If you find yourself teetering on top of a chair as you reach for a burned-out light bulb, you need to get a ladder. If it's time to paint a room with a ceiling much taller than seven feet, it's ladder time. If there are trees to prune, strands of lights to hang, or gutters to be cleaned, then a good ladder is a great idea.
Buying a ladder is no time to pinch your pennies. According to the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI), there are more than 164,000 annual emergency room visits caused by ladder falls, and as many as 300 annual deaths from falls off ladders. And we're not talking about people tumbling down several stories off of huge industrial-grade ladders: Most ladder fall deaths occurred after a drop of fewer than ten feet.
While I'm not a certified home inspector, I do own three ladders and have been through a few more in my day. From repairs in and around the house to landscaping to hanging pictures to replacing scores of bulbs over the years, I can say I've certainly never regretted the fact that we've always chosen decent hardware in the ladder department.
If all you need are a few extra feet of height to reach shelves in the kitchen or light fixtures in the bathroom, then a smaller stepladder is fine. If you're painting a room or trimming some smaller trees, an A-frame ladder is a perfect choice. But if you need to be fifteen or twenty feet off the ground (or more), then you need to be ready to spend a chunk of change. It's an investment in safety and efficiency.
Fortunately, many modern ladders are so adaptable that they can elevate you more than twenty feet into the air for some gutter cleaning or roof repair or can fold down into a five-foot stepladder perfect for use in the garage or kitchen. We've included many different types of ladders to suit different needs.
Here are the best ladders:Updated on 8/12/2020. We updated prices, links, and formatting.