Good for you, a great free resource. I speak with a guy from Asturias, and he has never been to UK but speaks excellent English. He reads the BBC site, amongst others, various podcasts, seems to know more about what is happening in UK than I do! I'm also a big fan of podcasts, there are so many available for free nowadays.

How far is the ruddy ladder off the wall now with all these off topic posts in between it and the wall ?

Personally I wouldn`t use one, I can`t see how they make a ladder more secure, the further the top of the ladder is away from the wall then the more width contact you need with the wall to equal it out, hire a cherry picker.

A ladder is far more secure with a standoff JDR, mainly because it has a wide gripper bar at the top in contact with the wall. Also the top of the ladder will be approx 30cm away from the wall itself making it a much easier & a much more comfortable working position.

Unfortunately I left mine in the UK so I need a new one asap cos I really do hate using ladders without one. Anybody else that regularly uses ladders should definitely get one.

they are available exstock from Screwfix in the UK, can you get one posted to you ?? are you sure you cant walk in to Brico or similar and buy one ??

I spent hours going through my technical books on construction safety etc in spanish and couldnt find a reference to one so didnt post earlier.
the only reference I came across was "repisa de cubita" which is a pail shelf not a standoff.

I would assume when fitted you would need to place a foot further out to maintain the acceptable angle

hth

Well, I have been racking my brains as to how I can explain this, without much success I am sorry to say.

Unfortunately it isn't as straightforward as using 'English spoken' for a person and 'English speaking' when referring to a country.

It would be correct to say 'a country where English is spoken' or 'an English speaking person'. A shop could also display a notice saying 'English spoken here'.

However, I really can't explain this in terms of grammatical rules - have we any teachers of English on the forum who can do better, I do hope so!

Thank you very much for the effort. Now I am more clear about the subject thanks to your post and to a private message I received. Your post shed light on it, too. But I agree with jdr, it is certanly off topic.

I will have a walk around to see if I can find a decent one over here otherwise I'll order one online. It's a stand off I require not a paint shelf (they look really unstable to me) & yeah of course you still need to have the ladder at the correct angle but trust me once you've used a stand off, a ladder feels very unstable without one.

'Spoken' is the past participle of the verb 'to speak' hablar= hablado
'Speaking is the gerund 'hablando'

yeah, I see the differences when using the excellent piccy's in Screwfix website

I must take your word for it as to the stability, all my experience is based around putting the ladder up, going up and doing something for a minute or so and then coming back down again. probably most other people are the same. from that leads the unsafe operation, ladder unstable, sliding and one broken body on the ground. the safety figures for ladders are horrendous, in different circumstances they would be banned.

what is important is that YOU feel happier and safer using the device, leading to a safe situation all round.
there is nothing worse than going up there feeling unsafe, you would never BE safe.

on a pure technical basis, has Spain been doing the Ladder Exchange the UK's HSE has been leading.?? This is where there are special prices at certain companies for exchanging ladders that are unsafe and failed their regular inspections

Sorry for off topic post but I just had to read this as it sounded like a fight over a ladder

Seems like the normal BE behaviour reigns as usual.

Rosemary

Now then do you mean 'off topic' or 'fight' or both


I have read the thread and must admit I had no idea what the said item was called, nor can I recall ever seeing one. I only look at ladders with a view to going round them not underneath them. Or to see if someone is up them and has a pot of paint just waiting for me.

its boys toys gal, u know what that means


its nice to hear from you from time to time

OMG boys toys yeah I know what you mean


Thanks

OK, so I know I'm going to get slated for pedantry, but Spanish does not have a gerund.

Speaking (the present participle) in Spanish is referred to as the gerundio, but a gerund is a present participle used as a noun.

In English that's when you say "Swimming is good for you."

Spanish can only say 'To swim is good for you' = Nadar es buen, never nandando