I need to (eventually) tape and bed sheetrock on the ceiling of the place I'm renovating. I looked at Home Depot and they have a 6' steel scaffolding on wheels (I hope the wheels are lockable) for $199. Anyone have any experience with this item or have a better suggestion? The sheetrock is about 13' off the deck.
Mike
We have places that rent it here, not sure where you are but it may be better equipment and more cost effective.
What's wrong with a drywall lift?
+1
How does a drywall lift help him tape and mud drywall that is 13' feet off of the deck?
HD probably rents it too. I had a great room that needed painting. I was surprised that the painter I hired rented the scaffolding. Sounds like the type the OP is talking about, it was on rolling wheels that locked. It comes down to cost, how much other use he'd have for it, and storage.
We have the scaffolding that looks like this:
I'm not sure how many years we've had it, but it's come in handy for various projects, plus, it disassembles fairly easy and doesn't need too much space to store.
I checked at one of our local HD's last night and their drywall lifts only go to 11 ft. But, any of the 6 or 8 other "equipment rental" places in town have 15' units: You'll have to decide ahead of time if you're going to stick with 12' panels or feel ambitious enough to tackle 16 ft! :> (personally, I stuck with
8' panels as they "fit" the ceiling/wall space I was doing much better -- less cutting)Be wary of the Harbor Freight lifts -- they are pretty flimsy. You can visibly see the difference in quality between one of these and a "pro" lift (from an equipment rental place).
If you opt for scaffolding, note you'll still need to lift the drywall up *to* that level. Drywall is heavy and bulky. Nothing worse than getting a sheet up -- only to see you've buggered the edges (and will now be trying to patch them "upside down").
If you rent, make sure you allow enough time for the job. Unless you've done this before, it will take you a lot longer than you expect! :<
Invest in a (electric) drywall screwdriver -- it will pay for itself almost immediately! Practice with the stilts before you put yourself in a situation where you "can't risk falling".
If you have a bad back, be extra wary -- it's really easy to twist the "wrong way" when you're working "upside down".
Have you thought about what sort of texture you'll apply? ("smooth" requires a LOT of skill!)
Have fun!
Using stilts for 13' ceiling might be rather interesting.
This video shows "double stilts" used for a 12' ceiling. The OP would need stilts that are another foot taller than these:
That is not a height I would want to fall down from.
A lift is what I plan to use to get the sheet rock up to the ceiling. I'm not aware you can tape and bed from a lift.
Mike
stilts
Don Y appears to have missed the 13' part of your post.
You'd need stilts like these or taller.
Mike, I used six foot wide scaffold frames that came in 3', 5' and 8' tall sections. You can get scaffolding like this from Home Depot or Lowes, or a reputable builders supply. I like this kind of scaffold because you can stack them or extend them to suit your project. This scaffold is rentable as well.
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