How do I put up a long ladder on my own?

The technique is old and it works, and once you have done it a couple of times a three-section ladder is manageable alone. Getting it wrong means a heavy ladder swinging out of control in an arc, which is why the sequence — feet anchored first, body underneath, walk it up rather than lift it — matters more than strength.

Safety

What you'll need

• Extension ladder
• A clear route and a clear area at the wall
• Non-slip footwear
• A helper, for anything at the limit of what you can control (optional)

Step by step

1. Look up first, every time.Overhead power lines, service cables to the house, telephone lines, low branches, and anything on the wall you could sweep off. Contact with an overhead line is fatal, and a raised ladder has a much longer reach than it appears to from the ground.
2. Check the ground and the route.Where the feet will finish, where you will walk, and what is behind you. Clear the area of tools, hose reels, plant pots and anything you could trip backwards over while looking up.
3. Carry it correctly.For a short carry, stand it against your shoulder with one hand through a rung and the other on a stile, front end tilted slightly up. For a long carry with a heavy ladder, drag it flat or get a second person. Carrying it flat at waist height is how windows get broken.
4. Lay it down with the feet against the wall.Ladder flat on the ground, base of the ladder hard against the base of the wall so the feet cannot slide as you lift. This anchor is what makes the whole method work.
5. Lift the top end and walk under it.Pick up the far end, hold it above your head, and walk towards the wall moving your hands from rung to rung. Keep your body directly under the ladder, not to one side, and keep your back straight.
6. Keep control at the vertical.As it comes upright the weight lightens and it can go over backwards. Slow down as you approach vertical, keep a hand on a rung, and let it settle against the wall rather than pushing it there.
7. Walk the base out to the right pitch.With the top against the wall, lift each stile in turn and step the base out until it is one unit out for every four units of height. The rung-height test is useful here: stand with your toes at the feet and your arms straight out at shoulder height, and your palms should just touch a rung.
8. Extend the sections after it is up, not before.Raise a closed ladder and extend it in place using the rope or by pushing the section up, with the ladder leaning at its final pitch. A fully extended ladder is far heavier and much harder to control during the lift.
9. Secure it before climbing.Tie both stiles at the top to a solid anchor, or use a stability device. Check the section locks have fully engaged and that both feet are bearing. Then climb.
10. Lower it the same way in reverse.Retract the sections first, then walk the base in until it is upright, then walk it down with your body underneath it. Most ladder drops happen at the lowering stage when people are tired.

Tips

• A ladder with a rope and pulley extension is much easier to handle alone than one you have to push up by hand.
• If there is a wall, a fence or a step at the base, use it as the anchor instead of the house wall — anything that stops the feet sliding will do.
• Two people is genuinely better and is not an admission of anything. If the ladder is at the top of what you can control, wait for help rather than proving a point.
• In any wind, do not attempt it. A ladder is a large sail and it will be taken out of your hands as it comes upright.

Common mistakes

• Lifting from the side rather than from underneath — The ladder swings in an arc you cannot arrest, and your back takes the load in the worst possible position. Get under it and walk your hands up the rungs.
• Not anchoring the feet before lifting — The base slides away as you push, the ladder flattens, and you are left holding a lot of weight at arm's length.
• Raising it fully extended — Far heavier, far more top-weight, and much more likely to go over backwards at the vertical. Raise it closed and extend in place.
• Not looking up — It is the one mistake in this list that kills people. Overhead lines are easy to miss from the ground and a raised ladder reaches far higher than you expect.

Questions people ask