Ladder Stand Offs: DEMAND THEM!

When you hire a contractor to work on your roof or eavestrough, you expect them to use a ladder to climb up. Mr. Contractor, who weighs 225 lbs, shows up, extends his 28 foot ladder, places them against your eavestrough and begins the climb. By the time he gets to the top, he is now placing all of his 225 lbs squarely against your thin aluminium eavestrough and. much to your dismay, they dent. His weight also pushes down on them as he climbs on and off the ladder causing them to sag.

Perhaps you didn't notice the damage that he caused but over the years as numerous contractors use this same method to climb on and off roofs, the ladder denting and sagging will become very noticeable!

Eavestroughs are only .23 or .27 gauge aluminium! They were NEVER meant to have a ladder against them and all that weight pushing against them.

What contractors should be using is a tool called a "ladder stand off". It is so named because it enables the ladder to stand off the house. The amazing thing is that very few contractors use them!

I have been using ladder stand offs since I started in business. Below is a picture of the type of ladder stand off that I use.

Notice how the ladder never touches the eavestrough. These Stand offs cost me $150 each and prevent me from damaging my customers eavestroughs. But an added bonus for me is that it also stabilizes the top of the ladder and prevents it from sliding.

You can buy super cheap ladder stand offs for $50 from Home Depot or Lowes. You can also pay as much as $250 for a really good one called "The Spider". Dan Feldhaus is the creator of this one and he illustrates it below. Dan is a class act!

The bottom line is that if you are a home owner, a building superintendent, property manager, etc...., you should demand that all your contractors use a ladder stand off when they work on your house or building. I am preparing to do a job soon that will cost a condo corporation over $24,000. The sad part is that all the work I am doing on that complex is to replace eavestrough that have been dented by ladders. Here is a picture of the front of one of the thirteen complexes on that property.

Nearly every eavestrough on the front of every complex has been severely dented and crushed  by contractors! Look at the picture below.

Ladder stand offs just make sense! They prevent damage to your home and keep workers safely stabilized while working. Demand that all contractors use ladder stand offs when they have to climb onto your roof.

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