Anyone here ever check the actual temperature rating on their ladder stickers?

I was swapping a modem in a crawl space yesterday and glanced at the side of my fiberglass ladder, saw it's only rated to 140 degrees. That got me thinking about how many roof cable runs I've done in summer heat where the surface could easily hit that. Have any of you melted or warped a ladder doing direct sun installs, or am I just paranoid about the sticker specs?

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jenny5805d ago

Man, that sticker is just the starting point honestly. I've seen AC units rated for 120 degree ambient air cook their own boards on a 95 degree day because the sun was beating right on the metal cabinet. Same deal with ladders, the rated temp is probably for the resin staying solid, not for you standing on it for two hours with your back to the sun. I'm not saying ignore it, but I've definitely worked on roofs where the shingles were too hot to touch barefoot and my ladder was fine, though the feet were definitely softer than normal. The bigger pattern I've noticed is that manufacturers put those numbers super conservative so lawyers are happy, not because you'll turn into a puddle at 141 degrees. Just keep an eye on the feet and don't leave it baking in a truck bed all day, that's where I've seen fiberglass get cranky.