A real dumb embarassing question about ladders

[ajg617]

Absolutely not alone on this and we plan on ordering a Solitude early next year and parking it at our home in NH (pine trees, oaks, maples everywhere).

Can't stand heights if at all connected to the ground. Oddly, I love to fly and have not a problem as a pax or in years past up front. But I can't even watch a TV show with someone standing on top of the Empire State Bldg or near cliff edge. I was definitely on the wrong side of the Grand Canyon tour bus. Elevator? Forget it -stairs.

I do not climb extension ladders anymore though I used to be up on my house roof. I do have a one story shed and figure if I park close, I'll have two sides of coverage around me to check the roof in sections. But I think @traveldawg has the right idea only I took my extension ladder to the local dump.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

I love heights myself, but have seen what happens to people when they get above their 'comfort' level. It's not worth the stress for you.

Just pay somebody else to do the roof deal. Might cost a couple hundred, but will rid you of the stress and worry of going up there.

[powerscol]

I love heights myself, but have seen what happens to people when they get above their 'comfort' level. It's not worth the stress for you.

Just pay somebody else to do the roof deal. Might cost a couple hundred, but will rid you of the stress and worry of going up there.

I guess my comfort level is head high now. Went to get on the roof today and just as I reached the top and tried to crawl over...well lets say my mind got the better of me. So I dug out the 12' step ladder (350 lb rating) and used that. It takes up a huge amount of room, (has an extra wide stance and steps) but is rock solid with a tool platform. Had the DW work as a stabilizer and tool/part fetcher - last part was a pain. I should be more organized. From it I could see on the roof well. Fortunately 99% of the edging was good, just 3 corners and a few front cap bubbles needed touching up. Other than dust, my roof looks good.

[SailorDan]

I used to have a Tiffin class A and the ladder probably wouldn't hold me so I backed the rig close up to the house and used an extension ladder. I could grab the house roof and the wall was close. On my 22MLE the ladder is strong and I can use it but it seems the steps are far apart which makes getting off the roof a little unnerving. When I installed my solar panels and MaxxAir fan I setup a scaffold next to the trailer and put the panels and fan on it and worked from it as much as I could before getting on the roof. That worked really slick and I did the stuff out near the roof edge standing up next to the rig, then got on the roof only to do the center of the roof stuff I couldn't reach. I got 3+ sides of the old fan over the Kitchen off from the scaffold. Obviously you would have a higher scaffold for a 5er. I always thought if you had a barn to store your trailer in building a walkway along the side would be the way to go, with stairs leading up the walkway of course. Then you could just step up a short ways or across to the roof. I like the lift idea. I hate ladders too. The scaffold helped a lot.

When I painted my cabin I built a platform on my 16ft utility trailer and drove it around the house, one section was 8x12, another 4x8 so it was easy to get up on it.. I got teased but 3 people asked to borrow it, so there!

[KLuza2786]

[QUOTE=SteveFury;325658]I've always had a real phobia of ladders.
We got a new Imagine 2800BH a couple years ago.
I could not get up the ladder 1/2 way, embarrassed to say my wife was the one clearing the slide top before we got the topper.

Don't worry about this - there are MANY of us who have the same issue. Our company used to manufacture and sell scaling towers for underground mines - essentially a work platform that could be elevated 75 to 90 feet in the air. When working underground on one of the towers, you're pretty much in the dark except for your work lights. Before a new tower would be taken underground at a customer's mine, it would have to be run through its' operation on the surface. Some of the miners who had absolutely no problem working 75 to 90 feet underground became very "weak-kneed" when on the surface and they could see the ground.

You might try moving your truck alongside the trailer and putting your ladder in the truck bed. It would reduce the amount of climbing that you'd have to do and give you the perception of being closer to the "ground". Of course, you need to be very careful in securing the ladder in the truck bed so it doesn't try to move around on you.

[Redfly]

Don't be embarrassed, I built the courage up to climb to the top of a motorhome we had, cleaned and then sit there 2 hours working up the courage to take the first step down the later.
Ended up calling my son for help, he only coached me and assure me my foot was in the right place to come down.

[Mikekm1]

I've always had a real phobia of ladders.
We got a new Imagine 2800BH a couple years ago.
I could not get up the ladder 1/2 way, embarrassed to say my wife was the one clearing the slide top before we got the topper.

I was able to back the Imagine up against the house under a window to crawl out the window for roof cleaning and seal inspection.
Life was good.

