As a home inspector I have to view many roofs and all types of unpleasant weather conditions. If you had to placed a ladder on decking with snow, ice, or rain you know how slippery and dangerous it can be. I believe I have come up with a simple solution to hold a ladder in place on a deck very easily.
In the photos I am using a nylon cord rope approximately 3 to 3 ½ feet with a flat solid steel prybar that has an open hole at the base of the handle. Tie the prybar off to the lowest rung on the ladder and drive the prybar hook in between the decking. Double check it’s secure. This solution has worked for me for over a year now without any ladder slip outs. Works perfectly on both horizontal and vertical decking.
The second tip has to do with testing for possible missing insulation in walls. My thermal camera often picks up areas in the exterior wall that have either low insulation on missing insulation completely. Next I need to confirm my findings and this is how I do it using is a simple plastic drain cleaner that you can find any hardware store or in my case the local pharmacy.
This tool has little barbs on it which will grab onto insulation if present in the walls. Find an exterior outlet on the wall in question slide tool up inside the wall and remove. If there is any insulation present it will be collected on the barbs. This tool is plastic so if I hit a live electrical wire I won’t get electrocuted.
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