I’ve seen some pictures of peoples ladders in resting on the glass, or so it appears… I haven’t posted enough on here yet so I can’t share the link, but it’s a picture of a guy doing commercial work with what appears to be a sectional ladder in the middle of the glass. Could it be that since the ladder is “pinched” at the top and it’s resting on a support, or is commercial glass that much thicker?
I’d imagine that glass to be pretty thick but I dont think I’d chance it regardless. But then again, what the hell do i know? That’s why im asking haha.
I’ve seen other pictures of people with ladders in the middle of the glass… just seems unsafe or a potential liability. Any type of info would be great…
I do it every day. Make sure the angle of the ladder is not too flat (putting a lot of pressure on the glass). Glass is pretty strong. The floor to ceiling glass is designed to stop a running child if they run into it.
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I do it rarely if there is no other way to get access. I have a couple of commercial accounts where I have to do it. In Florida, the building codes require glass to be strong enough to withstand hurricane force winds. I would never do it in a residence
[MENTION=12729]JaredAI[/MENTION]- how’s your math? I know the forces applied to the wall are much less than that applied to the ground, but I’m having trouble working it out.
It’s possible that the picture in question was a sectional ladder leaning against a narrow mullion, since the ladder is designed with that in mind.
I personally wouldn’t recommend leaning against the glass. As Chris pointed out above, it isn’t just about the glass. If the frames are compromised, the glass could come loose from the frame. Or what if sharp-beaked birds have hit that particular spot numerous times, and the glass is stressed to the point where it shatters when you get to the top of the ladder? These are probably extremely rare possibilities. But if there’s any other way to reach the glass (and there usually is) it doesn’t make sense to expose yourself to that risk. JMO.
I always hated dynamics. I just couldn’t “see” it. The only other math that kicked my butt that hard was fluid calculus. Suuuuucked. It’s why I wasn’t a civil engineer. As it is, I’d say throw the ladder on the window and climb up and see if it works or not… And have a broom handy just in case.
Most of the weight will be on the ground but the issue for me would be the “bounce” you get while climbing up and down. My gut would say the glass would hold, but that bounce might snap it. And definitely extension ladder over sectional because you’d want the distribution. LG would be even better.
Every other option would have to be unavailable before a ladder goes against the glass. That being said, it does happen and I’ve never had it break. The consequences of a well trained window cleaner in this type of accident would be great and far exceed the cost to clean it. It’s a last resort type move.
Hadn’t considered the bounce. That’s probably something that would occur to me as I’m halfway up the ladder, “Dang, I bet this bouncing is stressing the glass. Better slow down…”
The biggest issue (practically speaking) I see with leaning agains the glass, is cleaning the spot behind the ladder. That’s gonna require a second ladder set, fairly close to the first set. If you’re cleaning large panes of glass I think it’s much better to lean the top of a sectional against one mullion, clean half a pane on either side, and then move over to the next mullion to clean the other half of the previous pane and half of the next one, and repeat. This method could also be adapted to an extension ladder, by leaning against horizontal frame members (centered between mullions), and cleaning 1/3 of the pane above the ladder, and 2/3 of the pane below/behind the ladder.
I posted this late last night so I apologize if my wording was a bit off. I also realized after the fact that I could just make a couple more posts before I can post a link to the picture.
