Working at height

[overlander matt]

I have some work to do at height next summer finishing some repointing and some general paintwork including the wooden cornice that runs around the top at roof level. I had the house scaffolded 5 years ago for more involved work on the roof, windows, chimneys and brickwork but I don't really want to go to the same expense again if it can be helped...

I'm interested to know whether anyone can recommend a good quality scaffold tower that would reach to 8m. Would anyone recommend a different approach to the painting around the cornice? A cherry picker?

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[fernicarry]

Not sure I'd fancy being 8m up in a cherry picker on soft ground... I think a tower is the way to go although you'll get sick of moving it around the house. Get an alu one rather than steel, more expensive but much easier to handle. I have a steel one that I borrowed from a mate about 5 years ago and its hard work. On the plus side neither of us have a vehicle capable of transporting it any more so it'll probably end its days with me. If I had to buy my own I'd get a branded one used. There are plenty of places that deal in them and that way you should be able to get extra sections in the future should you need to.

If you leave it up for any length of time make sure to do what I didn't initially and that is to lash it securely to the house. Otherwise you will be treated to a noise like a thousand xylophones being thrown down a flight of stairs when there is a big storm....It didn't just fall over it must have actually gotten some air because the wreckage started a good 20' away from where it had been standing! Neighbours texted me to ask if I knew, oh I think everyone within a 5 mile radius knows...

 

[paulc]

Not sure I'd fancy being 8m up in a cherry picker on soft ground... I think a tower is the way to go although you'll get sick of moving it around the house. Get an alu one rather than steel, more expensive but much easier to handle.

I have an aluminium scaffold tower - It is OK up to around 3-4m, but I wouldn't want to go to 8m even with outriggers. Have been up a steel tower around a very tall industrial chimney. That too swayed around a lot more than I was comfortable with.
Cherry pickers are good if you have the space and have to go over the top of conservatories and the likes. Some come with big wide tires well suited for working on soft ground. If there are no obstacles in the way, a simple scissor lift would work - Possibly cheaper to hire.

 

[David Williams]

A word to the wise - a cherry picker weighs a lot more than you'd ever think - I got one stuck once, and it cost a fortune to recover, involving a temporary roadway having to be built...
I'd go with the scaffold...

 

[keithevans595]

Where's Fred Dibnah when you need him!

 

[mardinor]

Where's Fred Dibnah when you need him!

View attachment 14835

Look at that fag in his hand! Didn't he know smoking is dangerous?

 

[Cubist]

Where's Fred Dibnah when you need him!

View attachment 14835

Shudder! I get giddy when I put on work boots after street shoes - Lord Knows how the First Lady copes with her chic chick heels... and before anyone asks, No! I have not been tempted to find out for myself.

 

[CliffordPope]

Do factor in that any aversion to heights is likely to get worse with age.
I remember 40 years ago poking a short ladder out of our attic window, hooking it over the ridge, climbing out onto the ladder, and then inching the ladder along the roof until I reached the slate that had come loose.
At the age of 5 our son climbed out and scrambled up the chimney stack, and then surprised us in the garden when he waved jauntily as he stood on top of the flaunching next to the chimney pots, a la Fred Dibnah.

Now, I am nervous at the top of a modest stepladder, and terrified of looking over the parapet of a stone tower.

 

[Cubist]

Now, I am nervous at the top of a modest stepladder, and terrified of looking over the parapet of a stone tower.

I find that sudden shifts to views of skyscraper chasms on tv can induce an involuntary cringe these days... and that after spending much of my working life with an aircraft strapped to my rear end.

 

[TudorCottage]

I have a scaffold tower that can reach 6 metres but wouldn’t want to go any higher than that, so for me it would be a Cherry picker all day long.

Hired an electric one once, more than adequate for 8 metres and relatively cheap compared to the big diesel jobs.

Just hire a couple of couple of running mats at the same time, there good on soft ground so will be fine in summer.

 

[Lacan07]

Do factor in that any aversion to heights is likely to get worse with age.
I remember 40 years ago poking a short ladder out of our attic window, hooking it over the ridge, climbing out onto the ladder, and then inching the ladder along the roof until I reached the slate that had come loose.
At the age of 5 our son climbed out and scrambled up the chimney stack, and then surprised us in the garden when he waved jauntily as he stood on top of the flaunching next to the chimney pots, a la Fred Dibnah.

Now, I am nervous at the top of a modest stepladder, and terrified of looking over the parapet of a stone tower.

100%, my head for heights didn't used to be too bad but now its a struggle. The guttering on my house is my limit and even that I have to fight. I got some steel scaffolding last year on FB marketplace and its proved an excellent buy. The Aluminium pro scaffolding is obviously better but no more comfort to me. I hired some for a roofing job in the summer. I'd say it always helps if you have another person around to help you erect it and take it down.

 

[CliffordPope]

It's slightly reassuring, although probably of no practical value, if you can tie the scaffolding in firmly round a couple of adjacent windows to stop it wobbling.

 

[Lacan07]

Where's Fred Dibnah when you need him!

View attachment 14835

He used to climb those laddered chimneys after necking 2 or 3 pints during lunch!

There's a video on Youtube, that I've never managed to find since, where the man who produced those early documentaries was being interviewed (he had long since retired). He told of a story where he'd turned up one day when they were filming to check on everything and Fred asked him if he'd like to go up the chimney he was working on. The fool said yes and started to climb the ladder and very quickly after a few ladder lengths decided it wasn't for him and started descending again. The trouble is Fred was coming up behind him and refused to let him go down. "keep going" he shouted, "be a man". The poor guy had to go all the way to the top and said it was the worst experience of his life!

