Wood Ladders – the most common household ladder

Wood Ladders are a simple device used for gaining access to higher level. The service provided by ladder can be useful if they are properly used and cared for. The most commonly used ladder among household is wood ladder. Wood is one of the most abundant natural substances found on earth.

As per science, wood are a good conductor of heat and also a bad conductor of electricity which allow electricians to use wood as one of their dependent material. It is also said that wood is the best natural insulator against heat of all materials presently used for ladders. Though wood burns readily but it burns on the outer surface where oxygen is available.

The strongest part of the wood i.e. the centre part remains intact and solid for a significant time when it is burning on the surface. This is the reason for which fire department use wood ladders. The main disadvantage of wood ladders is that they don’t last very long. It is must to use a protective, clear finish to preserve and increase the lifetime of a wood ladders.

A varnish can be a remedy to it as a protective clear finish as it is one of the driest finishes. Sometimes wood ladders are also coated with oil to preserve the wood. Not always an oil process does a good job of preserving the wood because oil finish can conduct electricity. Even varnish finish is good as long it remains intact, after the wearing off it the wood gets exposed and the process of drying and splitting start.

So to avoid this disaster it is necessary to check varnish every six months and also to be redone annually to preserve the wood. It is difficult to tell the life span of wood ladders because it always depends on the usage and maintenance. Therefore, a ladder can last for few years or it can end up for ten years also.

It is a must for all kind of wood ladders which are stored near a heating source or exposed in the sun rays or maybe inside a building, should be checked carefully and refinished annually.