Repairing a Ladder on Its Last Legs
4 Materials
$12
1 Hour
Medium
Life is hard for wooden ladders outdoors! I use this ladder as a garden feature for pots of flowers and watering cans. Despite being refreshed with paint and sealer each spring, I discovered it was on its last legs and it either try to repair it or send it on its way to the dumpster.
When I went to move the ladder this spring, I discovered the wood of the legs had rotted. My husband looked at it and thought it was past the point of no return. He agreed to help me repair it and get me through another gardening season.
My wood ladder is going on its third summer. I 'planted' it by the Potting Shed when I found it at an antique mall. It was already painted a green shade eerily similar to the trim color on my shed...garden serendipity!
I found steel zinc-plated mending braces at Lowe's. The were $2 each and I purchased 4, along with screws, nuts and washers.
Then it was a matter of drilling pilot holes and screwing the braces in to realign the pieces of the legs.
Functional and stable again but not very pretty and a little Frankenstein-esque! I gave the ladder several coats of paint on all the wood surfaces, and I really slathered on the paint liberally along break in the wood around the hardware. I decided I could use the ladder as a trellis, planting a vine to cover the repair.
I picked up two Black-eyed Susan vines from the garden center and planted one on each side of the ladder in early May. I used garden twine to help the vine trail and climb.
By July, the ladder was covered with vine and cheery yellow flowers and the repair is hidden. So I got at least one more season out of my ladder with the help of the mending plates and some additional paint.
I added some watering cans to the steps of the ladder to mix with the vines for a little interest and garden art. I may have to move on to a metal ladder in the garden next year. Ill see how it fared after the the first frost and the vine is gone. More photos and details at the link below. I would love for you to visit my Potting Shed, to see how she's grown!
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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It looks amazing with all d lovely yellow blooms 💕
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