Me And My Ladders

Regular readers will know that I am a painter and decorator.. I’ve been doing this for twenty years and during that time I’ve found that there are a number of very important tools I need to help me do my jobs to a standard that I’m happy with. One such item is a pair of ladders, and I’m quite convinced my wife thinks I have a fetish for ladders judging by how many I have! Ok, I admit it, I probably have haha!

Just recently I was employed to paint a property in a residential area. It’s a semi-detached house, built around 70 years ago. It has a rough cast finish and hasn’t been painted for a number of years. The property is situated on a hill with a small slope on the driveway, so safety is something I’m always thinking about.

The first job was to prepare all the masonry and repair any damage that is required to the walls.

Next up, I need to paint all the walls in the colour chosen by the customer. In this case it’s buttermilk. I apply the paint using a brush, which is a 5 inch masonry brush . This holds a good amount of paint and covers the surface quickly.

As this is a semi-detached house I will need long ladders to reach the upper levels. This is something I have because ladders are something I have collected over the years.

Recently though I was approached by ABRU and asked if I would like to try out their ABRU combination Ladder 5-in-1 with aluminium work platform. It didn’t take me long to say yes to another set of ladders, but I was in for a shock at just how good these ladders are.

I decided to use the ladders up to a safe height and I was seriously impressed, as the ladder extends it reached a height of 3.69m, which was more than enough to paint two thirds of the wall. Also when I used it as a platform, it was brilliant because I could cover large areas in one go, without having to get down from the ladder, which is something I normally have to do.

Once all the walls are painted, I then painted about 12 inches at the bottom of the walls in black masonry paint which is in keeping with the area where the house is situated.

The next part of the job is a bit unusual because a vast majority of houses now have UVPC windows, but this particular house has wooden stained windows. This is where the ABRU combination ladder really excelled as a platform because I was able to stain all the low level windows without having to get up and down, which is what I would normally do when using a ladder. The time saved was amazing.

The final part of the job was to paint the waste pipe in black gloss and give all the finishing touches.

Painting outdoors in September can be very frustrating in the UK, because the weather is very unpredictable, and this job was no different. My one main tip for painting outdoors at this time of year is to keep a close eye on the forecast, and if there is any chance of rain, put the painting off for another day, because if rain hits freshly painted walls the mess will take ages to clean up and of course you have to paint it all again.

If you are a DIY enthusiast or you are a professional painter and decorator like myself, the ABRU combination 5-1 ladder is perfect, not only for outdoor work, but also as a stepladder and stairwell ladder for indoors. A fantastic multi-tasking ladder.

The house is now painted and all ready for the British winter and won’t need painting again for years.