Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links, which means I may make a commission if you decide to make a purchase through one of my links, at no cost to you.

***THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED***
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CONGRATULATIONS TO: Emily @ The Diligent One! Please reach out to me about your contact info!

The people from Extend-a-Step sent me a request a few weeks ago requesting the usual review and giveaway. Little did I know that I would really, really enjoy using this one.

Extend-A-Step ladder

Most of you are aware of how short I am (and if you aren’t, then you must not have been reading this blog very long, so welcome!). When it comes to ladders, it can be especially trying since my center of gravity is rather low, and a heavy metal ladder scares the bajeezus out of me. Most of the time, I struggle to get it upright along the house in just the right way. And I look like a total jackass every time I try to move an extended ladder and keep it from falling backwards at me. It really is just completely ridiculous.

Old janky ladder

In addition to balance issues, I also have a few other challenges when I try to use a ladder on the exterior. The bushes in the front impede placement of the bottom of the ladder immediately next to the house, so the ladder has to extend a little further to reach each spot. This pretty much eliminates the use of my go-to shorter ladder that I use all over the interior. If the bushes weren’t there, it would easily reach the top trim of the lower windows. This means that my only option is the larger, very heavy ladder that extends far enough up the house that I can reach the second story. But, its length also makes it cumbersome (for my neighbors: hilarious, I’m sure); I can’t just whip it out, put it against the house, and get to work. I’ve got to trudge out of the garage with it, drop it when I get close to the side of the house to reposition it, rest it against the bushes to keep myself from toppling over, and hoist it up onto the side of the house. Yeesh.

Not the best ladder

But thankfully, Extend-A-Step contacted me and suggested I give theirs a try. Taking it out of the package was easy and much shorter than I expected.

Extend-A-Step ladder

Each of the rungs come tightly packed together, with obvious black buttons that are meant for releasing/compacting each rung (I imagine it works somewhat like the little knobs on compact umbrellas).

To extend, you just pull on the rung until you hear a click.

Extend-A-Step ladder

Next up, it was time to test it outside. I picked up the ladder and was able to keep it under one arm comfortably. Even though it had plenty of heft to it, moving it around wasn’t difficult at all. I extended the first few top rungs and kept going until I reached my desired height. Although it could extend further (12.5 feet), I wanted to reach in between the top and bottom windows to do some caulking/painting on the trim. The best part was that since you start to extend from the top, you don’t have to lay it on the ground or maneuver anything to get the next rung to expand; you extend one rung above your head, and the next is still sitting there at eye level if you want to lift it, too. This extend-as-you-go deal worked perfectly to reach the height I needed. And it was so easy when it was extended, no top-heavy feeling, that I could easily hold it with one hand and snap a picture with the next.

Extend-A-Step ladder

Being that most of the time I work on the house solo, it becomes a bit of a safety risk to try to climb a tall ladder with no one holding the bottom. But this trip up, despite how much thinner both the rungs and the sides were, felt just as sturdy underfoot as my traditional bigger ladder. Granted, that doesn’t mean that you don’t feel a little shaky (I am a bit of a wuss with ladders ever since my Dad fell off a roof shattered his wrist when I was in high school), but I was comfortable.

Extend-A-Step ladder leaning against the house
(That dirt on the window is wiped-down overspray from painting the house.)

This whole process to get the ladder up, extended, and climb took all of 5 minutes. And the best part was that it wasn’t embarrassing and stooge-like per my usual experience. I took several trips up and down the ladder, got some good use out of it, spilled a little paint, got most of it onto the house, and when I was done, was able to easily move the ladder over several feet to continue on with the task.

Clouds were rolling in, so I knew it was time to pack up. Lord knows you don’t want to be on a metal ladder in a rain storm! Now comes the only part where I’d have to give some honest criticism. There are an abundance of warning stickers all over this thing tell you how careful(!) you need to be when getting the ladder back into its compact form.

Extend-A-Step ladder warning label

And I unfortunately found out that these warnings, as numerous as they are, are quite appropriate. To compact each rung, they basically fit within each other like a Russian nesting doll. To get the first rung to go into the second, you have to push the two large black buttons on each rung inward at the same time, which sends the rung above sliding down (quickly) into the first.

Extend-A-Step ladder buttons to collapse rung

You have to be careful to not place your hand in between the two rungs, or risk snapping your fingers when the first rung comes sliding down. You can probably guess that I experienced this. As light as this ladder feels compared to a normal ladder, the rungs are still heavy and slide down fast (which is great time-saving-wise, but not so great if you’re not paying attention and hurt yourself). I pinched my right ring finger, but didn’t break the skin; just bruised it a bit. The rungs don’t always slide into each other evenly, so when one side gets hung up a little, trying to fix it is what can cause you to accidentally pinch a finger when the rung finally slides (or I should say, snaps) free. Ouch. I found that the rungs got hung up on one side about 20% of the time, but they were easily fixed by moving my hands down to the next rung and, positioning my fingers out of pinching range, sliding the buttons. This caused both the rung above and the one that was wonky to both snap down together, which straightened everything out.

Considering that pinching your fingers is a worry even for traditional extension ladders, I don’t consider this a deal breaker for me, especially when it does everything else on my ladder wish list. Conveniently, it has a fabric strap to wrap around the rungs when they are all compacted, and also comes with a cover to protect it when storing – which I should also mention, is a heck of a lot easier to do when you’re dealing with a storage footprint of 2.5 feet as opposed to the traditional 8 feet of the extension ladder.

