Adventures in Ladder Handling

Today the weather was warm, up in the 60s, and I took my new Little Giant 22 foot ladder outside to try it in the extension position.

No trouble getting the hinge undone and the two legs straightened out.

No trouble extending each leg so the ladder was in its full-length position.

But manuevering it up against the house? Lots of trouble there. Three times I tried it, and three times, when I'd worked my hands up the rungs to its center at the hinge, the ladder's weight and center of gravity were too much for me and I had to put it down.

No, actually, the first time it fell on my shoulder. No damage done, but not what you want.

The clouds were rolling in and it was starting to spit rain. So I quickly contracted each end. The ladder was still extended, though, and I decided to put it up against my back porch to see if it would reach the eaves and gutters. Not quite. Nowhere to lean it there anyway-- the aluminum gutters wouldn't take its weight, nor would the porch screens.

Okay, I still had the ladder upright and I needed to get it into the storage position. Released the hinges and whoops! the back side of the ladder came down in a rush, and thank goodness the hinge automatically catches at the A-frame position!

Sez I to myself, "Kate, ur doin it rong."

So after carrying the ladder back into the covered porch (just in time-- the rain began to pound down horizontally), I went inside and called the Little Giant customer service line.

First question, how does a shorty like me handle this or any extension ladder, especially when it's at full length?

I have my choice of three answers:

1) Get someone else to help me.
2) If no one's available, put some heavy object, like concrete blocks, down at the feet and brace the ladder feet against it/them.
3) Pump iron and develop more upper body strength (this was my suggestion, being satirical).

Second question, how do I fold it back up without it being such a thrilling experience?

The answer was simple and obvious. Lay the ladder down so the rungs are next to the ground. Release each hinge knob, then fold one leg up and over the other, till it's in storage position.

Oh yeah, right. Duh.

I unpacked the box with the accessories today, but I'm saving trying them out for later. Enough excitement for today!

"I'd Like to Thank All the Little People Who--"

Frequent commenter Sandy has graciously given this blog of mine an E for Excellent award.

These honors come with obligations, of course: In this case to pick my ten favorite blogs and give the award also to them.

Not all are housebloggers, so I played over here.

"I owe it all to my dad, who first taught me how to use a ShopSmith when I was five years old! And to my mom, who gave me the keen set of pine building blocks! And to my brother, who didn't scream too loudly when I beat him out of his Erector Set! And to the mean kids in class, who always got to the Legos and the Lincoln Logs first, so I had to go home and work with real tools and wood and stuff! And to--!"

The Little Giant Arriveth

My Little Giant 22 foot convertible extension ladder arrived today, encased in a big white box that the FedEx man left on my front sidewalk just before I had to run out to a meeting. Conveniently, the box comes with handholds, and I quickly stashed it inside my backyard gate till I could return.

Home again and clothes changed, I carried the box onto the back porch and opened it up. Hurray, the Little Giant ladder comes assembled! No loose pieces and parts to mess with!

Actually, a little looseness would have been welcome. The work platform was wedged in so tightly between the two sides of the ladder that I couldn't get it out or get the ladder open.

Yes, I could have worked out how to do it myself. But I decided it'd be a good chance to see how helpful the Little Giant customer service people are.

Very helpful. Told the young woman, "I can't get my ladder open." Says she cheerfully, "Oh, that's probably the work platform. They wedge it in tight so it won't rattle around in transit. Sometimes it's too tight. Just try pulling up on the bar on the top of it, and it should come loose!"

I worked at it, and whoop! the platform was free and the hinge could operate. I asked the Customer Service rep when I should expect my accessories (on Thursday, she said), thanked her very much, and began to play with my new toy. I mean, tool.

I didn’t try the ladder in more than the A-frame configuration today, since the porch is open and the weather was chilly, with a brisk wind. I had no trouble putting it up to its full height and any position in between. It was fun going up to the very top and looking out over my ceiling fan. I'm queen of the mountain!

Or maybe not. Now I can see all the cobwebs and dirt I have to get off my porch ceiling before I can stain it white the way I've always wanted.

I had another meeting out of town this afternoon and couldn't do any actual work with the new ladder today. But I easily compacted it down and carried it down the basement for storage. I can see how you might hurt yourself if you let the inner ladder slide down out of control when you’re collapsing it (re: the Consumer Reports worries), so you don’t. Let it get out of control, that is. The directions say keep your hands on the outer frames when collapsing it, anyway. In fact, they say it repeatedly. And they say it again.

I’ll play with the extension function out in the back yard when the rest of the accessories arrive. Or when the weather gets warmer. Whichever.

The ladder is shiny aluminum with orange plastic fittings now. Too clean. I'm looking forward to baptising it in paint, stain, and wallpaper paste.

Piano Tuna!

The piano is tuned! It sounds like music!

And Doug the Piano Tuner was able to find me some spare hammers to replace the two missing ones! And he put a third string on the top note, where it was missing!

He tells me it tuned up just fine. He played a jazz piece to test it out, and I have the vid to prove it!

The next effort will be for me to tune myself. I have to prevent all this success from making me regret the clack in the keys.

Hellsbells, Kate, Lester is 97 years old! You can’t really hear the clack unless you’re right on top of it. You've got nothing to complain about. So stop it! stop it! stop it!!

. . . This is my damned perfectionist streak creeping out. No, I'm not consistently perfectionistic. If things are generally awry, I let them go and don’t worry. In fact, I put up with and ignore all sorts of mess and chaos-- witness the scabby state of my woodwork the past four years. But if things are aaallllmost right, I want them to be right altogether, blast it.