 

[fernicarry]

tie the scaffolding in firmly round a couple of adjacent windows to stop it wobbling

Matt, if you had scaffold up before it may have been tied on to the house using eye bolts and the anchors for those could still be in place so you could reuse with some of these. I found a couple of achors on the side of my house and reattached my wayward tower to them.

As others have said 8m is pretty high. Is that everywhere or do you have gables that need that height? Maybe go for a hybrid of a tower to reach the normal eaves height and then hire in something to do the extreme bits. Or there's always the option of a stepladder on top of the platform, not that I would ever do that or know anyone who has ever done that...

Another scaffolding story. My mate -- the one who lent me the tower -- wanted to get an old TV aerial off of his chimney before it let go and went through the roof or onto the car below. He put up his new tower (borrowed from a different mate) and tied it into the house as above so it was perfectly stable. He then laid another ladder onto the roof, bracing the bottom of it on the tower so he could get to the far side of the chimney (hipped roof). I climbed up a step ladder sat on the platform with wire cutters, he hooked the TV aerial from his position on the ladder with yet another section of ladder, and then I cut the wire strapping the mast onto the chimney. The next bit happened very quickly but TV aerial was successfully retrieved and brought safely down to ground level.

 

[a twig]

If budget stretches I’d hire a tracked scissor type MEWP. Something like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166659246214

 

[paulc]

Or there's always the option of a stepladder on top of the platform, not that I would ever do that or know anyone who has ever done that...

 

[overlander matt]

Not sure I'd fancy being 8m up in a cherry picker on soft ground... I think a tower is the way to go although you'll get sick of moving it around the house. Get an alu one rather than steel, more expensive but much easier to handle. I have a steel one that I borrowed from a mate about 5 years ago and its hard work. On the plus side neither of us have a vehicle capable of transporting it any more so it'll probably end its days with me. If I had to buy my own I'd get a branded one used. There are plenty of places that deal in them and that way you should be able to get extra sections in the future should you need to.

If you leave it up for any length of time make sure to do what I didn't initially and that is to lash it securely to the house. Otherwise you will be treated to a noise like a thousand xylophones being thrown down a flight of stairs when there is a big storm....It didn't just fall over it must have actually gotten some air because the wreckage started a good 20' away from where it had been standing! Neighbours texted me to ask if I knew, oh I think everyone within a 5 mile radius knows...

This all sounds very interesting Alan! I'm not terribly excited by the idea of working from a tower at this height but did some work just below the cornice off a steel tower a couple of years ago. It was a bit wobbly but I was hoping with better equipment I could make the additional height.

The bottom of the wooden cornice is 7.3m above the ground so for painting, the working platform of the tower would need to be around 6m. In total, we have around 30m of cornice which is likely to mean the tower gets put up at least 15 times. I can see why the cornice was so rotten when we bought the house.

I will need a tower for painting the windows and other general work at height so I'll give it a go. Are there specific brands that are ok or do they all do the job? My previous scaffolding with towers and poles normally feature 3 strong ladders as additional outriggers. A more professional-standard tower seemed the way to go for this height.

Thanks for the various suggestions. Lots to consider as always!

 

[Flyfisher]

I used a scaffold tower when patching up and limewashing our gable wall, but only with some substantial additions to make the whole assenbly rock-solid. I think the tower must have been a little over 6m, just about enough for a working height of 8m.

Fortunately, I have a fair bit of scaffolding that I kept from previous works so the first thing I do when using my tower is to add some diagonal bracing on each side. This makes the whole tower rigid. The next thing is to add enough outriggers to prevent the tower from tilting in any direction. It's easy to feel how each additional bit of scaffolding adds to the solidity of the tower and therefore to judge when enough is enough.

I initially intended to insert some stainless eyes into the brickwork, either Rawlbolts or with chemical fixings and then also lash the upper section to the wall, but the tower was rigid enough with just the additional scaffold pole bracings. Basically, you should 'feel' when it's safe enough.

Anyway, I survived, which is the main objective

 

[stuart45]

I used a scaffold tower when patching up and limewashing our gable wall, but only with some substantial additions to make the whole assenbly rock-solid. I think the tower must have been a little over 6m, just about enough for a working height of 8m.

Fortunately, I have a fair bit of scaffolding that I kept from previous works so the first thing I do when using my tower is to add some diagonal bracing on each side. This makes the whole tower rigid. The next thing is to add enough outriggers to prevent the tower from tilting in any direction. It's easy to feel how each additional bit of scaffolding adds to the solidity of the tower and therefore to judge when enough is enough.

I initially intended to insert some stainless eyes into the brickwork, either Rawlbolts or with chemical fixings and then also lash the upper section to the wall, but the tower was rigid enough with just the additional scaffold pole bracings. Basically, you should 'feel' when it's safe enough.

Anyway, I survived, which is the main objective

View attachment 14840

That's looks well erected and safe to me. I'd be happy to use it. Better than some of the ones I've been asked to work on for some firms.
Strange how when you're younger and got most of your life ahead of you, there's a tendency to risk it, and when you get older and don't have so much ahead you get more cautious.

 

[fernicarry]

Are there specific brands that are ok or do they all do the job

I don't have any brands in mind but if you check out the websites that deal in ex-hire kit there will be a few common names that come up. With the money saved you could get one with a bigger footprint to avoid moving it so frequently. That could be kind of offset by the fact that its heavier when you do come to move it but working off a bigger platform is going to be safer and more comfortable. I also think a branded one would be more saleable if you ever decided you'd had enough.