Hi folks,
I’m going to reside my 2 story + full attic home, and I’m wondering about the best way to do this puppy solo. My first thought is to use scaffolding, but the local places won’t rent to you unless you promise to not go more than 2 sections high. After that, you’re supposed to tie into the house for safety. I can guess how to do that, but I don’t really know.
My second thought is to use a stick boom or scissors lift to get up high, but this is expensive and may not be the best way.
My third thought is to have 2 long ladders with scaffolding between them, but I’ve never used a setup like that before.
So, I’m looking for ideas, experience, books, you name it. I’d prefer to stay alive throughout this project.
Thanks,
Tom
Replies
Tom,
Ladder jacks. Cheap, you already have the ladders. Buy 2 with a walk board. You could also use pump jacks but for one job I would do ladderjacks. DanT
Rent the scaffold...find out how to tie it off securely.
Ladder jacks don't give you a nice work surface. You sound new to this....get as much solid under your feet as possible.
And scaffold give you a nice place to lay the siding..across the top rails.....as you work and cut. Having a helper to just hand up the siding will make a world of difference. Last siding job I did was at my Dad's.
Me....Dad(73) and my wife were the weekend crew. I was up top.....Dad was the cut man......and knew which pieces to hand to the wife.....wife was the "hand-er upp-er".
Went well. Here's a tip......rope with a clip. Either to clip to the bucket which the ground help fills with small tools/nails/ etc.....water bottle.....beer later in the day...
Or to wrap around the pieces that can't be handed up.
Jeff
Buck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
TomD
Siding solo....I've been there and done that...on my own 2 story house. NEVER AGAIN! Too hard. An extra set of hands will go a loooooong way in making your job go smoother and faster.
Beg, borrow, or (here's a thought) hire someone to help you with this job. That person can be the "cut man" and for the most part can stay on the ground while you relay measurements to him. Better yet, GET 2 PEOPLE to assist you...one stays on ground as cut man, other works up high installing with you. The money you spend for this "team" will more than offset the the aggravation and countless hours of drudgery that you will bear if working solo.
Pump jacks not really a good idea as platform is not very wide, and you will continually be walking across plank so as to raise or lower each pump jack...slooow going that way. Plus, if you are unsure as to how to tie- in simple scaffolding, I bet you haven't got a clue how to secure the tops of the pump jack uprights either?
Ladder jacks would be fairly good route to take. Ladder jacks will run you approx $90 plus cost of plank or aluminum pick...(a 14 inch wide X 12 foot aluminum pick runs around $225). BUT, as with pump jacks, not much working room ( or standing room for that matter) on a ladder jack. If you go this route, make sure your ladders are "heavy duty" and rated for this kind of work.
As Jeff Buck mentioned, scaffolding would probably be your best bet. You can plank the entire top of the scaffold to give you a 4 foot wide work surface if you want. To save costs, you could erect a scaffold "tower" at each end of the wall and span the distance in the middle with a large (rented) aluminum pick. You still need to tie off the scaffolding, and perhaps run a safety rope for added measure. Errecting scaffolding solo is also hard work. I've been there and done that more times than I can count...but it is always EASIER , FASTER, and SAFER if errecting scaffolding with a helper or helpers.
Nomatter what...in each of these circumstances, if you go solo, you will be spending a lot of time climbing up and down. By day 2, your legs will be screaming STOP! STOP!
Best advice...get some helpers PERIOD!
People tend to think that it may take them twice as long to complete a project when working solo, but the sad fact is is that it takes at least THREE TIMES as long if not more; when working solo. John Carrol wrote a book about how to work solo and use certain clamps and holding devices for assistance...but I bet if you ask him point blank if he would turn down assistance from a helper if available, his reply would be something like "Certainly not...I'll use all the help I can get whenever I can get it."
Take my advice...get help.
Davo
Edited 4/3/2003 9:10:03 PM ET by Davo
I did fibercement on my two-car garage solo and am doing same on my two-story house w/ full attic solo. Everything that was said about getting help and scaffolding I can wholeheartedly agree with. I used 60" wide frames as the base and went up with 30" frames.
Renting scaffolding is cheap insurance - 6 frames & braces, 3 aluma-planks, 6 screw-jacks - $60/month.
I'll be doing this myself in a couple months.
