I get all the easy jobs....

Sep 06, 2007 30 Replies

Working in a 4th floor flat today and have been asked to paint the ceilings in a flat, problem is they are a good 13' up!



Access is very tight to get through the entrance hall, so a big enough pair of step ladders to reach ain't not gonna get through.



Small tower would be OK but I don't fancy carrying all the bits up 8 flights of stairs!



Anyone got experience of either rollers or paint pads on very long poles?



Have you considered airless spraying?

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Have you thought of using the Mr Bean method - with a firework in a pot of paint?

I always use a pole for a big roller. Makes it so much quicker and easier even if reach is not a problem - you can get a much larger sweep, and you don't need to bend down to the paint tray! ;-)

Pads might be better, less splashy.

Have you tried plasterer's stilts? As well as a useful DIY skill it could enhance the magic act - the longer trouser legs would provide useful space for the rabbits and doves, while people are concentrating on your sleeves :-)

Owain

Did you ever see the episode of Myth Busters where they tried it? Brilliant! Except it didn't work - no surprise!

Load limit 16 Stone... yeah right! But maybe that is just me!

Your next item on the tools list... a long rope ie pull the ladder up from the window? of the room you were working from, if access was cramped?

I was using a roller on a long handle a few nights ago. Its hard work on the muscles at the back of your arms. But I'm a computer programmer by trade.

Arthur

I did actually think of that, but the windows are dormers so the roof protrudes too much. Shane.

Nor me :-)

How annoying is it when looking for work trousers? Look in all the online stores and they stop at 38" waist, which they laughingly refer to a X Large.

FB's of the world unite!

Lawson HIS do bigger sizes of the teflon impregnated jobbies that have knee pad pockets...

We could start a new political movement.... just by standing up all at once. ;-)

You could always use

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;-)

Don.

If the ceilings are 13 foot then probably the age that created such space also gave detailing in the form of cornicing which woul militate against long poles and rollers.

My ground floor is about that height, and when I've done 'major works' ie first time round stripping paper and making good I've brought in my scaffold tower, but for subsequent plain painting in later years I've used a double folding tall set of steps that I got from Screwfix some years ago. It's one of those things that have hinges that will lock in several positions, so you can make a ladder in a variety of shapes. Very handy as when folded four times it goes in the back of my Disco. The only drawback is that there is no platform to put your paint pot or roller tray on. Can't find it in the current catalogue but someone must still sell them.

AWEM

Foretunately they are plain.

I have one of these

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that what you mean? Agreed, very useful, but not sure its tall enough.

The Wickes site claims;

"Safe working height: 3.8m in ladder mode, 2.23m in step mode, 2.23m in stairwell mode and 3.06m in stand-off ladder mode".

Then;

Height -1690mm, width - 360mm, weight - 12.3kg, closed length - 0.935m.

What do they mean by the term 'safe working height'? Is that including a handyman of average height? And average length arms?

My ladder when fully open is about 3.7 metres, but you cont use the top rungs obviously.

through.

militate

shapes.

someone

0.935m.

including a

Similar but not the same - I just measured mine (which is folded) - the four folds are each about 1.3 metres

AWEM

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