All in all, I’d have to say that I friggin’ love this ladder. And lucky me, I not only got to do this review, but I get to give one away to you! And not only that, but Extend-A-Step is also offering a discount for the rest of UDH readers! Here are the dirty deets:

Giveaway closes: Friday, December 9th at 8 PM.
Number of winners: 1
Ships: Continental U.S. only.
Winner will be chosen at random and will be announced on this post.

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:
1. Leave a comment on this post (don’t forget to include your contact info!).
2. For additional entries, you can retweet this giveaway on Twitter (please mention @uglyducklingDIY and @extendastep when you do) or like Extend-A-Step on Facebook and leave a comment to let them know that The Ugly Duckling House sent ya. Leave a separate comment for each activity on this post.

DISCOUNT:
If you don’t win, don’t worry! You can still get this awesome ladder at a better price just because you’re a UDH reader. Simply enter the code UGLYDUCK10 at checkout for $10 off.

GOOD LUCK, and happy shopping!

This giveaway is sponsored by Extend-A-Step. All opinions and reviews are 100% my own. An Extend-A-Step ladder was given in return for hosting of this review and giveaway, but this post (and others) may also contain sponsored links. Please also see my Disclaimer page for additional details on giveaway and advertising policies.

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Hey there! I'm Sarah. My favorite things: 1) tearing my house apart and 2) putting it back together again. I occasionally talk about other things, like life and food and travel, but it's mostly my obsession with DIY and power tools that you'll find here!

Got a DIY question? Tag me on Instagram @uglyducklingDIY or use the hashtag #uglyducklinghouse to show off your projects!

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65 Comments

  1. Oooh I could use a good ladder!

    <3 the blog, btw. As a fellow DIY chick, you're quite an inspiration. :)

    Reply

  3. We left our ladders at The Old House and now we don't have one for our new house so this would be perfect!

    Reply

  5. Love it! We totally need a ladder — so I don't hurt myself putting up Christmas decorations. Hah.

    Reply

  6. I've been ladder shopping for my brother for x-mas and this would be SO PERFECT! He would never suspect a ladder in a box under the tree haha! Very Inspector Gadget-y I love it :)

    Reply

  8. I would love this ladder… it would be the Christmas decorating that much easier!

    Samanthacwatson at hotmail dot com

    Reply

  10. I too am challenged in the height department – and I bought a 1 story house because of it. Alas gutters and eaves still need cleaning and as much as I enjoy amusing the neighbors I would really like this ladder!

    artsyfish65@yahoo.com

    Reply

  13. I follow this blog & love it! I would love a ladder that I could move & use on my own! Homeownership for a single gal can be a challenge sometimes!
    megan.eagleson(at)gmail(dot)com

    Reply

  14. This ladder looks awesome and I love that it can be stored easily without taking up too much space!

    Lia

    lialyford(at)gmail.com(dot)com

    Reply

  15. WOW this ladder could be my new best friend! I am the painter in the house and am in need of an extension ladder…this one seems awesome.I love how it compacts down for storage. LOVE your blog.

    Reply

  17. Wow! This ladder looks awesome. There is nothing I hate more then having to use the extended ladder because they are always so wobbly. It wouldn't hurt to have a strong one around the house. Maybe then I won't make my husband do everything involving the ladder. :-)

    Contact: Jessica
    E-mail: vintagemauve@gmail.com
    Website: http://www.vintagemauve.com

    Thanks!

    Reply

  18. I'd love the ladder! I could use it today to hang up my christmas lights…. except its raining! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  19. I've been looking for a ladder like this! We have really high vaulted ceilings and zero storage for a traditional ladder, so we actually have to call a handyman to change our lightbulbs.

    Reply

  20. I love the Extend-&-Climb ladder. There are not many ladders that you can carry vertically under your arm before and after you have worked on them.

    Reply

  21. After sending my extension ladder through the guest room window, I have sworn off any exterior work that involves leaving the ground. Perhaps this guy would give me the confidence I need to give it another shot?! :)

    Reply

  23. Thanks for the review (and the giveaway)! I do not own a ladder yet, and reviews like these are super helpful!

    Reply

  25. Ohhh… I really can use this! I am so scared to move the ext ladder by myself.

    I don't want to put my email out there for spam bots to blast me, so you can find me on fb (I also am a fan of your page)

    Reply

  27. Sweet! It looks awesome! Thanks so much for the chance to win one! Cheers!

    heatheranne99 at gmail dot com

    Reply

  38. I could really use a this ladder to help me hang outside christmas decorations

    Reply

  40. Thanks for the chance to win! My short legs definitely need a handy ladder that won't knock me over when I'm trying to carry it.

    Reply

  41. I would love to win this. The number of paper airplanes that have landed on my plant shelf above my front door have been piling up. This ladder would sure come in handy!

    Reply

  43. This is the coolest idea ever! (and I'm so wishing I would have had this when I tried to hang Christmas lights by myself last week!)

    bookwormbaby at hotmail dot com

    Reply

  56. I'm going to their website to read all about this ladder. It sounds like exactly what we need to get to all the high spots on our house, inside and out! We try not to use our chandelier because we can't reach it to change out the bulbs!

    Reply

  63. I purchased an extend-a-step ladder about 5 years ago. My son takes it with him when they go camping. I would love to get one for him for XMass. I would appreciate it if it is at all possible to send me the information as to purchasing this ladder via email. Thanking you in advance for any help you can give me.

    UGLYDUCK 10

    Reply

    1. Hi Wanda, you should be able to use the link within the post to go to the extendastep.com page and purchase directly from their website or find a number on their site to make a phone purchase. Hope that helps!

      Reply

  64. I ordered this ladder from the Extendastep company. They charged my account on the 19th of this month (May 2015). Today is the 27th. So far, no ladder. They have not called me back and I have left 7 messages. I also left two email messages. What is the problem with this company??? I

    Reply