Have your aluminum ladders seen better days? Here’s how to get them to look brand new again by simply painting them! With a handy and easy ladder storage wall idea too!
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve continued with the garage makeover series! But I have a fun ladder makeover you may never have thought to try… but you may after seeing this!
So let’s continue on, shall we?
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Read the entire Parking in a Garage Workshop Series
2 – Easy and Free DIY Garage Shelving for tools
3 – Painting aluminum ladders with storage wall (you are here)
4 – The finished garage workshop tour
Aluminum ladders – before
I’ve had a couple of lightweight a-frame aluminum step ladders for years.
And being that they are lighter weight, giving them superior portability, along with heavy duty durability, makes them the best ladder choice to have in my book!
Yup, I love my aluminum ladders. Cuz they’re easy to manage. And never wear out.
But one thing I have never had for them is proper ladder storage. Storing ladders of late has meant leaning them against storage bins, lumber, and whatever else has been jammed inside my garage workshop for years.
However with this most recent garage workshop renovation, it was LONG time to create some kind of hooks for ladders so at long last I could stop shuffling them around!
And I had the perfect wall space in mind when I drew up the Garage workshop plans from Part 1.
However, the aluminum ladders were pretty grubby. I mean, they’re just ladders after all, but if I was going to the work of painting beautiful new white walls, these dirty ladders would stick out like a sore thumb.
So that’s when I had a brain storm. What’s to say you couldn’t paint aluminum ladders to look brand new again? In fact, you could even choose any colour desired!
Well, I for one have never thought to paint a compact lightweight aluminum ladder before, because, who really cares?
But warning… you just may care after this!
So here’s how to revamp those eyesore aluminum ladders that have seen better days into something beautiful to look at!
Let’s prepare the wall space first.
Painting aluminum ladders with ladder storage wall
Read about the BIG clean up in Part 1 HERE
Cleaning the area
In Part 1, it was decided that my truck would back into this space, so this wall would have to be relatively empty so I had the ability to open the drivers’ door.
So everything came out! Except for the work table.
Read more on the wall painting in Part 1 HERE
Learn how to make the shelving in Part 2 HERE
Painting a large workshop table
Once cleaned up, the walls got a new coat of crisp white paint in eggshell, straight out of the can. No tinting was done.
Since the decision had been to store a collapsed work table along this wall, the car care garage shelving in Part 2 was rehung above the table height.
Then the underside of the table got a fresh coat of paint too!
Creating a board and batten wall treatment
Next up, plain, primed MDF molding planks like these from Lowes were screwed to the wall for decorative and productive reasons.
The planks would serve to showcase where the wall studs were located, PLUS alleviate anything marking up the walls when the ladders were hung and the table collapsed against it.
Decorative and helpful all-in-one!
How to install board and batten wall planks
- Mark where the studs are in the wall.
- Attach a bottom molding plank first.
- Measure and cut 3 MDF molding boards to fit between molding plank and ceiling.
- Position each plank over a wall stud, and attach with 1 screw right in the middle.
- Use a level against the plank to position level, then attach plank with more screws. Imbed the screws so you can crack fill over top if you want them to disappear.
- Paint over the planks and wall.
Note: I ran out of molding wood along the bottom. Good project for another day.
With the board and batten wall treatment now in place, and the worktable painted pure white (including spraying the metal legs!), wow, what a difference! Who’s garage is this?!
But you couldn’t pay me to hang beat up aluminum ladders on that striking new wall. Not a chance!
So that’s when painting aluminum ladders came to mind. I’d never heard of it actually being done before, but it was worth a shot!
Painting aluminum ladders
How to spray paint aluminum ladders
1. Clean the aluminum ladders well with a scrub brush and soap, then hose off and allow to dry.
2. Choose a metal spray paint.
I nearly choose to paint the aluminum ladders white or black, but I ended up selecting Krylon ColorMaxx Paint and Primer in Metallic Aluminum since I desired to keep the ladders looking like they originally did.
HERE is Krylon Fusion all-in-one in Metallic Finish which would be close!
View more aluminum spray paint choices HERE
But think of all the possibilities! Paint them to suit your style!
3. Move the ladders to a location where overspray won’t be an issue.
I chose on the lawn in the backyard, away from the house or any other belongings.
