To paint the outside of your house in comfort arid safety you need the right tools and equipment. There’s nothing worse than balancing dangerously on a makeshift working platform with a paint pot in one hand, trying to reach into an awkward corner with the other. But as long as you follow a few simple rules you should be able to work easily and safely.

Painting The Outside Of Your House

Always work from a step-ladder or an extension ladder and make sure it stands on a firm and level surface. If the ground is uneven, push wedges under a board until the board is level then stand the ladder on this. You’ll have to put down a board on soft ground too.

If you’re working on grass there’s a danger of the board slipping, so drive in two stakes on either side of the ladder and rope the ladder to these. On a slippery surface put down some canvas or sacking, and put a board on soft ground. Don’t use plastic sheeting as a dust sheet, because the ladder could slip on it.

If you’re working high up it’s best to tie the ladder to something solid at the top. Don’t tie it to the gutter or downpipe as these are not designed to take the extra weight and wouldn’t support a ladder if it started to slip. The best way is to fix big screw eyes into sound woodwork such as a window sill, fascia or barge boards and tie the ladder to these. Or, if convenient, you can tie the ladder to the centre mullion of an open window, it there’s no sound woodwork, it’s advisable to drill and plug the wall to take the screw eyes. Fix them at intervals of about 2m (6ft) and leave them in place when you’ve finished so they’re ready the next time you have to decorate.

Be sure to position the ladder square against the wall so it won’t wobble, and lean it at the correct safe angle of 4 to 1 that is, for every 4m of height the bottom should be 1 m out from the wall.

When you’re working on a ladder don’t lean out too far as it’s all too easy to loose your balance. Never work from the very top of a step ladder as you’ll have nothing to hold on to. A paint kettle, to hold your paint, is an essential piece of equipment as you can hook it on to a rung of the ladder, leaving both hands free.

A safer alternative to a ladder or step-ladder is a tower platform which you can hire from most hire shops. The tower comes as a set of interlocking sections which you build up to the required height; you then lay boards across to provide the platform. A handrail fits around the top and there is plenty of room for tools and paint.

The towers can be extended over bay windows or round chimneys so you can reach all parts of the house in safety. If you have a wide, flat area around your house, choose a tower with locking castors so you can move it along more easily. Always lock the castors before using the tower, and always climb up on the inside, NEVER on the outside.