Ladder Safety!

 I feel compelled to write on ladder safety for the following reasons. Most home owners own a ladder and use it several times per year. I have seen homeowners using ladders and some of them scare me to death the way they use them! I once saw an 80 year old man cleaning his gutters. It was just a single storey home, but he climbed to the top rung of his 6 ft step ladder and was standing on the top rung....you know.....the one that says "DO NOT STAND HERE". There's a reason why you never stand on the top wrung. The ladder has NO stability! Here are some pictures of unsafe ladder usage!

These pictures are truly unbelievable! It just is not worth it to risk your life for the sake of what ever task you want to accomplish. Ladders are meant for one purpose. To climb safely and use according to manufacturers specifications to accomplish your task.

Every year I hear of home owners who are injured falling from a ladder. The previous owner of the home I currently live in was severely injured falling from a ladder. He was working on a side of the house that was very difficult to get a good pitch on the ladder so it was pitched too steep. He climbed the ladder and was cleaning the eavestrough when he suddenly lost balance and fell backwards. He was able to jump backwards, landing on his feet, but the impact shattered his pelvis in two places. When he landed, his momentum carried him backwards and he hit his head on a tree suffering a severe concussion. He survived, but because he was elderly, the doctors were unsure for a few days. This story is just one of many! I met a 46 yr old man who sustained an injury so severe from falling off a ladder that he had not been able to return to work for a year. Another man I know in his early 50's, broke his arm so badly that the bone splintered and was sticking out his flesh. He has been trying to get better for over 2 years and he still can't return to the work he was doing!

Using a ladder isn’t inherently dangerous, but it can be dangerous or deadly if a person is not careful and mindful of ladder safety.


With that said, it is almost spring and your “to do” list around the house has increased over the winter. Some of the things you’ll need to take care of in the coming months likely include:

1. Trimming branches from trees
2. Inspecting exterior walls and doors for cracks
3. Taking off storm windows
4. Washing windows and power-washing siding
5. Cleaning gutters, downspouts, and roof valleys on your home.

Some of these tasks will require you going out to the shed or garage to retrieve the long forgotten ladder. Please keep this sobering statistic in mind regarding ladder safety…every year, over thousands of people in North America are injured from accidents involving a ladder. Recent OSHA research found that almost 100 percent of all ladder accidents could be avoided with the proper attention to the details of how your equipment works and being mindful of ladder safety tips.

Before Using Check Ladder For:

1. Cracks
2. Bends
3. Splits
4. Corrosion
5. Missing Rungs and Steps
6. All feet are working properly – a solid base is vital to a solid ladder
7. Rung locks and spreader braces are working properly
8. All bolts and rivets are secure
9. All steps, rungs, and other ladder parts are free of oil, grease, and any other liquid or debris that will make climbing your ladder more difficult than it already is

Do not use your ladder if any of the above problems are found as a result of your inspection.

Ladder Safety Tips for Proper Setup and Use:

1. Choose a safe location to setup your ladder while avoiding doors and uneven/slippery flooring
2. Avoid windy conditions
3. Uneven or slippery flooring because this could cause the ladder to shift while you are standing on it – not a good situation
4. Stay at least 10 feet away from any and all power lines
5. Use a spotter (an extra person at the bottom of the ladder) when possible. If not, secure the ladder on each end to ensure it doesn’t fall or lean away from the structure
6. Never carry bulky materials or heavy loads up or down a ladder. All materials should be raised to the work station on a tether or with a lift.
7. Always face the ladder.
8. Keep your body weight centred in between the two side rails
9. Maintain three points of contact with the ladder at all times
10. Only one person on the ladder at a time
11. Avoid sudden movements
12. Never stand on the top rung
13. Never sit on any rung

Most of these ladder safety tips are common sense, but even the most experienced at doing something can forget the basics from time -to-time. So please be careful and then enjoy the coming Spring, Summer and Fall seasons!

To contact us regarding eavestrough, fascia, soffit, or gutter protection work, contact The Eavestrough Company at 905-966-2564. You can also visit our website at www.theeavestroughcompany.com

In closing, I encourage you to click on the link below to one of the best ladder safety articles I have ever read!

http://www.freewindowcleaningtips.com/extension-ladder-safety.htm

Let the professionals do it!

