Ladder safety

[daiking]

I need to replace this light but the reason it doesn’t work is that the gutter is missing a clip so it sags and pisses rain straight onto the light.

 

But I can’t work out how to get up there with a ladder safely. There’s no where to land the top of the ladder that isn’t window or gutter. Don’t think a stand-off beneath the window would work, I’d need to be stood at about that height to reach.

[ProDave]

Scaffold tower.

[daiking]

1 hour ago, ProDave said:

Scaffold tower.

 

Thick end of £400 for one bay. Not really a good answer.

[PeterW]

Hire one ..? Local place to me is £30 for a weekend to get to that height 

[ToughButterCup]

Cant see any other way @daiking ....

 

 

[Ferdinand]

is there space to land a ladder on the top lintel of the window? Looks like a row of bricks above it.

 

Though personally I would hate doing it. Cleaning a gutter at that height is bad enough. It would be a scaff tower for me.

 

F

[joe90]

Difficult to see from the pic but I reckon a ladder would rest on the lintel/brick above the window.

[daiking]

I'll report back with some hire quotes but I didn't think it would fit in a normal car.

 

And there is no brick work above the window. The dark bit is the black underside of the facsia board assembly and its pretty much in line with the top of the window.

 

Its not really any easier to see in the uncompressed photo due to the light/dark contrast. I'll take one from inside the bedroom later to show.

Edited July 24, 2019 by daiking

[Ferdinand]

40 minutes ago, daiking said:

I'll report back with some hire quotes but I didn't think it would fit in a normal car.

 

Depends on what you mean by a "normal" car :-).

 

Mine, which @MrPunter sold me, is a Zarges Reachmaster scaffold tower 3.7m platform height 5.7m, goes very comfortably in the Skoda Estate with the passenger seat down.. It might even take another stage. Biggest pieces are 2120 x 750 and 1800 x 950.

 

One to watch is the deck, which may be wide enough not to fit on the front seat width, so may need to be behind your back-line.

 

Any car such as a Mondeo, big Audi, BMW or Merc, or Volvo should be OK. If not, it will only stick out by about 12-18". You just need a system to keep the boot shut without wrecking your paintwork. Take lots of padding. I wouldn't say it will go in something like a Focus Estate, but maybe. 

 

Unfortunately Manchester is a bit far for a loan, and mine is currently in use.

 

HTH

 

F 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2019 by Ferdinand

[joe90]

Length of 2x4 (longer than width of window) screwed to top of ladder to bridge the window resting on the brickwork either side ( note, I used to be a climber and don’t hold with all this health and safety stuff, bit like @JSHarris mounting his new external kit!!!).

[Jeremy Harris]

I'd agree with @joe90, strap a bit of timber across the top of the ladder.  It won't have much of a load on it, as most of the load in a ladder goes downwards.   I'd probably use a bit of alloy tube, just because I probably have a bit and it'd be lighter to lift up.

[Mr Punter]

When you replace it could you move it along a bit so you can get to it from the window?

 

Doh! I thought he had a light on the fascia board that needed replacing, not just a gutter clip.

Edited July 24, 2019 by Mr Punter
Earlier idiocy

[daiking]

17 hours ago, PeterW said:

Hire one ..? Local place to me is £30 for a weekend to get to that height 

 

I wish I had your contacts. So far, 3 local quotes of £62, £67 & £90 inc drop-off/pick-up as I'm told these 6'x3' Alu towers won't fit in my car. For argument's sake, even without del/collection the cheaper 2 are £44* and £60.

 

(*Jewson doing 50% off online hires till tomorrow)

 

6 hours ago, Ferdinand said:

 

Depends on what you mean by a "normal" car :-).

 

 

 

 

Those are not normal cars. The biggest cars in the SMMT list of UK's 2019 top selling cars are the Kuga and the Qashqai and my car is similarly sized.

 

6 hours ago, joe90 said:

Length of 2x4 (longer than width of window) screwed to top of ladder to bridge the window resting on the brickwork either side ( note, I used to be a climber and don’t hold with all this health and safety stuff, bit like @JSHarris mounting his new external kit!!!).

 

5 hours ago, JSHarris said:

I'd agree with @joe90, strap a bit of timber across the top of the ladder.  It won't have much of a load on it, as most of the load in a ladder goes downwards.   I'd probably use a bit of alloy tube, just because I probably have a bit and it'd be lighter to lift up.

 

Would have been fine for a smaller window but that one is about 2.1m wide and that side return I'm stood in is only 2m wide. Swinging round a 2.4m+ length of 4x2 on the end of a 6m extended ladder in that gap is not the sort of you've been framed moment I'm looking for. Nor do I have a glazier on speed dial.

[Ferdinand]

That is me out of ideas then except borrow a trailer or did something else that needs the tower to mitigate the cost, or accept it sticking out of the back of the car a little.

 

Best of luck.

 

F

[Onoff]

A complete, 5.7m MiniMax tower used to fit on / in my Renault Laguna estate with the outriggers on the roof.

[daiking]

16 minutes ago, Onoff said:

A complete, 5.7m MiniMax tower used to fit on / in my Renault Laguna estate with the outriggers on the roof.

 

Buying a Mini-max would be cheaper than changing my car.

[joe90]

3 hours ago, daiking said:

Would have been fine for a smaller window but that one is about 2.1m wide and that side return I'm stood in is only 2m wide. Swinging round a 2.4m+ length of 4x2 on the end of a 6m extended ladder in that gap is not the sort of you've been framed moment I'm looking for. Nor do I have a glazier on speed dial.

 

Nah, what could possibly go wrong ?????.tho I agree with @JSHarris about alloy tube being lighter and more manouvarable (if you’ve got some?).

[daiking]

So last weekend I couldn't arrange anything but the weekend was a complete washout anyway.

 

The only benefit of the heavy rain was the opportunity to see what was happening at the overflow point. The excess water was overflowing from the gutter and running down the fascia rather than shooting off the roof and past the gutter. Therefore I am far more confident it is the issue with the missing clip and not the tiles hanging a little low. I also noticed that a couple of the joins were dripping as well so maybe it all needs a bit of work. I could just about managed to fit another downpipe if I could run it down the lean too roof into the gutter on the base of that (which would also need another downpipe)