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Paintman Industries
A painter in whites climbs an aluminum extension ladder against a blue clapboard house, carrying a white paint bucket
Original product photo · 2015
From the archive · no longer sold

A better bucket & roller holder.

The Rung Rack: one solid-steel tool holder that slides into the D-rung of any extension ladder, holds the bucket still, parks the roller and keeps a hand free for the ladder. Designed by a professional painter, for professional painters.

See the Rung Rack How it works
Solid steelone welded frame, rubber-gripped handle
3 lblight enough to carry up the ladder
Either sidefor left- and right-handed painters
US 9,739,091patent issued to the inventor, 2017

The problem

No more tools on the rungs.

Painting from an extension ladder has always meant a bucket on an S-hook, a roller balanced somewhere it shouldn’t be, and one hand that never quite gets back to the rail. The Rung Rack was built to fix all three at once.

The old way: an S-hook

  • The bucket swings in the wind, or every time you wipe the brush on the rim.
  • The bail sits right over the opening, so the roller and brush fight the handle.
  • The bucket hangs in the rungs, in your workspace, not beside it.
  • Nowhere to set the roller and pole while you spray.
Patent line drawing, figure 1: the Rung Rack holding a bucket, with reference numbers for the sleeve, rod, U-handle, stabilizer bars and roller frame holder
Fig. 1 · U.S. Patent 9,739,091 · issued Aug. 22, 2017

Anatomy

One frame. Six jobs.

  1. 102Insertion endslides into the D-rung hole in the ladder’s side rail
  2. 204Sleevethe black PAINTMAN sleeve; removable, to fit other ladders
  3. 203Center bara steel rod sized for spray guns, caulking guns and maskers
  4. 201U-handlerubber-gripped; the bucket’s bail hangs here, out of the way
  5. 202Stabilizer barspress against the bucket so it can’t swing
  6. 206Roller frame holderset at an angle, about 12°, so the frame stays put

How it works

Up the ladder in four moves.

No clamps, no tools. It works as a cantilever off the side rail, so the load sits beside you instead of in front of you.

The black PAINTMAN sleeve seated in the D-shaped rung hole of an aluminum ladder rail
01

Slide it into the D-rung

Push the plastic-sleeved end into the D-rung hole in the side rail of the extension ladder.

Black and white photo: the sleeve in the D-rung with the safety strap hanging below
02

Strap it to the rail

Wrap the provided safety strap around the side rail and cinch it. That’s the whole install.

A white bucket hanging from the U-handle, held still by the two steel stabilizer bars, beside a Werner ladder
03

Hang the bucket

Drop the bail over the rubber-gripped U-handle. The two stabilizer bars hold the bucket steady.

Looking down into a bucket with a paint grid and roller, the bail held back clear of the opening
04

Dip, roll, park

The bail is held back, so the roller goes straight into the bucket. Park the frame and pole when you spray.

What it holds

Everything you’d otherwise juggle.

Every job a painter does from a ladder, set right where the hand goes. Fewer trips down for the thing you left on the ground.

Close-up into a bucket hung on the Rung Rack: paint grid inside, the opening completely unobstructed
Buckets

1–2 gallon buckets

Hung by the bail, held still by the stabilizer bars, with the whole opening free for the brush or roller.

A bucket and a roller on an extension pole both held by the rack, on a ladder beside an arched window
Roller frame & pole

Roller frames & extension poles

The angled holder on the end of the rod parks the frame and pole upright while your hands do something else.

A roller frame and an airless spray gun both parked on the Rung Rack on a ladder
Spray guns

Spray & back-roll

The gun hangs on the center bar by its hook, right next to the roller.

A tape masking machine and tape rolls hanging from the rack beside a ladder
Maskers & tape

Masking machines & tape

Maskers and tape rolls, easy to reach and close at hand.

The original Rung Rack package: an orange 3D R on a ladder, and a list reading Rung Rack holds 1–2 gallon buckets, paint-roller frames, masking machines, spray guns, extension poles, tool bags and more
And more

Caulking guns & tool bags

As the box said: “and more!”

Diagram: an extension ladder seen from the front, with the Rung Rack mounted on one side rail, holding a bucket and a roller frame FRONT VIEW · NOT TO SCALE

Fit

Either side. Either hand.

Mount it on the left rail or the right. Left-handed and right-handed painters get the same reach, and you can switch sides between drops.

  • Ladders
    20′24′28′32′

    Werner extension ladders, as listed on the package

  • Other ladders
    A removable sleeve lets it fit ladders of different sizes and brands
  • Mount
    Inserts into the D-rung hole of the side rail, secured with a safety strap
  • Hands
    Keeps one hand free for the ladder: the three-point stance, without the juggling

Why painters bought it

Faster. Stronger. Helpful.

