I had my doubts about whether or not I could manage to safely get up and down my ladders at age 57 and get the foyer painted. It is the largest room in the house and has an 18 foot ceiling. The unexpected problem for me became the ladder climbing. On the first day that I worked on it I was surprised to find how difficult it was for my knees to go up and down the blasted ladder. Today I did better but my legs are really hurting. Hope I can walk tomorrow.

I had a friend build a box for me (and upside down stair) that fit on the stairs and made a platform for the ladder that made cutting in the stairs a snap. The box worked like a charm. Every house with stairs should have one of these stair platforms thrown in by the builder.

Next problem--The dining room. Some new challenges since the ladder won't work on one spot. I'm mulling this over. No solution yet.

In 8 years when the foyer needs painting again, I don't think I'll be able to scale the ladder. How sad. But 65 year old guys on big ladders are not a good thing.