end portion 38 angularly extending from the rail portion 36 preferably the end portion 38 extends from the rail portion 36 at a right angle the transition from the rail portion 36 to the end portion 38 may be an abrupt angular change or more preferably may be a curved transition the rail portion 36 may have one or a plurality of holes 40 therein the end portion 38 preferably includes means such as a narrow section with a bore 42 for pivotally connecting a resilient pad assembly 44 the stand off brace 20 includes a third member 46 that has a plurality of openings 48 the third member 46 is connected to the siderails 12 14 of the ladder 10 by attaching means such as u bolts 50 52 preferably the third member 46 is attached to the rails 12 14 by the u bolts 50 52 in the vicinity of the top rung 18 of the ladder 10 by this construction the third member 46 may remain attached to the ladder 10 without interfering with the operation of the ladder 10 in the case of an extension ladder 10 wherein attachments sometimes interfere with extension and retraction still referring to fig1 the first member 22 fits into one end of the third member 46 and is slidably movable therein between a first position at which the resilient pad 32 is spaced a first preselected maximum distance from the first siderail 12 and a second position at which the resilient pad 32 is spaced a second preselected minimum distance from the first siderail 12 shown in phantom in fig1 the first is member 22 is fixed in position relative to the third member 46 by aligning openings 28 48 and inserting a bolt or.