Now, honestly ..........

[SteveB]

How many of you use a five gallon plastic bucket for a ladder? I know it's not such a good idea, and I cringe when I see someone else do it, from being a safety professional and suffering from the hypervigilance of PTSD. And yet, I just did it, and with little reservation. I have seen people "walk" these remarkable distances, and use them quite adroitly. I also have heard tales of woe and steel pins and screws. And yet, if I need to do something straight up, and all I need is a foot or two, I grab a bucket, because I can never find the damn ladder.

Steve

[David Nebenzahl]

On 9/28/2009 2:04 PM SteveB spake thus:

Me.

Plastic buckets sometimes break when you step on them. I know this.

I've had it happen to me.

But I *still* sometimes grab one when I need to get up about a foot or so ...

[aemeijers]

I'll second the steel pins and screws stories. 2 coworkers of mine, in seperate incidents, trashed themselves pretty badly with stupid falls doing household repairs with improper ladder rigging. One is back up and running, although he limps a little, can forecast the weather, and has to carry a letter for airport security. The other guy, well, he is sorta back to work, uses a cane now, but he ain't ever gonna be right.

I was already getting a little more paranoid with advancing age, but now I double-check everything before I leave ground level.

-- aem sends...

[norminn]

Don't ignore ground level - slippery floors, lighting, look out for blind drivers backing out of parking spaces. Fortunately, my daughter is a sales rep for human hardware - if I ever break a bone, I will have an "in" with select orthopedic surgeons and, perhaps, a discount on the hardware. Knock on wood. Had nasty, painful tendonitis in each shoulder, separately. Took anti-inflammatories until they made my stomach hurt. Decided I could go another 10 years without my family doc

- switched to hot showers with stretching exercises (alone:o) So far, for the past 35 years, ice packs and/or heating pads have cured all that has ailed me.

[Nate Nagel]

In my kitchen I have a small folding 2-step stepstool. SWMBO is vertically challenged compared to Yours Truly, you see, therefore sometimes I put things on a shelf that I can reach but she can't. Handiest little thing ever, use it a lot for other uses, e.g. waxing the top of a pickup truck camper shell etc. (why are Fords so damn tall, anyway?)

nate

[Stormin Mormon]

Both my vehicles have a folding two step "sorta ladder" which I use nearly daily, in my work. I can't remember doing the flipped over bucket, in the last many years.

[Larry The Snake Guy]

I will occasionally use a bucket, but first I'll stress test it a little to make sure it hasn't gotten brittle and make sure I can safely land in any direction. I'll usually avoid it though. Not much worse than the wobbly step ladder we recently threw out...because I was afraid someone would get killed on it...

[benick]

What a bunch of girly men...LOL...JUST KIDDING....I use a bucket all the time..As a drywaller there is ALWAYS one around..LOL...But then again I use stilts as well....Sometimes I even walk out into stairwells with stilts on a plank out to an extension ladder to tape the top of the stairwell....I also roll Baker staging around like a skateboard....I do use eye protection and dust masks when needed though..LOL....The house I'm doing right now has a cathedral ceiling 3 sets high on wheels...Welcome to MY world....LOL....

[SteveB]

In my house, SWMBO uses a 8" tall plastic foot stool, which I am forever running into and kicking for a field goal. Much to her dismay.

Steve

[Red Green]

"SteveB" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

No, I don't Steve. The bottoms cave in and they tip too easy. And for many of my adult years I lived where 20-30 below zero winters were common. Using it when it was cold they're sure to break. Using it when they've been exposed to that cold for some time they get brittle even after warming up.

I do have a 2 step (real) stepladder. My "cheat" ladders are plastic milk crates. Even those will tilt over if the weight is on the edge only. More stable because they're shorter than a bucket but what height is best for a cheater? Well, how long does the dog want his leash? Just a little longer of course.

[Stormin Mormon]

Hope you sawed the ladder in half. Some dumpster diver may come back to sue you.

[Dave]

Sorry, I used either a two-step plastic folding thing that is weight-tested for my mass, or a three step metal folding step ladder with similar promise of strength, or the real thing, depending on which one suits my needs of the moment. Plastic buckets are not a good idea, and neither are milk crates. When you fall after 40 you no longer bounce back up, you just lay there and ring. And I am pushing 50, only a few months away.

My $.02. YMMV

Dave

[norminn]

Oh, hell! I was YOUNG when I was 50 :o)

[Red Green]

"Dave" wrote in news:ssGdna8Cp-Vc4VzXnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

Kids...boy I tell ya. When I was his age we didn't have... yak yak yak.

[Red Green]

Red Green wrote in news:Xns9C951E4312A7RedGreen@

216.168.3.70:

Hell, I could jump two trusses in an attic WAY back then. Down to one now that I'm closer to 60 than 50...barely closer to 60 mind you.

[harry k]

de quoted text -

Same here. I rehabbed and added an addition to my house before I wised up and bought one of those stepstools. First time I used it I realized I should have bought one 20 years earlier. Now I am debating buying a second one to keep in the garage/shop.

Harry K

[aemeijers]

OOh- flashback. I used to be able to stand on the subfloor in a just framed house, jump up, grab a ceiling joist, and pull myself up into the attic. That was several decades and at least 30 pounds ago, though.

-- aem sends...

[Tony Hwang]

Depends. If a person is over seight of course.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, I have few step ladders around house. I am very safety conscious. In my active working days, safety engineer could have you fired on the spot if you did stupid things. There is no such thing as over safety.

[Phisherman]

There is no subtitute for a sturdy ladder. Anything else is asking for trip to medical. Every homeowner should own a few sizes. Yeah, I'm guilty of using a chair instead of a step stool, never a 5-gallon bucket.