Stainless Steel Zip Ties
Steel ties for outdoor work where UV kills plastic ones, and the tensioning tool that pulls them tight and shears the tail flush.
Check Your Ladder Angle With Your Feet and an Outstretched Arm
Stand with your toes at the ladder's feet and reach straight out at shoulder height — your fingertips should land right at the rails. Closer than that and the ladder is too steep to work from; adjust the base and check again.
ladder too steep, 4 to 1 ladder rule, extension ladder angle, ladder safety check
The Problem
An extension ladder set too steep wants to tip backward off the wall the moment your weight shifts out; set too shallow, the feet kick out. Eyeballing the angle gets it wrong in both directions, and the difference between right and wrong is only a foot or so at the base.
The Technique
- Stand with your toes touching the ladder's feet.
- Hold your arm straight out at shoulder height.
- Your fingertips should land right at the ladder's rails. If the rails are short of your fingertips, the ladder is too steep — walk the base out and check again.
The check takes five seconds and puts the ladder at roughly the 4-to-1 ratio ladder makers and OSHA specify: one foot out at the base for every four feet of height to the contact point.
Safety note: The angle is the start, not the whole checklist. Keep three points of contact on the ladder at all times, and don't work off a ladder that's on soft or uneven ground, or short of its upper contact by more than the rating allows. If a job has you leaning past the rails, move the ladder instead.
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