Removing batons on first floor balcony

[Keitai]

Need to replace the batons on the girders (or do I?) that the decking is screwed into. It's a first floor balcony not too high though Can they be removed while standing on decking above? That way won't have to use a tower or ladder

 

[Mike13]

you can only replace them once the decking planks are lifted. It may be possible to lay down a sheet of thick ply as a work platform, but I cannot see that to be a safe way to do it. It will need to be thick ply to be safe to work on, there will be the risk of reaching over to the next beam and your work platform could tip up.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

As above, with a strong enough platform that you could screw down into the remaining existing joists (maybe 25mm plywood) that would allow you to overhang the cut ends of the deck boards. Awkward. If it's only a first floor balcony then a ladder seems safer/easier.

 

[Tigercubrider]

First off- are you allowed to?
How will you mitigate danger below the balcony while working?

I would use a scaff tower myself, safer in general if you can keep the tower safe overnight and what is below is safe.
Ladders are a last resort access.

Other way is from above but you’d need to have big sheets of ply to bridge the missing decking and presumably replace all the decking once the supports are replaced.
I have never used it but look at plastic joists under the decking which won’t rot.

 

[Keitai]

Gonna have to be ladder then. It's free standing ladder with ankalad stabiliser. Rip up old decking above then replace baton off ladder. I'll take some scaffold planks too. If baton is in good shape could leave it but feels a bit cowboyish.

Previous decking doesn't have 5mm gaps. I'd need to rip one piece for gaps to fit, worth it?

 

[robinbanks]

Can they be removed while standing on decking above?

I suppose it depends on how you feel half n halfing it- you could remove half of the boards on the right of the picture, cut and remove the "baton", fit new everything, then use that as your working platform to remove and refit the other half

If there in good condition then there may be no need to remove; just clean up and treat

Is there anyone else's property below? Would installing temporary netting to catch falling hammers etc be wise?

Regards the gapping, you could go slightly wider; how wide is the area to be covered and how wide are the boards you're proposing using ?

 

[Keitai]

I suppose it depends on how you feel half n halfing it- you could remove half of the boards on the right of the picture, cut and remove the "baton", fit new everything, then use that as your working platform to remove and refit the other half

If there in good condition then there may be no need to remove; just clean up and treat

Is there anyone else's property below? Would installing temporary netting to catch falling hammers etc be wise?

Regards the gapping, you could go slightly wider; how wide is the area to be covered and how wide are the boards you're proposing using ?

Did screwdriver test on batons and to novice they feel OK. Drove a screw into them and felt sold, maybe leave?

Think decking is standard 4 inch. 12 of them

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

They don't exactly look great, seeing as the deck's off anyway it would be a bit shortsighted not to replace them now anyway IMO.

What are those nasty looking spacers beneath the battens that are corroding nicely? They could have just been mild steel spacers, I'd guess the top of that batten in your 3rd pic was sitting flush with the top of the channel before the corrosion began, I'd be interested to see how much corrosion/if any they have caused to the steel beams, perhaps none but difficult to say for sure. The rest of the steelwork is in no danger of failing probably in our lifetime's but it is getting some surface rust which looks a bit pants.

 

[Keitai]

They don't exactly look great, seeing as the deck's off anyway it would be a bit shortsighted not to replace them now anyway IMO.

What are those nasty looking spacers beneath the battens that are corroding nicely? They could have just been mild steel spacers, I'd guess the top of that batten in your 3rd pic was sitting flush with the top of the channel before the corrosion began, I'd be interested to see how much corrosion/if any they have caused to the steel beams, perhaps none but difficult to say for sure. The rest of the steelwork is in no danger of failing probably in our lifetime's but it is getting some surface rust which looks a bit pants.

Replace metal spacers with plastic ones? Just put new batons over old metal crumbly bits with self tappers. If you haven't cut the boards the exact length, is there a trick e.g with planer to cut them while fixed down so they look equal?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Yes or better still just fit the right size battens.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

You added that last pic from above of those battens, they look completely knackered.

 

[Keitai]

You added that last pic from above of those battens, they look completely knackered.

Just updated photos above

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Something odd going on with the timeline of this thread.

Anyway as for getting the deck boards the same length you should be setting up a jig or stop block of some sort, guess it depends what type of saw you're using.

In principle though, this:

Assuming your steel frame is square of course.

 

[Keitai]

Because I've put 5mm gap between boards and previous boards were all butted up to each other can't use old final boards as templates. I'm thinking rip the board which goes on the edge so it's thinner then cut into three pieces and use the self tappers to fix them to the metal under the glass panels(there's no baton on the edge. Would this work?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Why can't you just mark up your final board with a pencil and metal rule? You have to think about all this stuff before you buy boards that leave you with a little slither or whatever.