I got a request to quote a job in a large townhouse. There are 4 skylights that are located in a great room with cathedral ceilings. They are approx. 16feet high on the inside. I’m just wondering what everyone is using as far as ladders to get to skylights this high up inside a home? Is there a specific type of folding or a-frame combination ladder that I should have in my arsenal? What’s a fair price?
Thanks
I’d either use a pole and the Countour handle set to 0 degrees or my Little Giant knockoff. At full stepladder extension it’s a 12ft double sided step. From there I could easily reach the skylights. Of course my first choice would be to do it from the ground.
I’d go wfp & a drop cloth!! 
I use a Wagtail-flipper & a drop cloth, although the flipper pad seems to catch most of the water. Previously I used a Mr Longarm, I still do for angled or different atrium angles that can only be reached from a fly bridge. An Unger fixiclamp with microfiber always comes in handy for detailing.
A set of sectional stack ladders would work, 21/2 or 3 peices. It would be better if you had a man hand them to you as you stack them on top of each other and shoot it up to the window. Make sure you pad the top with a rubber cap and a clean, dry towel so as not to mark the wall.
A frame is the easiest to deal with. 10 or 12 footer would be a great choice. I don’t like the multi folding ladders. Way to heavy, lug one around for a day and get some bengay along with jack and coke for the nightwatch. Just be careful with it in the home. It’s best to have two people handle it if you can. If you go at it alone, practice with it in your home. You will see really fast how quickly you can break something if you are not watching with eyes all over your head. Once up the ladder a zero degree and rag will do. I also place a drop cloth under the ladder and window.
Watch out for the dirty water runs on the flat paint, sometimes hard to wipe off.
i used a little giant or extension ladder with a couple huck towels over the ends to prevent damage to paint and do it up
This is the perfect spot for a magic eraser, or sponge, there are several different brands out there. They are perfect for getting that really dark drip mark off the wall near skylights. They also work really well on white rugs. At one job I had to go all CSI through a customers house because someones boab had either a leak or some runoff from the soaker. Tiny ink black circles on a white rug and no trace after hitting them with the magic eraser.
You mean like these? Just finished these today. The higher ones were w/ a 32’ extension ladder. Lots of fun.
It sounds perfect for the “Stupid Ladder”, the super lightweight 16 foot extension ladder that can be found at walmart and home depot, Louisville makes them but I think Werner uses the same design. No rope pull just raise the extension and set it on the bracket, similar to a stack ladder.
We call it the “Stupid Ladder” because they come with those flimsy flat feet and it doesn’t have the locking system like a normal extension ladder, you can only safely use it on perfectly flat surfaces, otherwise it would be a stupid choice in ladder placement. But it is super handy if you ever have to climb a 28 footer and then still throw a ladder over some deck railing to reach a window over a deck. So for your purposes it would fold down to 8 foot so it would be easier to maneuver through a house than a 10 or 12 foot A-frame, and a lot lighter than a Little Giant (aka Heavy Bastard among our crew).
I generally pass on washing skylights, most of them are plexiglass so they can’t be scrubbed, and generally they have clouded or yellowed, so I’ll generally wash one as a sample and let the customer judge whether they want to spend the money for the rest (Flat rate for me, same price as every other window if we are doing all the windows in the house).