I've already got the scaffolding (one of my better investments in this project).
I saw an interesting helper tool in FHB this last issue: It's a clamp to hold the other end of a clapboard - seems to clip over the preceeding course.
Can't recall specifically where in the issue it is, but I'll be looking for it myself, soon.
-TJ
Current issue #154...pg 44. The Labor Saver. http://www.thelaborsaver.com Do it right, or do it twice.
Isn't this vinyl siding we are talking about?
TJ mentioned fiber cement siding and asked about the tool.Do it right, or do it twice.
I used to side triple-deckers in Worcester, Mass back when I was in collij. Worked solo almost all the time.
I used pumpjacks.
I'd usually tie a whole box of siding, vertically, to one of the staging poles. Made it easy to pull whole pieces as required when I was up high. I'd usually run several rows, then climb down to do the cuts fr the end pieces for those rows.
When was u in collige, and where? I worked in Worcester in the mid 70's, lived in Spencer. I had forgotten about triples...that was not my style of living. Most oif them seemed run down and dreary.
Do it right, or do it twice.
Edited 4/4/2003 7:47:06 PM ET by ELCID72
Grew up in W. Boylston.
Started colij at U Lowell (now UMass/Lowell), transferred to WPI after freshman year. Grajewated, then grad skool just outside of Bahstin. Finished in '83
Used to go to 4-H horse camp out in Spencer.
My brother lives in a 3-decker in Warchestah, he keeps hinting about me coming up and "helping him with a few things." His definition of a "few things"? Electrical, plumbing, roofing, new porches, and siding.
He says that most are indeed in sad shape and generate few taxes for the city. He thinks Worcester has a game plan to try to knock a few neighborhoods over and replace the triples with $$$$ properties.
I started doing vinyl siding when it was made out of aluminum....lol..and thats all I did for about four years full time on three story houses in Queens NY over concrete driveways (not that dirt would feel any softer if I fell).
LAdder brackets and an aluminum plank would be quite safe and cheap. You could rent the plank. Its a pain in the arse though.
Pump jacks arent all that expensive espeically if you just buy one pair and use 22 foot straight 2x4's for your poles. BAck in the day (before I bought aluminum poles) I would nail a cleat to the house halfway up the wall and screw a horizonal piece of 2x4 from it to the pole to the house to keep the pole ridgid, or you could spring for two extra braces to use halfway up. From there you use the ladder to get down.
You should easily be able to sell the equiptment when youre done. Post a 4 sale sign in your siding suppliers yard. Siding contractors always need a cpl a more jacks. If you lived near me I'd give you a pair to use. LI NY
Be safe
Namaste
andy
"Understanding yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth"
Alan Watts
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Thank you to everyone for your generous responses. I'm continuously gladdened by the way people freely share their knowledge. It's so... not capitalist.
Just one more question really, I'm wondering how I'd tie the scaffolding into the house when I'm putting siding up. Seems that the siding and ties would interfere with each other, yes?
Tom
Try and start or end a panel where the vinyl ties near the support bracket point. Vinyl is real flexable so you can stop nailing it a couple of feet from the tie in point if necessary and let the bottom of a panel just float over the bracket until youre done then go back after your scaffolds are down with a ladder and pop the siding in to the top of the panel below with the heal of your hand and where you possibly couldnt nail use a cpl of aluminium trim nails into the face with a hit of silicone over the head the color of the siding. Just dont nail the finish nails to tightly...just enough to keep it secured to the sheathing (in an inconspicuous place such as under the area that snaps together).
Have fun and let us know how it goes.
Be nailed
NAmaste
andy
"Understanding yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth"
Alan Watts
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
How do you use the middle brace when you are on a finished house. What about a brick house. I'd like to nail off in the middle, but it always seems a big inconvenience. Even on vinyl, where would you nail it.
rhodes
Use cross bracing to the ground if you feel uncomfortable without a center brace..one on each side and one to the opposite side of the house......a sort of tri brace.
I spent many years with just one brace on the roofand dbl 2x4 poles but I'm not advacating that system.
My guys used to call me The Scaffold King..... You should only see the systems I set up ....going up three, four stories.
My honest answer is.....Look the situation over ad use common sense. Be creative yet be beyond cautious........thats what building is all about.
Orrrrrrrrr pay to have a company set you up........in which case you shouldn't be up there IMO.