4. Put on a quality face mask and good eye protection.
5. Lightly mist the ladders in short bursts, taking care not to allow the paint to puddle up, creating runs.
Before and after
6. Once a ladder is covered, allow to dry, then do another coat if needed.
I only needed one coat. The paint covered really well!
7. When ladder is dry, lay it down on its side so any missed areas can be sprayed.
Isn’t the before and after quite remarkable?! It’s like I got two new ladders for the price of just over 1.5 cans of paint!
So NOW those ladders could be hung up at long last!
Hanging ladders with chains
There are plenty of hooks for ladders on the market. But the ones closest to me were either to short or too long.
So I decided to hang them up for free with some lightweight metal chain I already had on hand. Not only did using chain as ladder hooks save money, they took up less room too! Which was needed for this parking wall.
Shop for all sorts of aluminum ladders HERE
Check out lots of ladder hanging system hooks HERE
How to mount the ladders to the wall
- Pencil in two screw hook holes level to each other for the left and right side of each ladder.
- Pre-drill holes with a cordless drill.
- Screw in 2 screw-in hooks for each ladder.
- Attach a chain to each hook.
- Hold the ladders into position.
- Wrap the chain around each ladder end, then thread the end of the chain through the hook.
- Reposition ladders inside chains until they hang as desired.
View other ladder hook choices HERE
The ladder storage wall complete
And here’s the pretty, amazing aluminum ladder storage wall results! Doesn’t everything just fit like a glove?!
Everything is laying nice and flat, perfect for backing in a vehicle!
Build this shelf storage in Part 2 HERE
Care care garage shelving
The car care garage shelving, positioned above the collapsed table, is located by the garage door for super easy access even when the truck is parked inside.
And a medley of stacked planks with attached hooks became a handy place to hang up brooms and scrub brushes, with a vintage oil can to hold rags or gloves.
Before:
This garage workshop was a chaotic mess!
After!
And after the clean up, now there’s a place to park PLUS I could keep the most needed stuff!
Hard to believe it’s the same garage, isn’t it? I’m still in shock myself.
But you haven’t even seen the very best of the best yet!
We have finally approached Part 4, which is the entire garage makeover, so you can see how the entire garage workshop space turned out!
Wait until you see the antique tools wall… you’re gonna love what’s next!
What do you think of the results so far?
Read the entire Parking in a Garage Workshop Series
2 – Easy and Free DIY Garage Shelving for tools
3 – Painting aluminum ladders with storage wall (you are here)
4 – The finished garage workshop tour
Other unique hook projects:
Unique pipe hooks on reclaimed wood
Visit other unique hook ideas HERE
Check out many other workshop organizing projects HERE
Donna! What a brilliant idea! I’ve been following your progress and the shelves are my favorite; the bottle opener is perfect! I know you were happy to park your new truck inside when the surprise cold snap hit last week. Looking forward to the final reveal!!
Thanks Cecilia, I’m THRILLED it’s working out the way it is! I just have to mindfully remember to carry the truck keys with me when I want to work in the workshop… I’m not quite that trained, so it’s another trip up the stairs I go! I’ll get there…
Hide an extra set of keys in the garage for when that happens.
What a kewel way to hang the ladders and to paint them. It looks great.
Just an FYI ~ in case anyone freaks out at you spray painting in the grass. It does not kill the grass. My yard is my pride and joy. I spray paint everything ~ and usually do it in the grass. Ha!! You will have colored grass for awhile though until it grows out and cut. 🙂
Thanks Reenie! And thanks for the lawn feedback! I guess I could have thrown a paint sheet over the lawn, but I only hit it minimally and you are right… I’ve yet to ruin the grass for good. Now that this was brought up, I’ll likely use a sheet next time to better protect the critters and such.
Your garage makeover is really coming along and looks great. Several years ago I painted my aluminum stepladder black. I live in a one-bedroom apartment and the ladder leans against the wall between my bathroom and a packed storage closet and because of its color I don’t mind having it plain sight. I would note that the black paint does show dust so if I ever paint it again I might go with a “dust color.”
Thanks Teddee! I had contemplated black but right away, I didn’t want to have to see dust. haha White is so easy! And it turns out, aluminum is right in between. I’m delighted how good they turned out!