Jump to content

Recommended Posts

It won't have escaped our collective conscience that recently it's been windy. Annoyingly so. Specially if , like me, you are scaffolding.

Feeling extra sorry for myself at the end of the DIY working day ( I'd got it wrong' more often than normal ) I was mindlessly watching YT.

And bumped into this video - Fred Dibnah. Scroll forward to 6:51 if you can bear it.

 

Did me some good that. Put some lead back in my pencil.

" Wind is the scaffolder's enemy ", said Fred. At least he had some justification for saying that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It’s crazily windy here (on the coast) much of the time. We used to have to dismantle our scaffold tower every day it was used after the bloody thing blew over one night, luckily and miraculously avoiding any damage and most importantly injury. 

 

I have such a fear of heights I can’t watch people working on the roof etc. I only went upstairs in this house a couple of times before the stairs were put in as it involved climbing a ladder! 

 

Fred is a legend! 

 

 

 

 

DAAD283B-7F75-45AA-B57F-EC57EFF66C2F.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jeez, that puts H@S into perspective, I just watched the one where Fred climbed over an overhang but my question is “ who put the ladders up?”.  I have never had a problem with heights, been a skydiver and a mountaineer in a past life but nowadays I do feel more “ cautious”.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, joe90 said:

 I have never had a problem with heights, been a skydiver and a mountaineer in a past life but nowadays I do feel more “ cautious”.

Led my first climb in a 50MPH wind, was cold as well.  Realised that a 'walky-talky' headset is not just a toy for posers.  I was shouting for ages before my mate started up the climb.

Edited by SteamyTea
  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was working in a commercial building. No glass in just a handrail around the perimeter. Another contractor was working on the 6th floor off an ali tower. They went home and left it in the centre of the floor against the lift core but forgot to lock the wheels...

 

The wind picked up overnight and blew the tower across the floor.....where it toppled over the handrail into the street.

 

It all got hushed up of course.

  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

spend 15-20 mins putting on PPE and a full body harness to climb a fackin telegraph pole.

 

thats not the issue, atleast in most cases it isnt,

the problem is the bstards that sued,  Fred knew what he was doing. Fred knew if he f*ked up he would die. hence why he didnt die from a fall.

the problem is everyone is so quick to take what they can that its not worth taking the risk 

 

its an american culture and i dont like it....

 

 

IMHO

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Construction Channel said:

 

not finding and meeting him is currently my biggest regret!

Not normally the perspective we view from BUT don't we nearly always have more regret for the things we didn't do that we could have, rather than the things we did do (however daft)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Exactly @Hecateh.

A secondary School teacher taught me that, and  it made me determined - where sensible - to know why I don't make the choices I might reasonably to have been expected to make. It reduces the level of regret for things I didn't do.

 

For example, I know why we decided to build rather than sell the plot and move. It's useful to know  because , frankly, in 2017, we really did wonder why we had started the build. But 2018 will be better. No collapses for a start.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

Guy was ( is ) a legend. 

I would pay good money to have him tear one of those OpenReach guys a new arsehole as they spend 15-20 mins putting on PPE and a full body harness to climb a fackin telegraph pole. 

:S

Yes to the first part, watched many of the TV programmes the fitsy time round.

 

Our phone line came down in the snow we had before christmas and I didn't see the Openreach men doing anything like that. The only PPE was what they were wearing when they arrived. They worked on their own and climbed a ladder to reach the top of the pole, which I understood was supposed to need 2 men, one to foot the ladder, but they didn't seem to be bothered.

 

Maybe you have taller telegraph poles in Wales!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The guy I watched climb the pole opposite my house took around 45 mins to carry out a 5 min job. 

I think the only thing he hadn't put on was fire retardant spray !

They are taller in Wales so we have somewhere to hide when the guy comes around to check our TV license :D

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I used to climb poles for the post office ( pre BT) I was always getting in trouble for, not tying the ladder to the pole, not wearing a belt( if the job was quick I just used to stand on one foot and wrap the other leg around the pole), the best one was my ladder was not long enough to reach a house facia once so I parked my commer van on the pavement and put the ladder up from the roof of the van ( it was safe because the ladder rested against the ladder rack) my boss came round the corner and just stood there with his mouth open?.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Two local builders where I grew up,Geoff & ‘Mole’-Geoff was the brains & decided if they had two jobs requiring a ladder,they’d go to Mole’s job (a re-roof),Mole would get up there with his tools & lunch & Geoff would then take the ladder to his job :))

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had to repair the roof on our former rental house. So I had a section of Kwikstage up and my roof ladder up on the roof. I left the roof ladder there overnight (though not the ladder to get up the scaffold)

 

I cam back next day and pondered why the roof ladder was was not on the roof, but leaning against the scaffold.Surely it had not been that windy?  Then I noticed the roof ladder was covered in paint.  The cheeky blighters a few doors down were painting the outside of a house and decided it would be okay to borrow my roof ladder without asking to paint the bit of gable end where the terrace was staggered.

  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, newhome said:

Jesus - should have been wearing brown trousers!! :o;)

The fact that as I am getting older I occasionally stagger on a flat floor???

 

What intrigued me though was, How the &*&*& he got up there?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...