Working up high
My faux colonial house has a one-story garage with gable roof attatched to a two-story-plus-attic endwall. If you look at that side, you see a big rectangle with a triangle gable behind a little rectangle with a triangle gable. How do I reach the house end wall to do some repair/caulking/painting way up at the top? Clearly I can’t stand my extension ladder on the garage gable roof. I can’t visualize putting scaffolding up either– how would I get it braced and level? But there must be some simple answer. (My husband suggests rapelling off the chimney.) Help!
Thank you!
Replies
Rent a boom lift. Delivered to the site for free they run about $120/day and are drivable from the bucket. Heavier machines may damage lawns but this can be limited by ripping 3 or 4 pieces of 1/2" ply or, possibly the only use I have for it, OSB and laying down a path.
Careful scheduling, doing all you can on the ground and having all tools and materials on hand should allow you to complete the project in one rental day. Ask about the boom lengths available, one foot short is bad but 10 feet too long is OK, and consider getting one that gives enough room for two people. Make sure the load capacity is adequate for everything at the offset desired.
This is simple for those that are used to it, and hairy for those that aren't, but you can run a plank off of ladder jacks. You need good equipment to walk away from this, and someone to go onto the staging when it it set up. If hubby wants to be tied to a rope he is the wrong guy.
The manlift is a good idea, but I will be renting all my lifts offa 4lorn because they charge $90 a move and over $200 per day for rent. A 40 foot lift should do the trick, and you would have a blast with it. Ok, maybe. I remember one painful homeowner that I offered a ride to. When I had the lift on site he had all sorts of ideas of what to do with it, so I said hop on and let's go see. The devil in me made me send it straight up in the air, and I thought I was going to lose him. The wicked devil in me made me wiggle it a bit when we were all the way up. I'm am not always in tune with others feelings, but I am saying "hey, look at the views", and he is going "where am I going to find some fresh shorts"
I have seen roof brackets that accept pipe staging used by masons for chimbly work.
If I remember correctly they straddle the ridge.
Any one know what I am talking about?
T
Do not try this at home!
I am a trained professional!
Most of the rental houses around here have towable manlifts. you drive your pickup there and tow it home. Most are fairly light duty, with limited basket capacity they don't seem to damage dry firm lawns any more than driving a car on the lawn will.
Many options Sarah.
First off, you could use pipe scaffolding. Errect scaffolding on each side of the garage walls and set a long, aluminum (pic) stage onto the pipe scaffolding. Pipe scaffolding is fairly cheap to rent ( approx. $11 a set per week) and the supplier can rent you leg levelers so that scaffold will sit level on irregular ground. (Sounds like you would need a minimum of 3 sets of pipe scaffolding or "bucks" as they are called; set up 3 on each side, to reach over the top of the garage roof.) You can also use wood blocks of different thicknesses placed under each leg if you like for leveling off purposes. NEVER set up pipe scaffolding without setting blocking under each leg; this helps distribute the weight and keeps the legs from digging into the soft ground and possibly shifting or toppling over.
Second, ladder jacks and a long pic also does the same thing. These are a bit risky.
Third, pump jacks with a pic is essentially the same as the first 2 methods.
Four, a rented manlift will easily and safely do the job; providing you know how to safely operate one. The main thing is that the lift needs to sit on fairly level ground, and you the operator need to keep the bucket ( actually the entire machine) from getting too close to any power lines; electrocution is possible if you get tangled up into these lines. Cost in my area is approx. $150 per day, and the supplier delivers the machine.
Fifth and finally....a solution no one has dared to suggest...hire a professional painter to come in and do your maintenance work and let him/her worry about the staging requirements. It may turn out to be the best alternative when figuring out your associated rental costs plus your time involved. I'm sure your local painters would agree with this suggestion.
Just a thought!
Davo
Our mason has a great system for scaffolding on a roof. He has two boards (2x8x12) that are hinged at the top. Two sets of these are draped over the ridge. They just sit there. On these planks he can build a level platform that is completely solid but is not fastened to the roof. He will often cover the roof with a tarp prior to setting his over the ridge planks, thus preventing mortar stains or in your case paint drips. He usually sets pipe scaffolding on his level platform but you could work off a ladder. He can set this up in about an hour with a helper. It will take you all day.