I’m at a point where I need to purchase more scaffolding or further consider switching to the alumapole and jack system which I like the concept of a lot. However, a large portion of my business is rebuilding cornice/built in gutters. It seems most of the pole and jack system’s connection at the top makes it tough to set up chest high to the eave. I’m also often working under slate, tile and metal roofs. Anybody know any top connection tricks they’d like to share?
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if Mike Smith don't pop in ...
send him an invite ...
Jeff
Buck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
Yeah, his reply to the guy doing the cedar/flashing on his gable was the inspiration for this thread. I didn't want to hijack that one.
What about it, Mike? Got any fancy tricks?
well.. we did take two of our arms and weld extensions to them so we could set them on the roof...
we have also nailed 2x4 outriggers to the roof and attached the arms to those
if you are working real high.. you can set intermediate arms UNDER the pics to give more stability..
we fasten to sidewall.... cornice... and roof.. if you can imagine it , you can do it
most of the time our poles are about 24" off the vertical wall...but sometimes we set up so the can bypass a cornice extension
we use wall jacks, pipe staging , ladder jacks, trestles and alum-a-pole..
i guess 60% of our staging time is alum-a-pole
the neat thing is.. once you are set up you have a 20" sidewalk..to stand on.. and a 14" or 20" bench to use as a work bench..
you can also use the safety net for material storage.
and you can adjust the height infinitely to get the best and most efficient wok ht.Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
hey Mike ...
have U seen the new Qual Craft Ultra Jack?
just curious how they stack up against the alumapole stuff ...
"stack up" .. get it! we're talking about scaffolding and such ...
and I said ... stack ..... ahh .. forget it .....
JeffBuck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
Mike ...
not that I have any official idea how much weight the regular old 2x and pump jacks can hold ...
but ...
how much more would ya say the alamapole system can hold?
Not talking the pic ...
but like today ... we pushed the limits and lifted a big fixed pane window up about 14 ft or so .... had to keep the poles in tight ... so the weight was held better by the pick ... and .. the guy's pumping could also have a hand hold on the window as we rode up.
on the way home ... saw a house wrapped with the alamapole stuff ...
couldn't help thinking that woulda been an easier ride to take?
U guys ever ride a big window or set of doors up and in?
JeffBuck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
jeff.. you met roy.... and jim.. make you look kinda small , no ?
anyways.. 2 poles.. a 24' pic.. a roy, a jim , a mike.. a scott.. and a 4high x 6'wide triple casement with a 6' circle top over...
no sweat....
i spent 20 years on pump jacks.. and 10 on alum-a-pole... number of days i'll spendon pump jacks in the future.... zero.. they suck..
and qual -craft looks like alum-a-poles poor cousin...
haven't seen their new offering yet though... notice.. Homer sells qual-craft..
alum-a-pole won't sell to them... what does that tell you?
me.. i have no idea what that means... except it's hard to ignore HD if you are a mfr.Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
on the subject of alumapole, i sent away for all of their litature and basically just received sales pamphlets and no pricing, now there is nothing i dislike more than not at least getting a price sheet, the "call for pricing" always turns me off, especially for something that lends itself to pricing per peice, i know that the salesman for them has a price sheet, why will they at least put a suggested price on their units.
james
James,
I went to the Alum-a-pole website. They have no pricing. I agree that they should be willing to advertise their pricing.
Does Alum-a-pole sell direct or through dealers? Mike K
Amateur Home Remodeler in Aurora, Illinois
they sell only thru dealers...
i can buy from about 10 different dealers in my area..
one is a tool store (Quaker Lane) another is a roofing supply.. M& J
another is a staging company... Cape Cod Staging..
you can also buy them used.. which is what i 'd recommend.. you can get repair and upgrade parts for alloff itMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
after receiving their info packet i figured that may be the case, but it included a sales person's card. I am having a hard time finding a retailer here on the west coast, looking about at job sites here you will be hard pressed to even find pump jacks, most staging is done with pipe scaffold or ladders. I am in a very urban area ( san francisco ) .
anyone out there know of a west coast distrubuter of these things?
james
hey, if my butt is up there next week...go for it. I'll even chip in..we'll work it out. I hate wood poles.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
I've found tons of pricing on the net ...
just search.
