• I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...

Fiberglass ladder care

netsol

Premium Subscriber
The polyurethane youre thinking of wont even last that long sitting on the roof of your truck. A good automotive clear would be about it or go to a canvas shop and have covers made.
you used to paint your corvette with imron, i believe it was.
the sales rep had the best demo i ever saw
he had a large piece of aluminum foil, painted with imron
he would crumble it up, throw it on the ground, then pick it up flatten it out & the paint was still perfectly adhered
very handy for you race car, that might get a scuff or two on a bad day

if it is still available you need to have a respirator to wear during the painting process
 

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
you used to paint your corvette with imron, i believe it was.
the sales rep had the best demo i ever saw
he had a large piece of aluminum foil, painted with imron
he would crumble it up, throw it on the ground, then pick it up flatten it out & the paint was still perfectly adhered
very handy for you race car, that might get a scuff or two on a bad day

if it is still available you need to have a respirator to wear during the painting process
We shoot about 20-30 gals a week of Imron 3.5 and have a mixing bank for it. It's good stuff but formulations have changed over time. Now it probably isn't any more hazardous than any other catalyzed paint but back in the day the stuff was known to be some bad stuff.
 

Evan Gillette

New Member
You will probably never regret buying the double-sided fiberglass step ladders, we have an 8, two 6s, and a 4. I have been meaning to get a gorilla or similar but haven't had a good excuse yet. It would be nice to have a taller option that can fit in the delivery hatchback. We have gotten a few of ours from auctions where people don't realize they are double-sided, typically electricians going out of business auctions.

 

gnubler

Active Member
Can you elaborate on the benefit of having it double sided? What situations would you have two people on the ladder, or climb up one side and down the other?

I need a ladder I can easily move around by myself. Rented a 12-ft step once and it took two people just to load it into my van, and two people to move it around the job site.
 

JBurton

Signtologist
Or when you realize your hands are full and you need something still on the ground, a minion can hoof it up the other side without getting too personal with ya. I want to say my gorilla is 37lbs, pretty manageable.
You may or may not be able to stand on the top two rungs depending on your boot size, balance, presence of osha, and a host of other factors. Aside from 'never stand on the top run of a ladder', especially never stand on one with a plastic top (most fiberglass). The way the hinges are situated, you often shift the set of legs you didn't climb up when you put weight up there. Gorilla and little giants have one pair of hinges up top, and as long as you spread the legs prior to climbing and are on solid floor/ground, they won't shift.
Also you can totally use one to straddle a fence! Second only to using a bucket truck to hop a fence. Far better than the carpet you have to haul around for barbed wire.
 

gnubler

Active Member
Good to know, next time I find myself trespassing or starting a revolution.

With the two people deal, I can't picture an install where you'd need 2 people in such close proximity. Whenever I've had 2 people on a job site it's for bigger signs and the ladders are spaced apart to the sign width.
 

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
Good to know, next time I find myself trespassing or starting a revolution.

With the two people deal, I can't picture an install where you'd need 2 people in such close proximity. Whenever I've had 2 people on a job site it's for bigger signs and the ladders are spaced apart to the sign width.
putting up vinyl on a wall and having two step ladders might make them too far apart because of the foot spread.
 

JBurton

Signtologist
Or needing a hand to hold some weight while you get the first screw tight.
It's a lot easier to get on top of the ladder and have a guy lift and pass a panel up rather than holding it while climbing.
Again, sometimes you need that one tool and can't come to ground, pulled all the backer loose before you realized your squeegee is on the floor.
 

Boudica

Back to "educational purposes"
Tex ?
1680901840148.png
 

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
You can walk up both sides of a ladder, if you're fat, spread your stance out. That's a lot of $$ for that fancy double sided thing.
 

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
There is an extension ladder laying on the floor. If it was too short they could have laid it on top of the railing angled across the corner and used it as a plank.
I mean, that's what OSHA would suggest but the real question is why didn't they just load up their brush and fling paint until the white was covered.
 

Johnny Best

Active Member
Tex needs to bulk up and get a little giant ladder. More versatile than a fiberglass step ladder, plus no worry about the fiberglass deteriorating.
I have a Werner 16’ Trestle extension ladder that I need to replace. Got use to these ladders back when I painted wall signs by using two ladders with a plank. Never felt safe with ladder jacks with straight ladders. Back then they were wooden and we soaked them with linseed oil to keep them longer.
 

Johnny Best

Active Member
Hey Tex, do you balance on the ladder rungs, I use drugs so that would be to dangerous for me. One false step and your gelded.
 
Top