So far not too much luck. The closest thing I’ve found is this telescopic industrial ladder that earned an 8/10 review on some painter’s website. Oh yeah, but it has a tendency to COLLAPSE WHEN YOU’RE ON IT. Is AVE the only guy with any integrity in the review business?
So I need something that will allow me to reach interior skylights in all sorts of crazy houses, without renting a boom lift because that’s... Frowned upon. And expensive. If you don’t know, skylights are often placed high above tubs, staircases, or in weird parts of vaulted ceilings 20+ feet high that make it quite tricky to reach.
Standard extension ladders are either too wide to fit the skylight opening, or too large to maneuver. Or the small ones (16ft, 20ft, etc.) are just too short to reach the skylight in the first place.
Little giants would be a *step* in the right direction since they can be placed on a staircase in step ladder orientation.... But it’s a bit sketch, and insanely heavy. I hate little giant style ladders. The one below probably weighs well over 100lbs despite being aluminum, takes forever to get into position, takes up a metric shit-ton of space, and while it can be set up as a normal non A-frame ladder.... It’s inferior to an extension ladder in quite literally every way. They’re also super uncomfortable to stand on and the locks are finicky. Hard pass unless absolutely necessary.
So what I’m looking at now is telescopic ladders. You can get a 20ft “commercial grade” one that’s OSHA approved blah blah blah for about $500. Not cheap, but worth the price if it solves this issue. Take a look below
Pros: folds down incredibly small, easy to maneuver in weird places inside a home. Seems to be a bit narrower than a standard Werner extension ladder.
I have some issues though. First is the feet. They’re completely flat, without any kind of swivel. This means that you’re losing surface area of your main gripping surface the more you angle your ladder on setup. That’s.... Bad. I’m not finding any telescopic ladder that addresses that issue though.
Second is the rungs. None of them are angled. They should be angled in such a way that they’re flat when you have the ladder at the *OSHA approved angle*. Again, that gives you the maximum contact patch between your feet and the steps. Kind of important.
Tl:dr
I need a ladder that’s tall, narrow, takes up minimal space, and is robust. Having trouble