Ebay will have new and used from time to time also ...
even if ya don't ebay it ... good way to guage the prices ...
thinking maybe even Tool Crib thru Amazon carries the stuff too?
I know I've seen whole set up's thru one of the big mail order places ...
or .. find local and shop local. Shouldn't be too hard.
JeffBuck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
ok .. ya sold me.
I hear tell half the neighborhood has the same disintergrating window problem that my current customers have ... know for a fact the lady next door does as she just told me!
So now all I gotta do is line up 3 in a row .... and have those jobs help pay for my new "used" alumapole set up ....
btw, Mike ... I'm mad at myself and U should be too ...
on reframe and set window day ... I forget the cam at home ...
woulda made for one sweet photo sheet to show everyone else in the neighborhood what's going on inside their walls too! Coulda showed all that hidden rot ...
and how it can be surgically removed and repaired ... real quick like ...
then sheeted over to be better than new. I was really bummed ....
one pic ... thou words ... that sorta thing. Oh well ...
JeffBuck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
the neat thing is.. once you are set up you have a 20" sidewalk..to stand on.. and a 14" or 20" bench to use as a work bench..
you can also use the safety net for material storage.
and you can adjust the height infinitely to get the best and most efficient wok ht.
Yeah, all that is what appeals to me. What I can't figure out (and I haven't handled the hardware) is how to set it up so I can work on box gutter ( I need to be chest high or higher to the top of the cornice) without having to crawl under the braces. I've got to connect the tops of the poles to finished roofs (slate or tile often - asphalt and metal I can figure out). Can I connect to the wall just below the pics (right below the cornice) and not above? Bear in mind, most of the structures I work on are masonry, not frame. I'd have to bet my life (or actually, my guy's lives) on tapcons or something similar. Any ideas?
green.... the slate roof ....
i think you have to decide if you want to remove two slates to give yourself anchor points ( or is it one top and two bottom to get at the roof deck ? ).. ok so 6 slates for each arm..
12 slates gives you 24' of work area.... 18 slates gives you 48' of work area..
unless you have a little bit of wood between the bottom of the roofing and the top of the gutter... then you could make up a piece that fastens to that ..
i don't think you can work the pole ABOVE your top arm... first , you could never get it there..
another thing you could try is anchoring to the masonry joints right under the freize boards below the cornice with tapcons..
MOST of the force is into the building.. not pulling away... but ,yes.. every 24' or so you will have to duck under the arm...
ain't no such thing as a free lunch , is there ?Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
unless you have a little bit of wood between the bottom of the roofing and the top of the gutter... then you could make up a piece that fastens to that ..
That's the problem. I normally have to remove the bottom 2-3 courses of the roofing material to get at the old built in gutter liner and install the new metal. This puts my connection point 2' or so inside of the wall. I often encounter soffit widths of 28" plus. Add to that the distance the poles need to be away from the building (width of the pic) to provide work area. This gets us to around 7' length connectors. Is this doable?
Earlier Mike (I think it was Mike) wrote a key point regarding pump jack or alumapole type staging...that the loads from the staging actually result in the stand-off arms pushing into the building, instead of pulling away.
You can fabricate standoff arms as long as you want...just make them stiff enough so they don't flex in compression when the staging is "pushed" against the house.
When possible, I also like to tie the ends of the arms together with a cross piece, making a triangle out of the two arms and the crosspiece. The ends of the arms are attached to the cross piece and the arms and/or cross piece is attached to the house.
Sometimes attachment points on the house for just plain old naked standoff arms aren't in the most convenient places, and the cross piece allows you to get the lateral spread you need on the arms for stability, plus the attachment points on the house for security.
Depending on the type of siding on the house and the location of the attach points, I've sometimes padded the crosspiece with a strip of old carpet to keep it from marring the siding.
Mike,
When you lap two pics to get 48', can you avoid having the 5" step up where one sits on the other?
Jon Blakemore
I can answer that. The pics are proprietary and hook onto the jacks butted end to end.
http://www.pro-trim.com/product.asp?ID=68&nPage=1
I invented funk.
You can go above the top stand off bracket using wooden poles and traditional pump jacks. It will take a little longer to set up, is all.
probably will get flack for this but we slide the two handles inside ?side by side?and slide a wrecking bar through the hand holes.as long as they are both on the jack and tied off wheres it gonna go
Great point. Doesn't scare me in the least.
Jon Blakemore