Then we traded the Imagine for a Solitude 375RES last spring.
I bought a 32 inch wide, 12 foot tall step ladder so I can access the upper walls for maintenance such as cleaning and waxing.
It took a lot of repeated climbing that 12 foot ladder until I gained a reasonable confidence to work with my head at roof level.

The 375RES is a whole other category of monster in size compared to the Imagine.
Backing the rig to the house for window access is no longer an option.

I have a short step ladder that allows me to access the main RV ladder in the back.
I'm able to make a slow and terrifying climb on the RV ladder until I can just peer over the edge of the roof.

I'm braving the climb every few days up to that same level on the ladder until I sort of get used to it but I have a long way to go until I'm reasonably comfortable.
I can't for the life of me figure out how people make the transfer from the ladder to the roof safely.
I searched YouTube for video instructions how to safely transverse an RV ladder but haven't found any.
There's tons of videos about extension ladders but the RV ladder ends a few inches above the RV roof while you put an extension ladder several feet above for stability.

If you examine the pic below, you can see the step ladder in the back.
The rig is parked on a bit of a hill that raises the rear 2-3 feet so the roof is actually about 16 feet off the ground that doesn't help with my issue.
One thing we didn't count on with the 375 vs our Imagine was the weight on the ground. It would be great to pull the rig forward off that decline to effectively "raise the ground" to make the bi-daily climb easier but that's not an option for the weight distributing boards I use. I can't keep it pulled forward and leave it there for city code.

I live in a rural area and haven't found any mobile techs, nor anyone who washes RV's professionally who may do the inspection.
My nearest GrandDesign dealer is +2hrs away and they wrecked my Imagine when it was there for warranty work so I want to keep my Solitude away as much as possible.

I'm 6 foot 2 inches tall, about 250lbs and 60 years old.
I keep telling myself that I can do this ladder climbing but really struggling.

My other option is trying a general maintenance service like Home Advisor or Angie's list. Maybe someone can come out from there.

It's too high, too scary for my wife too.
Any ideas?
Any ladder tips?
Anybody else in the same situation?
This is a long post. -Thanks for any input you may have.Attachment 30147

Steve, short of a teenager, I don't know anybody that particularly cares for RV ladders. I'm 60 too, and I get uncomfortable rotating to come back down from the roof. You might look at baker's scaffolds. They're adjustable for height and have lockable wheels. For sidewall care you can roll it then lock the wheels to work. Wash, rinse repeat. It would also make for a better way to mount the rv ladder as you'd be halfway up already on a stable platform.

[OurNewEra]

I believe I have found the problem with the RV ladder. It isn't really a ladder. It is a 'rack' used to carry a real ladder.

I realized this when I got my trailer out of storage this morning. A high percentage of the RVs had something strapped to the ladder, I mean the ladder rack. Almost all of the class A's had a ladder strapped to the ladder rack.

So the ladder is a rack, not a ladder!😁

[Second Chance]

I'm a licensed pilot. I'm checked out in high-performance retractables and have spent time in Army helicopters. I've done some aerobatics. I also have a fear of heights - but it doesn't bother me in an aircraft. (Long ago a medical resident I knew analyzed this situation and said I wasn't afraid of death but I was afraid of pain.) Back in the '70s I used to take a friend flying with his 16mm movie camera. He liked for me to do some loops, lazy eights and some tight turns while he was filming. He'd play them back at parties after folks had had a few too many to watch them get queasy. I'd do this for him because he would then come over and clean my rain gutters on our two-story house with a Colorado roof pitch.

I'm 5'11" and 200 lbs. I'm also 67 years old. I have trained myself to climb the latter on the back of the rig to do maintenance and clean things off. I'm doing it regularly (probably more often than once a month) now and I'm surprised at how routine it has gotten for me. (Yes - the Solitude ladders extend a short distance above the roof line, too.)

On the other hand, I have started using Wash Wax All with their wonderful extension mop kit to wash and wax the rig (it also works great for the truck and the car). Doing that, I only have to set up the step ladder to do windows... if the mood strikes.

I'm not encouraging you to make yourself uncomfortable or get into unsafe situations (and being overly nervous in a situation makes it less safe). I'm just relating how I have overcome this issue.

Rob

[tortise]

Don't be embarrassed, I built the courage up to climb to the top of a motorhome we had, cleaned and then sit there 2 hours working up the courage to take the first step down the later.
Ended up calling my son for help, he only coached me and assure me my foot was in the right place to come down.

I can totally identify with this. Climbing up or down is no issue, climbing on or worse back off the roof is terrifying.