ladder-safety

Safe Reach Ladder Guide: What Height Do You Need? (2026)

Safe Reach Ladder Guide: What Height Do You Need? The safe reach of a ladder is about the ladder height plus 4 feet for an average adult on a step ladder, because you stand a step or two below the top and reach roughly 6 feet overhead. Never stand on the top two or three rungs, and always set an extension ladder at a 4:1 angle (base 1 foot out for every 4 feet of length). A 6-foot step ladder gives about a 10-foot working reach, so to change a fixture 9 feet up you want a 6-foot step ladder, not an 8-foot one. Size yours with the Ladder Height Calculator(/tools/ladder-height-calculator). On a kitchen remodel a few years back, I grabbed an 8-foot step ladder to reach a ceiling junction box at 9 feet 4 inches. The ladder put my feet at 6 feet and my head into the ceiling...