01

Faster

A universal design for all your extension ladders. Brush, spray and roll faster with the bucket stabilizers and the roller frame holder, instead of resting tools on the rungs.

02

Stronger

Built from solid steel, to be there when you need it most. One frame, nothing to fold or snap.

03

Helpful

Holds your professional tools right where you need them, for left- and right-handed users, with a removable sleeve for different ladders.

04

Lifetime

When it was sold, the steel parts carried a lifetime warranty. The archive keeps the promise on record; the product is no longer available.

The Rung Rack on a white background: a steel rod with a black PAINTMAN sleeve, a rubber-gripped U-handle, two stabilizer bars and the angled roller frame holder From the archive

The product · specs

The Rung Rack

A professional painter’s tool. Sold by Paintman Industries from 2016 to 2020.

$34.99Archive price, 2018–2020 · $29.99 at the 2016 launch
  • MaterialSolid steel frame, plastic sleeve, rubber grip
  • Weight3 lb
  • Box23 × 10 × 4 in
  • HoldsBuckets, roller frames, poles, spray guns, maskers, caulking guns
  • FitsWerner 20′, 24′, 28′, 32′ extension ladders; sleeve for others
  • Roller holderAngled, about 12°
  • PatentU.S. 9,739,091, issued 2017 (since lapsed)
From the archive · no longer sold
Full product page →
An early Rung Rack with its first paper hang tag, photographed in 2016
The first hang tag · 2016
Two black PAINTMAN sleeves side by side in late-afternoon light, autumn vines behind

The invention story

Invented on the job.

Ezra Pucci started in the painting trade in 2003 and went on to run his own painting company in Sonoma. Years of exterior work from extension ladders showed him the same inefficiencies on every project: the swinging bucket, the bail in the way, nowhere to put the roller.

“I couldn’t find the products I needed. They were not available! So I decided to make them myself.”Ezra Pucci, founder · from the original About page

Paintman Industries grew out of that: a small tool brand from Sonoma, California, built around one idea, tested on real job sites, and drawn up into an original invention.

  1. 2011Sets out to bring his ideas to market under the Paintman name
  2. 2015Paintman Industries LLC is formed; working prototypes photographed on the job
  3. APR 2016Patent application filed; first Rung Racks offered at $29.99
  4. AUG 2017Awarded U.S. Patent 9,739,091, “Painting tool holder for all types of extension ladders”
  5. FALL 2017New packaging, brochure and stickers
  6. 2018Pro shows in Medford, Oregon and Sonoma; the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas
  7. 2020Last small orders; by 2021 the Rung Rack is retired

From the archive

Box, booth & the deck.

The Rung Rack in the material it shipped and showed in, from 2015 to 2018.

The Rung Rack lying on a weathered wooden deck beside a pool, Sonoma hills in the background
2018 · Product shoot

Poolside, Sonoma

The steel frame in full afternoon sun, photographed in 2018.

May 8–10, 2018

National
Hardware
Show

Las Vegas. The Rung Rack was shown in the show’s Inventors Spotlight, the same spring as the regional pro paint shows.

  • APR 2018Drakes Paint pro show, Medford, OR
  • MAY 2018National Hardware Show, Las Vegas, NV
  • MAY 2018Kelly-Moore pro show, Sonoma, CA
A packaged Rung Rack with its black and orange hang card, lying on asphalt
Fall 2017 · Packaging

The hang card

Black and orange, with the 3D R on a ladder, the fit list and the patent number.

Trade-show back wall artwork: a chrome ladder and an orange 3D R on a dark PM-pattern background
2018 · Booth graphics

The back wall

Artwork for the seven-foot event booth, made for the 2018 trade-show season.

A hand holding a Rung Rack by its rod against a white backdrop
2018 · On file

Three pounds of steel

The production unit, photographed in 2018 for the brand’s trademark file.

The pipeline

In development, never released.

Paintman always meant to be more than one tool. These ideas got as far as drawings, renders and samples between 2017 and 2018. None of them was ever sold.

3D render of the Brush Blade concept: an orange tool with a row of comb teethRender · 2017

Brush Blade

A brush-care tool with comb teeth, taken through CAD, renders and a 3D-printed sample.

CAD render of the Can Key concept: a grey key with CAN KEY on its handle and a green tip, against a paint can lidCAD · 2018

Can Key

A Paintman paint-can opener key, modeled in CAD in 2018.

Concept render of the Smart Lid: an orange sliding frame on a dark lid panel marked PAINTMANConcept · 2017

Smart Lid

A bucket lid with a sliding opening, sketched and modeled in the fall of 2017.

No drawings survive

Dual Grip

Listed on the 2019 site’s menu as the next demo. The page was never filled in, and nothing more is in the archive.

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