Polypropylene pipe ladder: simple design

If your home has recently been renovated water supply systems, then do not rush to throw away the remains of the pipe: they can be useful for various household purposes, not related to plumbing and sewerage. Polypropylene pipes, which are hot-joined, are extremely durable and withstand mechanical stress well. It was this circumstance that the author of the YouTube channel took advantage of. ALTAI LIFE and made from these scraps of pipe a small mobile and very light step-ladder with which it is convenient to get things from the upper shelves of cabinets or books from shelving. The experience is quite interesting and deserves close attention. If you like it, then you can easily repeat it with your own hands.

Read in the article

1 What is required for the ladder: materials and tools
2 The sequence of assembling a ladder made of plastic
3 Skeptics and optimists: where to apply and how to improve

What is required for the ladder: materials and tools

You don't need any special tools to assemble the ladder - you have it all, since you have been repairing or replacing pipes. You will need a PP brazing machine and a hacksaw to cut the pipe.

Stepladder made of polypropylene pipe — It is necessary to prepare from specific materials: tees for pipes, two pieces for each step, 4 corners at 45 ° and 2 at 90 °, material for the upper platform and a steel cable for fixing the ladder when unfolded

You will connect the parts in a hot way, as when working with plumbing and sewerage. As for the diameter of the pipes, count on your weight. For a person weighing 70-80 kg, pipes of at least 40 mm in diameter will be required.

The sequence of assembling a ladder made of plastic

If you have the skills to work with plastic pipes, the entire assembly will take you a matter of minutes.

First you need to assemble the part with the steps. At the very bottom, parts with an angle of 45 ° are installed on the pipes. On the one hand, they are closed with plugs. Then there are tees with steps, and the top consists of a high U-shaped part - this is a step-ladder handrail. The optimal width of the steps is 30-35 cm, the height is about 30 cm. It is impractical to make more than 3 steps, since such ladders under heavy load can lose their strength

Thanks to such details at the bottom, the ladder can stand very stable when unfolded, even on uneven surfaces. These parts will stand on all 4 stepladder supports.

The upper handrail of the ladder should be slightly bent at an angle of approximately 20 °. To do this, the plastic should be heated and pulled straight into the tee, giving the structure the required shape. When the pipes cool down they will keep this bend

The author used the remains of a plastic window sill as an upper platform. This material has an important feature: it has an L-shaped bend, which can act as a stopper when laying out. And the support post in the step-ladder is made of the same pipes, two long pieces are required, which are connected to the main part using through bolts. On them, two parts of the ladder move relative to each other, which allows you to fold and unfold the ladder

So that the ladder does not move apart and does not spontaneously unfold completely, one more reliable stopper will be required in addition to the upper platform. This is a metal cable that needs to be pushed through the holes in all four posts and secured in any way convenient for you. There are special clamps for cables, you can use soldering or crimp with a copper tube

The upper platform is attached to the pipe using two metal clamps. They are not clamped so that the platform can be easily moved around the support tube. So that the platform does not interfere when folding the stairs, the rear pillars must be positioned wider than the racks with steps

Do not forget to close all the ends of the pipes with plugs, and as a result you will get a small, lightweight ladder that is useful for household needs. Of course, climbing it with a load is not worth it, as well as using tools that pose a potential danger. It is suitable for getting things off the shelf or hanging curtains.

Skeptics and optimists: where to apply and how to improve

About the creation of such a plastic stepladder, two remarks reasonably arise. The first is complaints about the strength of the structure. This is logical, because plastic is a rather fragile material. So such ladders can only be used by people with low weight, up to a maximum of 80 kg. If desired, the structure can be strengthened, for example, with wooden cuttings. If you pass them through the support posts, the ladder will turn out to be heavier, but much stronger and more reliable.

The second skeptical argument is the cost of materials. Yes, polypropylene with all the connecting elements is not a cheap pleasure. Many users write that if you buy all the described parts, then the step-ladder will turn out to be more expensive than the factory-made aluminum one of the same size. But in this case, we are not talking about specially purchasing the entire kit, but about using the remnants of materials that were not useful during the repair. So if you just have to buy a couple of plugs and tees, the costs will not be excessive.

And finally, another idea for using such a ladder: if you have a summer pool or a swimming barrel on your site, then such a ladder (with minor modifications) will be very useful. Here is an example of such a construction in a video clip:

Share your opinion on this idea in the comments! Write if you are using any other structures made of polypropylene pipes. Which of them would you recommend to our readers?

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Polypropylene pipe ladder: simple design

What is required for the ladder: materials and tools

The sequence of assembling a ladder made of plastic

Skeptics and optimists: where to apply and how to improve

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