I spent decades up in the air and setting up scaffolding system on my own.....
The most important thing in my eyes is feeling in control...all situations are different.
the Japanese use bamboo scaffolds on giant buildings in major cities.
BE in charge of your own safety
Namaste
andy
"Understanding yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth"
Alan Watts
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
I'm making the assumption this is a DIY project and you don't this for a living. Every time I talk to someone exploring unknown territory such as this venture, I feel compelled to point out to that person the inherrent dangers of hanging off a building painting, installing siding, or whatever, and the effect on their primary livelihood.One fall, awkward move , or stain can put you in pain, the hospital or worse. Better to hire someone with the proper equipment, insurance, and skill to do an efficent ,satisfactory job. You owe that to your loved ones and significant others. Consider it an investment in your future. But, if you are dedicated to the idea, err on the side of safety and get as much under you as possible; meaning ,get scaffolding with a safety rail at 42". Also, I highly recommend a lifeline strung between the scaffolding and a climbing harness with a lanyard to save your a$$ when you fall. Any work over six feet should use it. Attaching the lanyard to the life line, allows you to walk back and forth to work. Spend some on how to safely do the job before you launch into it. Just my $0.02 worth.
Thanks for the safety heads up. It's true that I'm a DIY guy in this department, but a few years of roofing when I was in my 20's and lots of years rock climbing have given me a healthy appreciation for the effects of gravity and the hardness of the ground. While I'm quite comfy in high places, I want to make sure that the equipment I set up is always as secure as possible. I can't always depend on my former cat-like agility. It's a little more cow-like these days.
Andy's post made reference to a tie in point, a bracket. I'm assuming here that what people do is securely fasten in an L bracket of some sort and tie into that. Is there an official bit of equipment that people use, or are we talking about just using whatever makes you happy, from metal strapping to angle iron?
Tom
W/O being there to see the setup, all I say is sheer conjecture. However, I like eye -bolts or lag screws through a framing member. F'rinstance, a look-out under the soffet. You will be covering that anyway so a hole or two won't hurt. Or a 2x4 transversing inside an open window. You could consider "A' bracing nailed to stakes . Just keep it from tipping is all. I subcontract all that work. I just design/sell the job , supervise the help, and collect the fee. I'm too old to do all I know how to do. Besides, how can I play golf if I hurt myself on the job? Priorities,priorities! Good luck!
Hi Tom.
If you are going to use scaffolding, set it on top of either 12 inch square blocks ( 3/4 plywood and 1/4 inch luan for leveling purposes works well) or lay planking on the ground first and set up on top of planking...the idea being you want to spread out the weight of your pipe scaffolding so the pipe doesn't sink into soft ground. IF setting up on a concrete surface, skip this step.
As for tie-ins, many different ways. ) If going higher than 2 "bucks" (10 feet), tie-in at the 3rd buck level, and every 10 to 12 feet high above this level. You can wrap rope around the pipe scaffolding and tie this rope off to an existing porch column, or something solid ( DON'T TIE-OFF TO A GUTTER!)...or as earlier suggested, tie to a 2X4 which in turn is positioned horizontally behind a window/door opening (make sure 2X4 is long enough so as not to work loose. You can even deck your scaffold with scaffold plank (cleat your plank at both ends so plank can't slip off pipe), and then nail a 2X4 to this platform , and nail the other end of the 2X4 to a wooden cleat that you nailed onto your house.
You can also nail this 2X4 "cleat system" on the underside of your platform deck instead; so as not to interfere as a tripping hazard. (Example...set up 4 plank on top deck....cut two 2x4s long enough to span the width of the planking. Nail these 2x4 "cleats" underneath the planking at each end....now measure distance from house wall to planking. Cut two 2x4s this length plus extra length for attaching to underneath cleats. Attach to plank cleats, and attach other end to cleats attached to wall of house. A wood type tie-n such as this will prevent the scaffolding from moving outward or inward. Rope tie-offs normally prevent scaffolding from moving outward only ( which in most cases, is your only worry; but not always).
You can also use a pipe muffler bracket to secure a 2X4 to the legs of a pipe scaffold. Then again, nail off the protruding end of the 2X4 to a cleat already attached to the house.
These are just a few examples.
Of course, I'm sure others will volunteer their methods as well.
Davo