The Next Step

REMODELING MADE EASIER

David Bearden Found a Way to Eliminate Cumbersome Ladder Moving and Make Painting and Texturing Walls Much Easier. By Mike Foley

Over the years, remodeling has spawned many an idea and David Bearden's is no exception. Moving ladders while texturing drywall in a basement was so cumbersome that he found a way around it. And in the process, he created a great new product.

"Going up and down a ladder can be tiring," he says. "I wanted to find something that would allow you to work without stopping."

Bearden's product, the Simple Scaffold, allows users to do just that. The scaffold provides a stable working platform up to eight feet long and two feet high. As a result, an entire wall can be worked without once moving the platform.

Bearden, a Carthage, Tennessee chiropractor, designed the product with the help of two patients who own a metal manufacturing business. By trial and error, he tested several prototypes before settling on the current design, which uses a set of steel supports that can be adjusted to the desired working height.

"The supports can also be made of aluminum," he explains. "And that would make the system much lighter. "Working on his own and with an attorney, Bearden completed a two-year patent process and received a patent in late 1997. He has since tested the product in the Wal-Mart Innovation Network and found a manufacturer who can mass produce the item when necessary.

Bearden sees a large market for the Simple Scaffold among painters, electricians, carpenters and construction workers. He is currently interested in licensing the product to an interested individual or company.

Those interested in the Simple Scaffold and it's market potential may contact Dr. David Bearden at 516 N. Main St., Carthage, TN 37030. The phone number is (615) 735-9336.

THE NEXT STEP is a Dream Merchant feature for those who have designed new products and need help taking them to the marketplace. If you have a protected product or service and would like to be featured in this column, send your product information, a daytime phone number and several photographs of yourself and the product to: The Next Step, Dream Merchant Magazine, 2309 Torrance Blvd., Suite 104, Torrance, CA 90501.