Our Journey North of the Border

Ouch, £5K for scaf hire. You could have bought your own Kwikstage for that and then not been pressured for time.

bought maybe, but what about erected and certified?

Ouch that’s a lot for the scaffolding! Mind you my experience with scaffolding wasn’t the best and I would have rather paid a little more after all the hassle we had with ours. Just make sure no one goes on it until the ‘ticket’ is on it if it’s not there already. 

 

Car port is looking great! 

39 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Ouch, £5K for scaf hire. You could have bought your own Kwikstage for that and then not been pressured for time.

 

Ouch indeed. There are many other "ouches" to come - Yes it is a fine balance against the economies of time and money. Throw into that equation experience and confidence and you have a heady cocktail which could go many ways!!

We are hoping for a 26 week build from start to finish and that unfortunately, comes at a premium. Fingers crossed.

St Andrews day party it is, I'll bring the fireworks ??

I paid more or less the same for 12 week hire, was playing two guys against each other until we got down to best prices. That said I wasn't savvy enough to negotiate on the 12 week hire (5% overage per week) and didn't agree any adaptions as none were anticipated.

 

Ours was two main lifts with a third table at the gable ends - about 8.5m high. It was over the exposed basement which was about 3m deep so quite a drop - wasn't brave enough to go beyond the second stage until the frame was up.

 

MBC did knock it about a bit when installing as it was too tight, much to displeasure of the scaff guys who wanted ££s to 'make safe' before takign it down. Render crew put it back right again, no trades had issues with the safety, was more like the scaff guys trying to make a few quid.

 

Of all the trades, they were the only vaguely unpleasant ones on site.

So your timber frame should be there today. All going well I hope! It’s the best time of the build IMO watching it go up. Enjoy! 

2 hours ago, Bitpipe said:

Of all the trades, they were the only vaguely unpleasant ones on site.

 

Yes @Bitpipe I have to agree, they really let the side down - bring a true meaning to the word cowboys!!

My scaffolders were criminals!! 

On 29/05/2018 at 16:31, newhome said:

My scaffolders were criminals!! 

 

So the week that I was under pressure to order the scaff, my other half was doing jury duty.

 

She obv. wasn't allowed to say anything at the time but the trial was guys from a local scaff firm who were up for burglary and receiving. 

 

Luckily I was talking to a different firm....

 

 

Our scaffolders were utter rubbish too.

 

I had to get them back twice to get the first installation right, and they argued repeatedly that I was at fault. Due to overhangs, at a couple of points the scaffold had to be stepped out from the footprint.  I gave them a clear diagram of what was needed when they quoted me, then again on their first day, and again on each day they returned to try and fix what they'd done (unfortunately, I was only able to be onsite right at the start of each day, or I'd have been able to supervise them).

 

The diagram included big letters saying "don't follow the foundation line, follow where the scaffold is shown in this drawing". I also explained to them what I needed and why, but they still repeatedly stuffed it up.

 

I ended up concluding that the owner wasn't necessarily nasty, but was almost certainly illiterate and extremely thick.

 

Most of the other trades seemed to dislike scaffolders on principle.

We had a full run put in just for the roofers and the guy who did it seemed to be running on "something" as he was so quick it was frightening..! The funniest bit was where he tried to climb down a tree instead of his own scaff or the ladder.... and missed completely ! 

My scaffolders were great.

It was like a party when they were on site. Lots of banter & fruity language.

The timber frame lorry blocked the road for about 10 mins while they craned off a large panel.

I spoke to the few car drivers that came along (quiet country lane) & they were all really pleasant except for one.

That guy was a git & had a right go.

The scaff lads saw what was happening & came to the rescue.

The site of 2 hulking chaps covered with tattoos & piercings soon shut him up.

I paid £1400 for an initial six week contract.

They had to come back to add another lift for the roofers & also the scaffolding ended staying up for 5 months longer than contracted for because of the pigging weather.

I was charged the same amount again when they bill should have been for much more.

 

 

5 hours ago, jack said:

Our scaffolders were utter rubbish too.

 

I had to get them back twice to get the first installation right, and they argued repeatedly that I was at fault. Due to overhangs, at a couple of points the scaffold had to be stepped out from the footprint.  I gave them a clear diagram of what was needed when they quoted me, then again on their first day, and again on each day they returned to try and fix what they'd done

Most of the other trades seemed to dislike scaffolders on principle.

 

Yes now the TF is going up, we too have experienced similar issues with our scaffolders - Despite having the plans they failed to take into account the overhang and ended up sawing the uprights off rather than move the entire run. On anther day they failed to turn up with a saw so I ended up hiring one for them otherwise the crane would have been held up! And if that wasn't bad enough, they leave their off cuts and rubbish all over the place ! Talking to other trades, the scaffolders generally aren't held in high esteem.

3 minutes ago, Redoctober said:

... and ended up sawing the uprights off rather than move the entire run.

 

  

Our scaffolders erected the whole lot too close to the house. They had clearly been left unsupervised because when the boss came out at the end of the day he noticed the issue. They had to dismantle it and build it again! We were on holiday but we had security cameras on and could see it going up, then coming down, and then going up again. It was like a wtf moment watching that happening remotely! 

 

At least they fixed it I guess!

With a timber frame that is being clad (with block) it is usual to use Kwikstage or Cuplock and hang a few Hop Up's on the inside for the frame erection, then remove them as the brickies build up.

 

With my own build and my own scaffold, I didn't have any hop ups. So when it came time to clad it and the scaffold was a little to close, I moved it in place. A gentle tap on each foot with a sledge hammer moves it about half an inch. Just keep moving up and down the run half an inch at a time and it's not long before you have moved a complete scaffold over 6 inches.

 

Probably not official advice "don't do this at home" but if you are as stupid as me and try it, make sure EVERYTHING is removed from the scaffold and you wear a hard hat.