Seeking advice on cost effective scaffold options

[kissinger]

I've got a few jobs I need to do on my house:

*Repointing mortar (including around the upper level)
*Painting a metal drainpipe that goes all the way to the gutter at the roof
*Resealing all window exteriors and painting sills

This is obviously too much to do on a ladder (for me at least), so I'm considering my options. Googling it, the cost of proper scaffolding being put up is supposedly around £900 for a week. However, I also saw one of these MiTower individual platforms for hire for at around £60 for the week. Seems like a good option.

So my question is, what would you guys do in my position? Is one of those MiTowers sufficient for the job, or is there another option I've not considered? Thanks.

 

[justigator]

Some years ago I bought an access tower similar to the one you mention, which claimed an upper platform height of up to 4.8 metres - allowing working up to whatever you could reach when standing on that; say 6 or even 7 metres. Certainly enough in theory to allow work up to the roofline of my ordinary three-floor house. See pic. From memory cost about £600. It has four adjustable stabilisers. Even so, I have hardly used it. I just found it too scary to work off, even at half-height and with stabilisers fully and firmly in place. It's perfectly strong but it wobbles, like some of my body parts. Now older, fatter and even more scared of heights, I find it even scarier - though I'm OK with proper scaffold. I have considered and may try drilling the house walls for some beefy eye hooks and lashing the tower to those, but not tried yet. Obviously your call but you could try a rental first?

 

[johnny2007]

Yes, they're good.
I rent them all the time, easy to put up and easy to dismantle.
No tools needed.

Try sab supplies, best prices and towers are like new.

 

[foxhole]

I bought steel version , £160 for roof height 6x4. When finished sold it on for £120 , so £40 for 3 years use .

 

[kissinger]

Was that a MiTower? I thought they were a lot more expensive than that? Different brand?

 

[foxhole]

Was that a MiTower? I thought they were a lot more expensive than that? Different brand?

No, cheap steel version not Ali .
Lots of secondhand on Facebook marketplace .
Example below.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I'm afraid I would no longer work on the cheap steel versions - I can't recall seeing outriggers (stabiliser legs) used on them for extra stability when working at any sort of height. From my recollection they didn't have adjustable feet, either, so you either needed a flat floor/ground, or you propped them up on something like bricks. Safe! It was also possible to grab a frame or infill bar when you were up top one of those confections and have it lift on you which is quite disconcerting (modern towers all lock together). Then what about the welds (a known failure point)? These are some of the reasons why they were banned for commercial hire or use something like 20 years ago and should all be scrapped IMHO

A neighbour had one of the DIY tower units a few years ago. In comparison to the trade rated towers I'm familiar with the platform was tiny - big enough for him, but not big enough for many tools or fixings - and being so small it severly limited the amount of wall he could work on at any one time (and continually having to move a tall, thin tower when doing a job like pointing is an absolute pain). I went up it once and TBH I just felt it was flimsy and unsafe, perhaps because I spend a percentage of my life working off commercial towers

Personally, when I need a tower I hire a double width commercial unit most of the time - 1.8 metres long x 1.2 metres wide (a single width would be about 600mm wide) gives you good stability, a good reach and a big enough platform for myself, my tools, materials and fixings - up to about 4.5 metres off the ground before I feel I need to add the outrigger stabilisers

 

[johnny2007]

Personally, when I need a tower I hire a double width commercial unit most of the time - 1.8 metres long x 1.2 metres wide (a single width would be about 600mm wide) gives you good stability, a good reach and a big enough platform for myself, my tools, materials and fixings - up to about 4.5 metres off the ground before I feel I need to add the outrigger stabilisers

Yes, those are the ones I hire.
They don't cost much more than the tiny ones, but you've got working space and don't need to move them every 5 minutes.

 

[cdbe]

I have one of those steel ones, strictly for first floor access only in my case. Fortunately I own my own set of scaffolding, currently in use for building an extension and replacing my roof. Unfortunately I don't own the knowledge of a professional scaffolder so it's a bit makeshift and slightly wobbly! But it's just for my use and I'm aware of its foibles. Living on a main road I do get plenty of feedback from passing scaffolders vans - usually along the the lines of "what the **** is that?", or "who the **** put that up?"

The left hand side is more wobbly, but it's a complicated arrangement that still allows me to get my caravan into the garage:

And for anyone wondering, yes you can fit the entire front face of a typical semi detached house roof into a large cardboard box!

 

[DiyNutJob]

Buying then selling likely to be the best option. Alum is flexy and wobbly, so the work slows down. If you want to do proper work, you have to allow for a lot more time than you imagine. You can't use them in high winds. Less of a problem if you don't go too high.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Alum is flexy and wobbly, so the work slows down.

Exactly how many years have you been using these? Trade certified scaffolding towers (i.e. BS EN 1004:2004 certified) tend to be reasonably rigid if properly assembled - not "flexy and wobbly". Certainly a lot better than the undersized DIY models out there and far better than ladders. Factors affecting rigidity include the substrate (no scaffolding works well on soft earth), the tower height, the tower width (wider is better), whether or not outrigger supports are being used and whether the tower is physically tied into the structure

If you want to do proper work, you have to allow for a lot more time than you imagine.

Really? I must have been doing it wrong, then. A double width scaff tower 2 full gates high takes about 10 to 15 minutes to erect, complete with casters and toe boards - and on the flat can be rolled between positions

You can't use them in high winds.

It would be a help if you would state what you mean by that nebulous term "high winds" instead of just waffling.

For the OPs reference, PASMA recommend that freestanding trade rated scaff towers should not be used above 27mph (Beaufort scale 6) - the same windspeed as MEWPs (cherry pickers and scissor lifts) and a lot higher speed than it would be safe to work up a ladder. TBH a lot of firms set a lower limit of 18mph (Beaufort scale 4) for all working at height operations involving large or heavy items on both mobile tower scaffolding and static scaffolding

Less of a problem if you don't go too high.

Nonesense. An off cuff remark based on what? Stability is dependent on a lot of factors, not just wind

 

[SpecialK]

Get some quotes for scaffolding?. Mine was £320 for full front roof access (10m wide). No time limit.

 

[DiyNutJob]

Nonesense. An off cuff remark based on what? Stability is dependent on a lot of factors, not just wind

Wind blows fast up high than down low. It is the gust that causes the greatest danger. Just experience.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Just experience.

Which you obviously don't have any of based on what you have written!

 

[DiyNutJob]

Which you obviously don't have any of based on what you have written!

Sounds like you are some kind of experience inspector. I was up and down one for a couple of years. I tied mine to the wall, then tied to a cross beam through the window. Then I used 2 full sets of out riggers. Then I added ballasts of filled 2 ltr cola bottles to the out riggers and the base of the tower. Only then was I ready to do slow work. Since the OP is new to it, I'd expect it will be very slow for him. He should have started sooner than this. There won't be enough time for him this year.