Escape Ladders for Decks?
Elizabeth A. Evans
the main living area is over a walkout basement on a slope. The deck
has no steps down and is about 12 feet off the ground. I'd like to buy
one of those ladders for emergency escapes, but when I looked at them,
they seemed specifically designed to rest against a wall. That is,
the top portion was a C-shaped piece with a hook at the top. It
looks like it hooks over the window (or deck railing) and then the
bottom part of the C would rest against the wall--of a second floor
story. But my deck has copper pipe running *horizontally* for the
railing and so there's nothing for that bottom part of the C to rest
against.
Anybody have suggestions?
-- Libby Evans
ev...@unc.edu
Wise Guy
WiseGuy
Tracey
"Elizabeth A. Evans" <uev...@email.unc.edu> wrote in message
news:9c3oe3$ljc$1...@news2.isis.unc.edu...
Bill
crisp, you will not care what is there to get down. A rope with knots tied
in it would work fine or maybe you could tie the escape ladder to the
railing with a good sturdy rope (that will not deteriorate in the weather).
I have heard tales of people that crawled down the side of a 5 story
building during a fire by holding on to a 4" drain pipe. Their hands were
badly cut and bleeding from sliding down the pipe, but they escaped from
the fire. I guess people get "physically fit" with a quickness if it is a
matter of life or death...
"Elizabeth A. Evans" wrote in message
Bill Seurer
that has dozens of different escape systems for all kinds of situations.
--
Bill Seurer Work: seurer AT us.ibm.com Home: Bill AT seurer.net
http://www.seurer.net/ (replace " AT " with "@" to email me)
v.
<uev...@email.unc.edu> some motley fool wrote:
>Anybody have suggestions?
>
Stairs?
Fixed ladder?
BTW, have you ever actually tried to use a 'rope ladder'? (I have
used one though luckily not in a fire) It may not be what you think.
The code 'jump' distance in the state where I sued to own apartments
was 14 feet; if the windowsill was within that height of the ground,
it was considered a fire eggress without ladder, stair etc.
Are you really that likely to get trapped in that part of the house?
-v.
Dan Lanciani
I noticed exactly the same thing, but I bought one anyway. It won't be
prefectly stable hanging off the deck, but if I need it at all it will be
a lot better than nothing...
Dan Lanciani
ddl@danlan.*com
ameijers
extending well above the rail height of the deck, with some sort of bench on
the deck to act as a step. Put some decorative crap on the top, and hang
flower pots off of it. It won't qualify in the eyes of the FD or insurance
company, but it is quite servicable as an escape tool. As a kid, I used to
slide down the antenna mast from the highest roof to the lowest one all the
time.
Or splurge, and buy a spiral staircase. Set the lower end on a 4x4 pad, and
tie the top to a gap you put in the rail. Or maybe put a hatch in the deck
by one of the support posts, and bolt a suitably painted section of ladder
to the deck and post, spotted so it is semi-hidden in shadows. Add a section
of trellis to the deck supports, strong enough to act as a ladder- just make
sure whatever you plant to grow on it isn't thorny or slippery when wet.
Lots of cheap to expensive ways to do what you want, all more usable in a
panic situation than a rope ladder. They can even blend in with your
backyard decor, if you use your imagination.
aem sends...
Dan Lanciani <ddl@danlan.*com> wrote in message
news:899...@news1.IPSWITCHS.CMM...
Walt
are weather proof (more or less) and are ridge. If they work
from a small fire escape landing, they should work from your
deck.
"Elizabeth A. Evans" wrote:
>
> Anybody have suggestions?
Don Phillipson
news:9c3oe3$ljc$1...@news2.isis.unc.edu...
> the main living area is over a walkout basement on a slope. The deck
> has no steps down and is about 12 feet off the ground. I'd like to buy
> one of those ladders for emergency escapes, but when I looked at them,
> they seemed specifically designed to rest against a wall. That is,
> the top portion was a C-shaped piece with a hook at the top. It
> looks like it hooks over the window (or deck railing) and then the
> bottom part of the C would rest against the wall--of a second floor
A regulation approx. 1960 in Ontario, Canada, required
fire escape ladders in hotel rooms more than a couple
of stories above ground. This requirement was met
by a rope ladder fastened in a box below a window.
To deploy it all you had to do was open the window
(or break it) and throw the ladder out. It had wood
rungs on rope verticals thus was reasonably stable.
Something like this might meet the deck requirement
(and would be out of sight when out of use.)
--
Donald Phillipson
dphil...@trytel.com
Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada)
613 822 0734
v.
<dphil...@trytel.com> some motley fool wrote:
>
>To deploy it all you had to do was open the window
>(or break it) and throw the ladder out. It had wood
>rungs on rope verticals thus was reasonably stable.
I've used a rope ladder with wooden rungs and 'rope verticals' and it
is NOT what most folks would regard as stable.
-v.
