270 pounds " 250 pounds now thats alot of weight" 🫥

This is a great video. Thank you guys...I just started working with roofers and this is so helpful because most workers don't give you the full version of ladder safety.

now this is how home owners get killed lol.

that's really good video for use a ladder

that stepladder seems useless

My wife is a SLP that works with People who suffered TBIs and one of the most common accidents that lead patients through rehab to her is falling of ladders in trades.

As a professional painter for 40 years,ALWAYS ALWAYS,,check first before raising your ladder if there's any high voltage cables running in your work area,that is INSTANT DEATH

Hey guys I'm watching this. I guess if you're doing alcohol or drugs, FORGET ABOUT CLIMBING THE LADDER!!! ✌️