I've never used scaffolding and no nothing abt it
can someone tell me if a "home" scaffolding set exist such that one can do some work to outside of typical home?
I don't need heavy duty industrial scaffolding.... but do need something tough enough to support a couple of men and related equipment to work on the side of a typical one story home say abt 12 feet tall
For this, the best option is usually to rent it from a local tool rental company.
Id like to buy
Ever hear of Baker scaffolding?
The "light duty" 4' wide x 6' tall scaffold frames are good for home use. They're still good for like 1,500# of load on them, "light duty" is relative to industrial use. I have 8 frames, four of the good Alumaplank planks and all the appropriate cross braces, leveling feet, etc.
This setup covers pretty much any configuration you might need for home use and for those occasional big jobs like replacing a roof, you can always rent additional parts as needed. The Alumaplanks are kind of expensive, but they are highly recommended for home use as they are much lighter and easier to handle than regular 2x scaffold grade planks. Do not ever use generic 2x material for scaffold planks BTW, they are not safe.
Thanks so much Pete!
I was gonna ask if there was some LIGHT planks out there
I live alone and truly to buy light things so much easier for one person to move around
Like I said....I just need something for typical round the house jobs....single story home
I'm not real keen on standing on wobbly ladders any more
What abt the narrow frame sat 30" width?
you think the 48" width a better buy?
I'm just thinking the narrower ones will be lighter in weight...easier carry around by one person?
The alumaplanks (aluminum ladder frame with plywood deck) are quite light in the 19" wide x 7' long size. I'm an average strength guy and on more than one occasion I have climbed two levels of scaffold frame while carrying an Alumaplank and then swung it into place with one arm while hanging on with the other. Not the best way to do it (best to put a plank on a lower level to stand on), but it works when you're on the last plank.
I live alone and have a hydraulic palette jack, engine hoist and forklift to make it easy for one person to move things around :)
Scaffolding is great for that, gives you a nice wide work platform with room for tools and materials. The real nice thing is the ability to configure the scaffolding to the task. The 8 frames I have can make a
24' tall 4' x 7' unit, a 12' tall 4' x 14' unit, 12' tall 8' x 7' unit, 6' tall 4' x 28' unit, etc.Good fiberglass ladders placed properly on stable surfaces aren't too bad, but you still lack room for tools and materials.
Pete C.
The narrow frames are a little less common, they also have less stability. What you see most often are the 4' "light duty" and 5' "standard duty" frames in the welded tube frame scaffold style. The OSHA standards require tie offs or outriggers on scaffold towers where the height exceeds 4x the smallest base dimension. The PRC (California) specs 3x. OSHA of course has no control over homeowner use, but it's still a good standard to follow.
The 4' wide x 6' high regular frames are pretty light, I regularly carry them in pairs. The weight should be listed somewhere online, but I think they're perhaps 30# each. The 30" width won't weigh much less since you're only removing about 3' worth of steel tubing at perhaps 3# max.
Pete C.
Ok great info! Thanks!
Do I make these tie offs myself? Or do you buy them as well?
Sounds like I should stick with 4' or 6' foot widths huh?
These are MORE popular than narrow right?
What I'm thinking is if I ever want to sell this tuff on used market I don't want to get some oddball size that no one wants to buy. See what I mean?
So I should DEFIBNELTLY stick with 4 foot or 6 foot width?
Everything you could possibly need is available as part of the system (see the accessories section). Leveling feet, wheel feet, guardrail brackets, outrigger brackets, tie offs, hoist pulley brackets, etc.
They all get used in construction, but the 4' and 6' widths see the most use with the smaller sizes generally only being used where there are space constraints.
Warning - It's addicting having your own scaffolding once you see all it's uses.
4' or 5' width, 6' heights are typical. The walk through spec is usually only seen in the 5' width though it's available in 4' as well. The frames that are shorter than 6' aren't seen much since usually 6' increments work fine.Pete C.
Then you need better ladders. As far as the scaffolding, if you're just doing "round the house jobs", scaffolding is way overkill. You have to climb the scaffolding to set it up and that's worse than climbing a ladder. At least a ladder's inclined.
