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Scaffolding?

9K views 17 replies 14 participants last post by  Johhan 
#1 ·
I hate heights......and here I am doing a 2-story addition...which will require the walls to be stuccoed....so my stucco guy is going to need to get up over 20'.....

I can buy some used walk under scaffold sections....10x3 6.5'h....a couple of sections would cost me around $170...seems like a great deal....downside....I would have to move every time we move to a new section....

As of yesterday....I was given 20 planks of 2x12 boards (was used for shipping some SS tubing). I figure that if I made a frame of 2x4's properly braced and anchored to the house...I could put up walkways all around the addition...and just leave it up until all done. I figure that there is enough material there that I could make walkways 23" wide and have guard rails all around so as to not fall off...

And....my second story has a balcony....so I could use that to walk out onto the scaffolding....

Input from you guys that do this stuff for a living?
 
#4 · (Edited)
Not your job to provide the scaffolding for a hired stucco contractor. You don't want to be responsible for any accident/safety issues, and your description of some of your ideas sounds like they may be multiples of both.

The only way to get a decent job is to have a scaffolding company come out and scaffold the job so that work can flow freely across the walls without all the stop/start points you get from having to break down and set up so many times.
 
#11 ·
Thanks for the input guys.....

A bit more info.....

My 'stucco' guy is actually just a general labor guy who does really good work....used him for my garage foundation and stucco..did the addition foundation...and I will have him do the stucco when I get to that point...one of my issues is that I would need the scaffolding to be up for a couple of months.....

At this point I'll scrap the 2x12 idea and most likely just buy what I need...found a place that will sell me used walk unders 10'L x 3'W for around $80 a section...when I'm done.....I can sell them on CL and recoup most of my money...

I'm basically funding this project as I go...hence, I have to watch where the money goes...
 
#3 ·
We have a few posters on here that were full time carpenters untill they fell off of home made staging trying to save a few bucks.
$170.00 seems a whole lot cheaper then trying to live off of disability for the rest of your life.
If I showed up and that's all you had for staging was 2 X 12's I'd leave.
 
#5 ·
I have a bunch of scaffolding which I have used over the years. It is good to be able to cover a side of the project at one time, top to bottom.

Arms are a good thing. You can use these to go up and down.

I always use 2x10's. This is the only thing that will fit in the arms. Well, you could use a 2x12 and a 2x8, but that wouldn't be very practical.

You'll also want to have some material around to anchor the bottom of the scaffolding. Obviously, when working with masonry, there is some block or brick around. You want to put some weight on the back of the scaffolding down at the bottom to offset the weight of the guy up high on the front of the scaffolding.

You can also strap the scaffolding to the building if there is something to attach to.
 
#10 ·
I agree with renting it, or having the stucco guy use his own. The rental for simple 5x5 frames is suprisingly cheap in the grand scheme of things. Even better if he has his own, which he almost has to if he does this for a living. As for plank, I avoid 2x lumber at all costs as well, and prefer 19" wide aluminum/plywood combo plank on outrigger's (arms). Fastest way to change heights, and no need to work around or step over the frames the entire job.
 
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