Ladders are damaged by storage more than by use. Sun fades fiberglass, rain rusts aluminum, and leaning warps the rails — a ladder left leaning in a corner for a year climbs like a banana. Storing it right takes two hooks and ten minutes, and it is the difference between a ladder that lasts decades and one that wobbles after two years.
Indoors, dry, out of the sun, and away from children. A garage wall is the usual spot: horizontal hooks, off the floor, where the car cannot hit it and the kids cannot reach it. Outdoors is second-best at most — weather eats a ladder faster than use does.
Clean it. Wipe the dirt, paint, and grease off the rungs and the rails. Grease on a rung is a slip the next time you climb, and paint on a rail hides a crack.
Inspect it. Look for bent rails, loose rungs, cracked fiberglass, and worn feet. A damaged ladder is a retired ladder — do not store a broken ladder and hope to remember it is broken. Tag it or throw it away.
Choose the spot. Pick a dry wall indoors, out of the sun, where the ladder hangs clear of the floor and the car. A ladder on the floor is a trip hazard; a ladder in the sun is a fading ladder.
Hang it horizontally. Mount two wall hooks at one-third and two-thirds of the ladder's length, level with each other, and lay the ladder flat on them. Two hooks share the weight; one hook bends the rail. An extension ladder hangs retracted and locked.
Secure it. Strap the ladder to the hooks or lock it to the wall. A ladder left outside is a burglary tool — it reaches the second floor. A ladder inside the garage still falls on a child who climbs it: keep it high and out of reach.
Check it yearly. Check the hooks, the ladder, and the feet once a year: hooks tight, rails straight, feet intact. A ladder that has been stored right climbs straight — and a ladder that climbs straight is a ladder you can trust. The ladder safety checklist covers the 12 rules to check before you climb, and the extension ladder guide covers the setup and the climb itself.
Do not lean a ladder against a wall for storage — it slides, it falls, and the rails warp under their own weight. Do not leave it outside in the weather. Do not hang it by one hook. Do not store it on the rungs — the rungs bend. And do not store a ladder near a heater: heat dries fiberglass and warps aluminum. A space heater has its own rules — the space heater safety checklist covers the nine rules for the coldest weeks.
An extension ladder hangs horizontally on hooks, retracted and locked. A step ladder folds flat and hangs on one hook, or stands folded in a corner — a folded step ladder stands on its own feet and does not lean. Either way, off the floor and out of the weather beats leaning in a corner every time.
Only if you must — and then under a cover, off the ground, and locked. Sun and rain eat a ladder faster than use does. Indoors is always better.
Two wall hooks, screwed into studs, at one-third and two-thirds of the ladder's length, level with each other. Lay the ladder flat on the hooks — never hang it by one hook or by a rung.
It slides, it falls, and the rails warp under their own weight over time. A leaning ladder is also a ladder a child can pull down. Horizontal on hooks is the only storage that keeps it straight.
Decades, if it is stored indoors and inspected yearly. A ladder left outside in the weather lasts a few years. The storage decides the lifespan more than the use does.