Look into a couple of 1A rated ladders, some ladder jacks and an extensible aluminum scaffold plank. Far easier to set up, move around and store the stuff. Home Depot or other big box store sells all of the stuff.
R
Actually there isn't much climbing involved in setting up scaffolding, you assemble the next level primarily while standing on the current level. You assemble the first level standing on the ground.
Pete C.
(snip)
Man- and I thought I was self-indulgent having my own real handtruck. :^/
Having the right tools makes most jobs so much easier.
I quite agree on the scaffold sections being useful around the house. As a kid, we always had access, since the old man had a construction company. My mother even used one too-bent-and-rusted rack in the garden as a bean trellis.
aem sends...
There's no doubt ladder scaffolding is useful, but it's a question of suitability for the OP's purposes. For the vast majority of jobs around the house, setting up scaffolding is a larger undertaking than doing the work. You're not setting up scaffolding to clean your gutters, replace a broken pane of glass, etc. If you're laying up a brick veneer, certainly the scaffolding is the only way to go.
The OP has given two different scenarios for the need. In the first post he mentioned a couple of guys with materials and equipement - obviously scaffolding of one sort or the other is necessary. Either ladder scaffolding if there's a significant amount of weight involved (masonry work) or pump jacks if the work will move fairly quickly (vinyl siding). In a later post the OP mentioned around the house work, that he lived alone and needed light stuff he could move around, and the fact it was a single story home. Those are two different scenarios with different requirements.
Frankly, I don't see ladder scaffolding being anything more than a pain in the ass in such a situation. It's a single story home, there are a lot of parts involved, etc. The OP mentioned a baker and that may be the best choice, depending on what the grade is around the house and the amount of plantings in the way. I have a collapsible one piece (with a separate deck platform) aluminum baker:
The number one reason for scaffolding over ladders for household jobs is safety. Non-professionals and ladders just don't mix, probably the top cause of home project accidents is over reaching from a ladder or trying to carry tools and materials on a ladder. With scaffolding you have a large, safe elevated work area where you can put tools and materials down and where there is far less chance of over reaching and far greater stability even if you do over reach.
Pete C.
"Pete C." wrote
The number one thing is access.
When houses are under construction, scaffolding is easy to put up, as usually, there is no landscaping, so bricking and stuccoing go easier.
Once the house is built and landscaping mature, it might be a rassling match for six grown men to bring in some REAL scaffolding and erect it stable and level enough to do the required work. Sidewalks, flower beds, lawn, every obstacle imaginable.
Sure, it is nice if the ground is level, and you can bring in scaffolding, and have everything level and steady. Don't know how it is around your house, but that doesn't describe mine.
I have seen quite a few trick adjustable ladder/scaffolds that would do quite nicely.
You just have to look at the work area, and THEN select the proper safe scaffolding/ladder system.
One size does not fit all. And while one scaffold/ladder would be perfect in one location, it would be downright suicide in another.
Steve
yes it does
especially when working alone without any help
Is this a brand of scaffolding?
Or a TYPE of scaffolding?
Baker that is
I'm 48 yrs old
Ladders SCARE me
Safety is more important at my age
Nope, not at all, in fact it's quite easy with one guy and scaffolding. Scaffolding will quite happily straddle landscaping obstacles and the adjustable leveling feet will handle uneven ground just fine.
The scaffold frames are so light that they are very easy to lift over obstacles during assembly and teardown. You most certainly do not need six guys to set it up.
If the terrain exceeds the adjustment range of the leveling feet, just stack some solid concrete blocks to make up the difference. Unlike a ladder which has significant side loading at the base, scaffolding is just a vertical load so there is little chance of slipping off the block.
The Little Giant folding/telescoping ladders work nicely on stairs, but once again proper scaffolding would also work well.
Completely untrue, indeed the tube frame type scaffolding is indeed "one size fits all" and it can be configured to suit pretty much any situation. I've never seen, nor can I even imagine a situation where scaffolding would be "suicide" and a ladder would be safe.
Pete C.
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