Tough tuna. With a 1911-vintage upright piano, It. Ain’t. Happening.

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(If anyone is interested, the tuner's two visits, including time, parts, and labor, ran me under $100. It's money well spent.)

Home Show, Part II: I Buy a Ladder

(When we last saw our heroine, she was trekking footsore, hungry, but determined through the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show . . . )

Finally, late in the evening, I made up my mind: I bought a 22' Little Giant convertible/extension ladder.

I'd been researching those puppies online practically since last year's Home Show. I found the booth on the lower level shortly after arrival at the convention center early in the afternoon. Hoisted both 22' models: Yeah, I can carry them both, but why mess with the heavier one when I don't need it? Rep informed me of the special Home Show offer--and yes, it compared favorably to what I'd seen at Sear's and online.

But I wanted to take a few hours to consider. Did I need this ladder enough to make a deeper dent in my credit? So I looked at everything else on display downstairs and up and let the idea percolate in my mind.

Just before I'd exhausted the exhibits on the upper level, I watched the demonstration put on by the rep for Jaws, the rival outfit. Interesting.

Or maybe not. The Jaws price was higher and didn't include all the accessories. So I went back down to the lower level and had the Little Giant rep do his demo, now that I knew what questions to ask. As he was at it, a homeowner came by and kept telling me how much he likes his 22' Little Giant and what a great product it is. "Couldn't do without it."

That was reassuring, though I'd pretty well decided to buy it at that point. And I did, with the accessories--step platforms, arms, leg extension, and wheels--thrown in. It'll be delivered in a week or two. It's all very well to say I can't afford it, but there's a lot of work I have to do on this house ASAP that I can't manage with my wobbly twenty-four-year-old wooden 6' stepladder. I figure my life and limbs are worth what I paid.

And pace Consumer Reports, my fingers are worth some common sense and care in setting the new ladder up when it comes.

Yes, I'm the sort of prat who likes to see if she got a good deal. So yes, I was online today checking other Little Giant suppliers, to check out their latest prices. And the deal I got was better than any of them could do, even considering the exorbitant Allegheny County sales tax.

But my search also led me to a Consumer Reports article that said these Little Giant convertible ladders (and indeed, all the 22' convertible ladders they mentioned) are unsafe and not recommended. Not because they don't take the weight or don't work, but because the extension technique isn't idiot-proof.

OK, fine. I can see how you can pinch your fingers if you get them between the rungs of the inner and outer sections as you extend or collapse the ladder. I'll make a note to keep them out of the way. And to wear leather gloves just in case.

And I'll make sure to use the proper handling technique. I know I can carry the thing when it's collapsed. Should be able to manage it when it's extended.

I understand the concern, but the shorter ladders Consumer Reports approves of will not fit the bill. I'll do a followup post on how well I can put the Little Giant 22 Type 1 through its paces after it arrives.

Home Show, Part I: A Lotta Stuff!

Yesterday I spent six or more hours wandering around the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show.

Funny how that worked. I'd intended to check the guide and visit only the vendors' booths I was really interested in, then get myself out of there. Ha! Wandered up and down every aisle on both floors, then came round and did it again, just in case I'd missed something.

This home show is really great if you want vinyl fencing, cast concrete patio wall and paver systems, hot tubs, and any kind of replacement window. Me, not so much. Did take some window literature, but I still favor using the local custom wood window people, who did not have a rep there.

What I was looking for especially was local lumber and millwork suppliers, in case I decide to replace any of my interior trim. I established diplomatic relations with three of these. But before I go visit their yards, I believe I'll first check out Construction Junction, the Pittsburgh area building materials reuse and recycling place. There's enough foursquare houses being remodelled around the region--maybe some of the original disused yellow pine trim ends up there.

I also talked to a few patio room suppliers, to see if they could make me some demountable storm/screen infills for my too-breezy, snow-permeable, closed-in back deck. Maybe, maybe not. I picked up that it's an idea I'll have to wait to develop until I have the means and intention to do it right away. These dealers typically weren't interested in making site visits and giving me estimates on a job I might get to in 2009.

Understandable. But by then, I may figure out a way to build them myself!

I renewed my CostCo membership, sampled a lot of dip mixes, bought some dried mango slices to munch on, purchased a cute and inexpensive garden hose holder called "Gecko Toes," resisted snapping up a really beautiful but unnecessary queen-sized handmade bed quilt at $150, and determined that no one, but no one was exhibiting the kind of art ceramic floor tile I've decided is exactly what I need for my first floor stair hall. Too bad.

Even though I wore out a lot more shoe leather than I'd intended, wandering around all the exhibits and around again, I have an excuse-- I had to go back: I'd resolved not to buy anything the first time through.

And six hours and not much to eat later, how am I supposed to remember where the products I was interested in were?

A440!

The piano tuner has come and gone, and guess what! He was able to bring my 1911 Lester piano up a whole tone to match concert pitch!

Or maybe not, not quite, not yet. He said, "I tuned it, but it won't sound like it's in tune. I still have to fine tune it. We'll let it settle, then I'll come back and do that."

He tried to explain to me how a piano can be in tune, yet sound like it's out. But I haven't a good enough grip of the science of harmonics to understand how that works. But I can hear it when I play it. A little jangly, ya know?

He'll return on Easter Monday, and do the fine tuning. Meanwhile, if I turn off my aural "Ouch" reflex, I can actually use my piano to learn choir music, without having to transpose a tone up!

Good news, good news! . . . On the other hand, the rattle I get when I strike the keys with any force-- I'm stuck with that. It's because Lester is old. He harmonizes well with my creaky elbows and knees!