DIY: Towers/Scaffolding

[the snail]

I'd get a quote for scaffold, unless you can do it comfortably off a tower without moving it. By the time you've hacked off, fixed beads, scratch-coated and finished, if you have to keep moving the tower it will be a real PITA.

 

[KneesUp]

I've hired access towers 5 or 6 times in the last 10 years - it's less than £100 a go even if you get it delivered, and you don't have to find anywhere to store it for the vast majority of the time you aren't using it. Plus you don't have to worry about it being nicked in between uses, and you get proper high-spec stuff.

Just hire a tower - you'd need to use it a lot to save any money. I've just dug up the invoice from the place I last hired from and it was £25 a week for a 4.2m working height platform plus £10 delivery and £10 collection.

 

[Cuchilo]

Ive just done a job that needed a tower and looked into buying one . As said , the cheaper ones are rubbish and i wouldnt use one . In the end i hired a boss youngman for a week . £70 from selco . It was a no brainer .
Make sure its the wider one if you do hire it as the thinner ones are also rubbish .

 

[Drago]

In the end i hired a boss youngman for a week .

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C2hgAsi8Ae4

 

[Beebo]

Have you considered platform soles or stilts?

 

[berty bassett]

towers have their place but if you are doing much work up there then i would get it scaffolded
even if your good with heights it is a little nerve racking on a tower - if you are standing at 4mt you are close to gutter height
towers move and the more you move the more they move - it can feel like surfing at height !
if you do decide tower then i would tie it to something secure at top
cherry pickers you get fed up of being caged in and bars in the way
scaffold is a solid safe platform
until you have stepped back onto a tower after being on a roof and felt it start moving outwards - you don't know how much you value solid ground

 

[Adam4868]

It depends on the job your doing aswell,i did a smallish rendering job of a tower and swore i wouldnt again ! To hard trying to lump buckets of morter up a tower,where maybe if it was something else,bit of painting ect it could be handy.

 

[Tin Pot]

Hmm.

I’ve not yet got the ruler out, but the “5m” tower only elevates you 3m off the ground, and I think I need 4m minimum.

The next tower up doubles the price from ~£250 to nearly £500

 

[Deleted member 26715]

This was my 50th birthday present from my wife, hiring this scaffolding, cost £180 but well worth it.

Gave good access to this

 

[Col5632]

Having worked on both I would say hire scaffolding if you plan on doing a good bit of work, even a decent tower moves around and is a pain to get stuff up and down.

 

[Cuchilo]

Two lifts to get me to gutter level around here costs £800 to hire scaffold . Thats just for the front of the house .

 

[Deafie]

Bite the bullet and spend the money on a professional scaffold, as said before, you'll save time and be comfortable and safe. I wouldn't be caught dead on one of those DIY jobbies....... near by maybe!

 

[cosmicbike]

Scaffold every time, the mobile towers wobble too much for me. Cherry pickers are good if you have good access, but be aware the mainstream hire companies may want you to be IPAF licenced prior to hire.
If you do get scaffold built, make sure it's tagged (ScafTag) once put up...