Timber scaffold

[Jase222]

Need to do some fascias on my house and pricing for a alloy tower is coming in excess of 300quid, I could make a scaffold out of timber but worried about any jobsworths neighbours
I was wondering if there is any reqs on
timber scaffold like steel or alloy and basically what's to stop me

 

[Rorschach]

Nothing to stop you doing that if you want. Is it worth it though? How much timber would you need for a solid scaffold?

 

[MikeG.]

I've done it (more than once), but I'd never put the photos on the internet in case someone else copied, didn't make it so well, and had an accident. I suggest you pay particular attention to racking, and to lateral stability (in other words, have some diagonal braces and some props). You can do whatever the hell you want with your own personal safety without interference from laws, rules, or regulations. Just don't for a second think of allowing anyone else anywhere near it.

 

[powertools]

Can you not still buy cheap metal scaffold towers?

 

[custard]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhhjqDWf95E

 

[Jase222]

I used those metal towers a lot and hate them and I got enough timber and ply and 30years a chippy all the time in the world!

 

[Bm101]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhhjqDWf95E

Works well obviously. Bit derisory really when 'Western World' (not you or your post of course, the inevitable tabloid tone of the video) screams HnS! that's not how we do it! etc and these fellas have been doing it forever. Literally. I work at height every day and I'd be more than comfortable to trot around on that all day long. Would worry me far less than some steel scaffolds I've been on in the past erected by fellas without the brains they were born with. Not all by a stretch but enough to be noticeable. One of the few UK trades that culturally seems to still encourage being a bit of a div tbh. Just my personal experience. Sure it will bring the wrath down on me but there you go.
Far as I know you are welcome to kill yourself in any way as long as you don't promote the endangerment of anyone else on your own private property and you also take any reasonable measures to prevent endangerment. This might be as little as indicating an exclusion zone if you are working over an area where a postman might need to walk on your property for example to reasonably do his job.
Good luck. Personally I'd buy a little tower then sell it after. We are all different.

 

[Rorschach]

Crack on with it then.

 

[johnnyb]

I hired a scaffold tower with a 4.2 m platform for £28 plus vat. For a week. Just remember the 2 rung frames go at the bottom! Or you don't have enough handrails at the top. Through the trap door is the way. Or advanced gaurd rail is another style of tower.

 

[Trevanion]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W_7uIapoHc

I know it's not quite the same but the same principles apply really.

 

[Stanleymonkey]

Hiring seems cheap.

As others have done - I have bought a basic scaffold tower online. Used it for a year or two and sold it on. If you make some handy platforms with trapdoors - you might even sell it on for a bit more once you are finished with it.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

I bought some second hand scaffolding tubes, clamps and boards, having studied the design rules used by professional scaffolders plus some Googling.

I put up and take down my own scaffolding on my own property but I won't allow anyone else on it (even if they wanted to!).

The cathedrals of Britain were built using wooden scaffolding (life was cheaper then), but I much prefer steel.

Whatever you do, diagonal cross-bracing in (at least!) two dimensions is critical to success.

Best of luck, W2S