Home Construction is an interesting business. You can get good work done and you can get some really terrible work done on your home. It never ceases to amaze me, in the eavestrough business how someone can go out and buy a truck and an eavestrough machine and "VOILA!" they are now in business! They then go out and promote themselves as an eavestough company.

These people get business by undercutting existing companies that do quality work. They do the job and the home owner thinks he got a bargain. However, when these companies make a mistake, good luck getting them back. I have seen legions of mistakes made in the eavestrough business.Most of these fly by night companies last only about 2 or 3 years before they go under or out of business.

Just today I went to look at a job for a potential customer who had issues with his eavestroughs. The original company who did the work was long gone and likely out of business. When I got there, I could not believe my eyes! I had never seen this mistake made before.  Look at the 3 pictures below very carefully and then tell me what the mistake is! It is glaring and obvious!

Do you see it? Take a very close look! Where are the downpipes? There are none! On this side of the person's house, the water goes into the eavestrough and then just over flows and the landscape below is washing away! What you don't see in the picture is that below is some very expensive patterned concrete work that is beginning to be damaged by the water in the eavestrough over flowing!

It was a shoddy job done by amateurs! All home construction is buyer beware! A bargain is sometimes not a bargain! Once you pay the contractor for the work, that's it! Unless you want to take the matter to civil court and sue the company, which usually costs thousands in dollars not to mention an excessive amount of time involved. In this case, we could fix the above problems by replacing the eavestrough and put downpipe on for around $500 so trying to go through all the hassle of hiring a lawyer and going to court was just not worth it.

When you want a quality eavestrough job done, hire a professional company like The Eavestrough Company. We do quality work and we stand behind our product and workmanship! It's how we've built our reputation! You can contact us at 905-966-2564 or you can visit our website at www.theeavestroughcompany.com

FINALLY! A solution to roof valleys!

Every year I do estimates for Eavestrough and gutter protection. At every home I go to that has a roof valley (see picture below for a picture of a roof valley), I point out the likely and inherent problems that this area will cause.

The majority of home owners do not realise how much water is concentrated in this roof valley by the end of its run when it gets to the eavestrough! It can be enormous! Now think of all that water hitting about a 4"-6" area of your eavestrough!

Another inherent problem with valleys, is that they are debris collectors. Wind movement comes across the roof from different angles and literally traps the debris in the V area of the valley. Like in the picture below.

Now place gutter protection in the eavestrough and you compound the problem. Most people that sell gutter protection promise the stars and how theirs is the best and you will have 0 maintenance, etc...
EVERY gutter protection restricts the opening of the mouth of the eavestrough. So when you place gutter protection in the valley, now you are giving less room for the water to go through and over it will come! That's why I am a fan of a roof valley splash guard and install them on every house I do eavestrough on. However, splash guards have their own problems.

If you look at the picture above, you will notice that the benefit of the splash guard is that any water that wants to over shoot the eavestrough will hit the back of the splash guard and drop into the gutter. HOWEVER.....one BIG problem is that now the debris gets trapped behind the splash guard. So it solves a problem and creates one at the same time! It looked like there was no good solution. Until.....

Last year I was introduced by a friend to the Barnett's Valley Controller. He is in the gutter business in the USA and said he had been using them for several years and they work like a charm! I bought some and did a few installs, one for a neighbour just a few doors away from me. I have been monitoring it for a year and it is unbelievable how flawlessly they work! Here is a picture of the Valley Controller:

Here are the details about Barnett’s Valley Controller:

• It incorporates a patented cheese-grater style top and louvred sidewall design. Water flows through the open slots into the gutter, and debris washes over the top of the surface and falls to the ground.
• It’s made of Kostrate®, the same material as plastic water bottles.
• The plastic is pliable, will stand up to sub-zero temperatures, and has a memory so that it can take and hold a shape.
• It will fit on any asphalt shingle roof with or without a metal valley, and secures under the second course of shingles.
• It’s guaranteed for 12-years, and can be painted with any acrylic paint to match your roof and gutters.

Here is a picture of what it looks like installed!

My neighbour who is surrounded by trees has these on her house loves them! The debris works its way over the edge, the water goes through and into the eavestrough where it's supposed to! Problem solved! This does not guarantee that you wont have to clean the valley out at somepoint, but it will prevent all the water from coming over the edge.

To conclude this article, here is a youtube video from Barnett's Valley Controllers.

For all your eavestrough needs contact The Eavestrough Company at www.theeavestroughcompany.com or phone us at 905-966-2564.