If you do a lot of work on roofs, ceilings, and other highly-situated areas of the house, chances are, you keep two sets of ladders in the workshop: one stepladder and one extension ladder. They’re fine and all since ladders can fold relatively flat, ensuring they’re not that much of a hassle to keep. Still, if you’d rather minimize the amount of big tools in your kit, you might want to look at Werner’s Dual-Purpose Ladders.
A two-in-one ladder, it can easily convert from stepladder to extension ladder and vice versa, allowing you to change a lightbulb using the same ladder that you use to fix the second floor window on the house. It’s a clever design that doesn’t just free up room in the workshop, but should also spare you from the hassle of loading two ladders in the van when doing contract work around the city.
The Werner Dual-Purpose Ladder converts from one mode to another using a pivoting bracket at the top, which locks onto different sections via a simple “flip-and-click” motion to keep it secure during the two different operating modes. As such, switching from one to the other is easily accomplished, making it perfectly suited as your go-to work ladder. It comes with full three-inch wide steps for both the stepladder and extension ladder functions, ensuring it provides excellent standing comfort, regardless of which one you’re using. That should make it more preferable to traditional extension ladders, especially if you prefer a more spacious step size whenever you’re on the job.
A padded v-rung allows you to securely brace it against trees, poles, and corners when used as an extension ladder, with little chance of slipping at any point. A 300-pound capacity ensures it can support your weight even while you’re carrying a large and heavy toolbox with supplies, so most people should be able to use this for all their ladder needs. And, yes, it will support all of that weight in either of the two operating modes, so there’s no worries about the darn thing collapsing at any point during use.
Construction is fiberglass to ensure the Werner Dual-Purpose Ladder won’t conduct electricity, allowing you to use it when fiddling with wires and electrical connections without increasing your chances of getting electrocuted. Because, you know, that doesn’t sound like fun. Each step also comes with ProGuard Boots footpads that render it slip-resistant, so there’s little chance of ever losing your footing while getting work done 12 feet off the ground. Because, you know, falling from high places doesn’t sound like fun, either.
It comes in three sizes: six feet (extends to 14 feet), seven feet (extends to 16 feet), and eight feet (extends to 18 feet), with each one weighing 25 pounds, 29 pounds, and 34 pounds, respectively. While I always tend to gravitate to the largest ladder available, your preferences might vary, which makes the multiple offerings a whole lot better.
Available now, pricing for the Werner Dual-Purpose Ladder is set at $179 for the six-footer, $209 for the seven-footer, and $239 for the eight-footer.
They sell two-in-one ladders, including a few Werners, at my Home Depot. It seems like the this is the way to go if you are buying a new ladder. The versatility of this would be much better than a traditional ladder. It’s also much easier to transport and store a single two-in-one ladder as opposed to 2 separate ladders.
It’s good that the fiberglass won’t be conductive to electricity, but I wish we had a choice. I feel like the fiberglass is easier to dent and damage than a traditional steel ladder. I bet Werner, along with all the other ladder makers, use fiberglass because it’s cheaper and lighter, and then they simply advertise the benefit of not being shocked while using it.
Yeah, you’re absolutely right as far as transport being easier – and being able to pack more gear into the truck or the back of my pickup with this ladder. I was kind of surprised it wasn’t built with metal too – but at least I can worry less about it rusting in the cold, rain, and winter.
Oh yeah, I didn’t even think about rust. I always leave my ladders in the garage out of the weather, but if your a professional that always has a ladder with them then I can definitely see the fiberglass being a huge advantage.
What else do they use for ladder construction besides aluminum, wood, and fiberglass?
This is the ultimate solution for roofers – beautiful design! I haven’t heard of Werner before, but I like the 300lb capacity, that’s not bad, but not the best for larger guys that are going to be hauling equipment up and down off the roof. Fiberglass is pretty indestructible, and for less than $300 this seems on the money. The ProGuard Boots footpads was a good touch, especially for working in the snow. An 18 feet maximum is excellent, but I’m a little weary as to how stable it’ll be fully extended. The Werner is a nice ladder and a cool invention for sure. I’m excited to see larger ones made, though, for getting into windows of the hotels I work on and that are usually being built with limited accessibility.
I see Werner ladders a lot around here and I think it’s because they can be bought at Home Depot. I actually ordered my last ladder off of Amazon because it was $50 cheaper than Home Depot for the exact same model of the ladder.
The low weight capacity is awful. Even if you are under that weight, carrying a bundle of some roofing tiles up it will put many men over the limit.
The stability will depend greatly on what it is mounted on. If it si a hard, flat, and dry concrete surface it will be much more stable. If you are like me, every time I need to use a ladder it is halfway in soft clay and the other side is a rocky surface, so no matter how much I try to level it out it just won’t work right. The good thing about the Werner dual purpose ladders is that they do have some very helpful feet on their ladder which can swivel depending on your surface.