Safety Stair Rods Review by Robin Gofton

I’ve been asked to write a review of Safety Stair Rods for the Decorators Forum UK. I thought it might be a good idea to start with a real-life example of why I think these are a good idea, and an important addition to your kit to help you work in a safer way.

My Experience with Safety Stair Rods

Earlier this year I was decorating the hall, stairs and landing in a large house. I had dust sheets all the way up the stairs, and (as I always do) warned the customer every time she went near the stairs to be careful, because the sheets can disguise where the edge of the stair is, meaning it’s easy to slip or lose your footing. So, I was working away, and had my ladder about three quarters of the way up the stairs, just beyond the point where they turned 90 degrees on the way up to the landing.

I thought the ladder was securely on the tread of the stair and started climbing it. With hindsight, I should have listened to my own advice – the ladder wasn’t securely on the stair, the dust sheet had disguised where the edge really was. The ladder and I fell sideways (and downwards!) into the hall, where I came to a rather abrupt and painful stop on the tiled marble floor, cracking my head open and breaking my arm. Fortunately, the customer was there and took me off to A&E, and all is fine now. But that one second of not checking could have led to an even worse accident.

So, when I was given the opportunity to try out these Safety Stair Rods, I jumped at the chance. They’re dead easy to use, take no time to put in place, and keep your dust sheets in place all day. Basically, that’s all you need to know! And for a one-off small investment, they could save your life. Which is better, spending £60 – £70, or the prospect of losing 4-6 weeks work with a broken arm?

Available online by clicking here, this is what you get for your money. There are 14 bright yellow (so you don’t trip over them or lose them!) rods in a handy carry bag. Each rod has a spring mechanism inside (like those extendable shower curtain poles, if you know what I mean), so they can be extended from about 28 inches to about 40, depending on how wide your staircase is. As I say, they’re easy to use, you simply pull the two ends together, put them in place, and allow the spring to then push the ends back out against the strings of the staircase. There are little rubber covers on the ends of each pole to protect whatever they butt up against, and my one criticism of this product is that the little rubber bits come off too easily and can get lost, and to be honest they’re probably not necessary anyway – there are plastic bungs in the end of each tube, which do the job fine.

The first time I used them it took me four minutes to do an entire stair case, and two minutes to pack them away back into the bag, so it’s not exactly a huge additional time to your day, and well worth it given the alternatives! And they stay in place all day while you’re working, so you don’t need to worry about dust sheets getting moved about as you go up and down the stairs or having to re-adjust any of the stair rods.

So I was really happy with the safety stair rods in use, and will definitely be using them again every time I’m working on a stair case. Obviously, you can’t use them when you’re painting the strings of the stairs, because that’s what they push against to stay in place, but apart from that, any time you need to put sheets up the stairs, I highly recommend them.

The issue is getting hold of them. None of my local merchants have them, so it’s easier just to buy them online. Click here to see online prices.

Hope my review of the Safety Stair Rods is helpful to people – stay safe!

Summary