[Red_Panda]

I'm about to buy an A frame ladder, what hight would you suggest for domestic work?

David

[Paul Coleman]

I'm about to buy an A frame ladder, what hight would you suggest for domestic work?

David

3.5m double.  Though I have had a couple of jobs before where I needed a 4m double but it was unusual.

[Ian_Giles]

I'd personally stick with a standard 8ft pointer ladder, they have quite a wide base and are very stable.
The extending pointers are ok, but you can end out with only room for one foot in the uppermost rungs.
On the ones I used in the past you could remover the pointer section, but because of the nature of an extending pointer, they are quite narrow and so not as stable, you are also not going to have the angled rubber feet on the bottom of it.

some love the extending pointers, but I'm not one of them.

I think you are safer to use a standard pointer and a light trade extention ladder for the upstairs work.


Ian

[Paul Coleman]

I'd personally stick with a standard 8ft pointer ladder, they have quite a wide base and are very stable.
The extending pointers are ok, but you can end out with only room for one foot in the uppermost rungs.
On the ones I used in the past you could remover the pointer section, but because of the nature of an extending pointer, they are quite narrow and so not as stable, you are also not going to have the angled rubber feet on the bottom of it.

some love the extending pointers, but I'm not one of them.

I think you are safer to use a standard pointer and a light trade extention ladder for the upstairs work.


Ian

Just to clarify my response.  Like Ian, I did use a standard ladder for most of my upper floor work.  However, I felt that some jobs could only be safely* done with a pointer ladder.  I used a 4m double pointer for such jobs - and sometimes needed that height because of the narrow ladder tops that Ian mentioned.  It was handy on certain tall sash windows where I would place the point onto the corner of the brickwork.  If you do use a tallish point  ladder, ensure that you are not "bouncing" it too much early in your climb in case the point comes off the position on which you place it.

*safely.  In this context I am just comparing relative safety of different ladders rather than other methods.

I have recently started using WFP.  It's slowing me down while I'm re-learning my round but most days, my ladder stays on top of my van all day.