scaffolding

[paulb33]

Might ayone care to share tips and personal experience etc on limitting scaffolding costs?

The cost of scaffolding a three story detached house is encouraging me to tackle routine maintenance (rainwater goods, facia boards, etc) AND planned improvements/restoration (replace uPVC) in one hit. But, this is difficult on a budget and I may be forced instead to stagger the jobs. That said, the prospect of scaffolding twice in two years is not so appealing either.

Wonder if anyone has done a long-term hire, outright purchase etc on scaffolding, for instance?

Value inputs on this.

Cheers,

Paul

 

[LadyArowana]

If you are paying someone to erect the scaffold then it will probably be false economy to only do one job and then put it up again a year or two later. I had to do some chimney work recently ( I didn't do it myself :lol: ) and although attending to the window frames could have waited another year or two it made sense to do all at the same time. Not sure about if you were doing it yourself, your choice I suppose. I believe there are others on the forum who have bought their own scaffold, possibly you could source and recycle it through e.bay.

 

[Roger H]

A scaffolding tower is not very expensive <1,000, and can be erected easily enough when tackling windows etc.. Comprehensive scaffold preferable for 'linear' jobs such as guttering. Perhaps do as much as possible with the full scaffold, then invest in a tower for later use.

 

[paulb33]

If you are paying someone to erect the scaffold then it will probably be false economy to only do one job and then put it up again a year or two later. I had to do some chimney work recently ( I didn't do it myself :lol: ) and although attending to the window frames could have waited another year or two it made sense to do all at the same time. Not sure about if you were doing it yourself, your choice I suppose. I believe there are others on the forum who have bought their own scaffold, possibly you could source and recycle it through e.bay.

Many thanks for your prompt reply. Most of the work will be outsourced. But, having the scaffolding up longer allows me to do some of the easier repair work, painting etc. I guess its the extended install charges that one avoids when purchasing the scaffolding?
Best.
Paul

 

[paulb33]

A scaffolding tower is not very expensive <1,000, and can be erected easily enough when tackling windows etc.. Comprehensive scaffold preferable for 'linear' jobs such as guttering. Perhaps do as much as possible with the full scaffold, then invest in a tower for later use.

What a good idea, Roger. I'm embarrassed to admit thay I hadn't thought of doing that. I should do the awkward windows now that need scaffolding. And, leave the simple windows that can be done without for next year. Genius.

The cost of doing ALL the windows now was simply too much, pushing me towards a costly loan.

That's why I love this forum.
Vale any other scaffold tips...

 

[Flyfisher]

There's no doubting that scaffolding can be expensive. I negotiated a fixed price deal for our scaffolding when I was repairing the roof, so I didn't have to worry about timescale. However, my six month estimate turned into 18 months and I began to feel a bit guilty, plus I figured I would not be able to negotiate such a good deal the next time, so I ended up buying half the scaffolding.

I knew that I had plenty of other uses for it so it was worthwhile, but in hindsight I should probably have bought it in the first place. Having said that, there's still the issue of erecting it, which is OK for a simple construction but can become more tricky if corners and other things are involved. My approach is to over-engineer the whole thing, though that only works if you have plenty of poles and fittings.

I also purchased two scaffold towers and these have paid for themselves time and again. The difference between working from a ladder or a scaffold tower is immense. I've also found it very useful to have scaffold poles available to stabilise the scaffold towers when using them at their full height. Although I'm sure they are quite safe, they do tend to 'move' about slightly, but with a couple of bracing poles and outriggers they can be made rock-solid, which makes for a more pleasant experience.

Fortunately we have plenty of space to store the scaffolding poles, boards and fittings when not in use but that might be an important consideration if you do decide to purchase.

A fringe benefit is that scaffolding can be very useful for building temporary structures for summer parties :wink:

 

[paulb33]

A scaffolding tower is not very expensive <1,000, and can be erected easily enough when tackling windows etc.. Comprehensive scaffold preferable for 'linear' jobs such as guttering. Perhaps do as much as possible with the full scaffold, then invest in a tower for later use.

Are there limts to the height of a scaffold tower, I wonder? :?

 

[JohnB]

I bought this locally for £600 from a local trader. Not sure if that's a good price, but being local saved transport costs, and they'll give me half the money back any time if I want to return it. It will go up to a third floor, but I'm not brave enough to try it yet! I'll need to to get the render off the end walls though :shock:. Scaffold towers scare me, as the ones I've been on wobble, but I'm happy being on this.

 

[paulb33]

I bought this locally for £600 from a local trader.

Thanks for this helpful post. Nice work! Did the £600 include erection/dismantle?

 

[JohnB]

I bought this locally for £600 from a local trader.

Thanks for this helpful post. Nice work! Did the £600 include erection/dismantle?

No. It was delivered in a big heap! Apparently you can erect it without a ticket, so I do it myself (well with a bit of help!). It all slots together quite neatly, so is a straightforward DIY job. We originally put it up round the back of the house, then to move it to the front we took the boards off and four of us carried it round a bay at a time! I've since dismantled the bay at the far end and moved it to the right end on my own. I'm hoping to be up on it today if it's dry this afternoon.

 

[agbagb]

I'll second the scaffold tower idea. I bought a cheap one (£400) for doing a three story house and have since lent it out occasionally for a small fee so it's ended up paying for itself.

It's a bit wobbly at full height even with outriggers. Over a certain height they should be braced to the building. An anchor bolt does the trick.

The alternative could be hire one when you need it.

 

[agbagb]

Are there limts to the height of a scaffold tower, I wonder? :?

I've seen one at 25m but more typically 12m ish platform height is common. This might give you a better idea http://www.hireaccessplatforms.co.uk/manual/access-towers/Advanced_Guardrail_AGR_scaffold_tower.html

 

[paulb33]

I'll second the scaffold tower idea. I bought a cheap one (£400) for doing a three story house and have since lent it out occasionally for a small fee so it's ended up paying for itself.

It's a bit wobbly at full height even with outriggers. Over a certain height they should be braced to the building. An anchor bolt does the trick.

The alternative could be hire one when you need it.

I wonder what height is maximum. And, assume the anchor bolt needs tieing into the building masonry?

 

[paulb33]

[This might give you a better idea http://www.hireaccessplatforms.co.uk/manual/access-towers/Advanced_Guardrail_AGR_scaffold_tower.html