I knocked the finial off a conservatory yesterday - and it's been giving me nightmares. How was I going to replace the thing?
A bit of lateral thinking was required!
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I made the tool below out of a 2-metre length of waste pipe that I already had as a part of my gutter cleaning kit and a rope I use for safely backing down a spiral staircase that I clean.
The whole assembly is similar to a dog catcher.
Anyway. I very carefully placed the finial in the loop in just the right position so it would slide on, pulled the rope tight and got up the ladder.
After less than 20 seconds very careful pushing and prodding, I felt the tongue locate in the groove and it just slid into place.
If I hadn't been up a ladder I would have whooped and jumped for joy!!!