I have a fiberglass extension ladder that stays on my truck all year long. The protective finish has worn away and when I use it bare-armed, I itch like crazy because the glass fibers get into my arms.
Anybody ever respray one of them? I’ve a buddy with a body shop, I should probably have him spray some clear on it.
Edited 12/13/2006 10:34 am ET by PeteDraganic
Replies
OK, Pete, I'll say it before anyone else does . . . .
Get an Engineer's stamp on it ! ! !
; > ) Greg
Spar varnish it.
Have your body shop bud recoat it with epoxy resin.
You could first add some cool stickers and yer name, company name, girlfriend's name...OK, maybe not your girlfriend's name.
Better than new - maybe a bit heavier.
yeah, my wife really hates when I write my girlfriend's name on my tools.
http://www.petedraganic.com/
just shoot a couole coats of clear lacquer on it and that will stop the itching,plus they will be shiney!larry
hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
I'd be down to the auto body shop reading labels on the finish ooatngs.
no, on seccond thought - by time a FG ladder is shedding that bad, I'd leave it at the dump so nobody would get hurt on my insurance,
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If the UV has stripped the gelcoat, then I would seriously consider scrapping that ladder and buying a new one.
Fiberglass ladders are damaged by leaving them outdoors on the truck all the time. If anyone knows of specific OSHA or MFG guidelines for replacement, I would like to know what they are.
I do know that stickers, paint, tape, etc applied to a ladder after it is manufactured violate OSHA guidelines.
Fiberglass will fail without warning and catastrophically.
It isn't worth it.
Oh, and do yourself a favor and buy an American made ladder and not one of the Chinese ones at the big box stores. Check the side thickness even on the same weight capacity ladders between USA/Chinese made and you will understand.
I have the same problem with mine , in fact I have to wear gloves when I use them
I have a PDF I downloaded from WERNER on how to recoat them
it includes how to prep and suggested coatings .
If you would like I could email you the PDF .
its called fiber bloom and they call it a aesthetic condition , not a structural one so no need to trash the ladder
If I can get the PDF to recoat ladder or the link to recoat ladder I would appreciate it very much.
Thanks for your time
TJ
voice
the posts are 5 yrs old. You might try to go to Werner Ladder and hunt up the information using the descriptions provided above.
best of luck.
Pete,
Whatever you use, it should be clear so the ladder is inspectable, and should have UV inhibitors so the sunlight cannot eat the resin holding the fibers together. Epoxy is not good for UV. The spar varnish sounds good. Woodworking lacquer will fail very rapidly outdoors and the solvents could hurt the ladder.
Following Werner's recommendations (noted in earlier post) sounds like the best plan IMO.
Bill
Yeah, I know it's an old thread ...
... but the PDF referred to is the Werner Fiberglass Ladder Technical manual
http://us.wernerco.com/docs/userguides/gm6070-fg-techmanual.pdf?Status=Master