# How do you paint an 18 ft high wall, along a stair case?



## Scuba_Dave

Roller & a long pole
And/OR build a platform that can be removed

General idea : --not my kids or pic

Once my son's older I can get him climbing ladders & painting
His jungle gym is much higher then this platform & more dangerous IMO


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## Proby

To expand on Dave's post, an A-frame ladder and a plank will work for most situations.

You can get an expandable model like the one I linked to below, with that you can have it set halfway up the stairs and have the ladder on the floor at the bottom and work across the whole wall.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_56149-287-P...caffolding+and+Systems_4294858114_4294937087_


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## housepaintingny

Danijo said:


> Hi all,
> Our living room has 18 foot high ceilings, including the wall along the stairs. We've never painted that room because of that but we're interested in doing so now.
> 
> We will be able to get ahold of a very tall ladder for most of that room, but we obviously cant put the ladder on the stairs, so how do we go about painting that particular wall?
> 
> Also, we can probably use a long handled roller for most of it, but there's still the matter of cutting in along the ceiling, so a roller wont do.
> 
> Any ideas? Are there ladders/scaffolding made especially for stairs?  This one has stumped us for years. If anyone can give us an idea on how to successfully paint the wall by the stairs, I'll dub you my official hero of the day. :jester:
> 
> OOPs! I titled that wrong. I meant to say, an 18 foot high WALL.


You can use an extension ladder with adjustable legs on it, or an extension ladder with a ladder pivot, or set up scaffolding with adjustable sides, then cut in what you have to cut in and then roll the walls with a roller on an extension pole. I would have to see exactly how much wall space there is to paint in order to determine the easiest metho and also if the ceiling was beeing painted or not.


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## chrisn

housepaintingny said:


> You can use an extension ladder with adjustable legs on it, or an extension ladder with a ladder pivot, or set up scaffolding with adjustable sides, then cut in what you have to cut in and then roll the walls with a roller on an extension pole. I would have to see exactly how much wall space there is to paint in order to determine the easiest metho and also if the ceiling was beeing painted or not.


 
Why would that matter?:huh:


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## housepaintingny

chrisn said:


> Why would that matter?:huh:


 Because for me personally I would Probably just use a ladder, but if I was painting the ceiling too and had a lot of cutting, maybe around lights too, then I would set up the bakers rack. Depending on witch method would save me time.


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## Danijo

Thanks everyone for the advice so far 

There's actually not one single ceiling light in our living room, it's all lamps. So we dont have to go around anything on the walls. It's an odd room to say the least. The reason the ceilings are so high is because the upstairs has a balcony so the floor only comes across half way..so instead of there being a floor to the upstairs, its just all open walls/ceiling .. If that makes ANY sense at all (probably not). Sorry for the confusing descripting. It's early, I'm tired, you know how it is.

I can only take pictures by my cell phone right now and its dark in that room anyway, so theres 2 strikes against me, but later today if it gets bright enough I'll see if I can get a good picture of the wall I'm talking about to post.


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## Proby

Maybe now, while you have scaffolding setup and before paint goes on the ceiling, it's time to have some lights/fans installed up there? :thumbup:


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## chrisn

housepaintingny said:


> Because for me personally I would Probably just use a ladder, but if I was painting the ceiling too and had a lot of cutting, maybe around lights too, then I would set up the bakers rack. Depending on witch method would save me time.


 
Ok, got it.:thumbsup:


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## fox_forma

I had to paint my front room recently and I have a 16ft cathedral ceiling that I ran into the same issue with. What ended up working for my was I bought a used ladder of craigslist that was like the little giants ladder. There were several different folding set-ups to make this ladder work with the stairs and I could make it a 16ft straight ladder, 8ft a-frame when fully opened up or 12ft with a 4ft pivot, etc. It worked out great. 

Heres how my front room was just for reference. Can't really see the ceilings of it but you can see the stairs I dealt with.


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## Rcon

*Warning:* The topics covered on this site include activities in which there exists the potential for serious injury or death. DIYChatroom.com DOES NOT guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information contained on this site. Always use proper safety precaution and reference reliable outside sources before attempting any home improvement task!

Just thought i'd point that out. If you don't know how to do it, you probably shouldn't. 

That said, an extension ladder with adjustable legs will work (just make sure they're attached properly). An aluminum plank and a multi-ladder will also work, as will an extension and a pivit ladder tool.


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## mazzonetv

This would be a perfect commercial for a little giant ladder. I had a similar situation in my old house and used bakers to do the ceiling, a little giant on the stairs, and for one really hard place I used one of those brush holders that go on the end of an extension pole....


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## Thurman

My daughter-in-law's brother is a painter. I've seen him do this particular situation many times--no ladder. He has a long pole which has a clamp type device on the end to hold a brush and can be set an angles. He just puts a roller pan over there, dips the brush in it, taps it off, raises it and cuts it in. I cannot do this, I've tried, and he laughs. No joke, he just cuts it in. IF, and I say, IF--he gets paint on the ceiling, he just goes back with the color of the ceiling and touches it up. It does take experience but by the time I can get a ladder set up--he's done. David


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## canadaclub

David's right...done that many times. It takes a lot of patience and a very steady hand/arms. Just go slow.


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