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How Long’s Your Scaffold Been Up


Triassic

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My insulated concrete is complete and the timber frame company is doing a final measure up on Thursday.

 

Next I need to get some prices for scaffolding, from what people are saying it’s not going to be cheap. One thing I’m unsure about is how long I’ll need the scaffold for?

 

How long did you have your scaffolding for? Any other hints or tips regarding scaffolding?

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Some scaffolders will charge for installation, adjustments, and a fixed period (3-4 months from memory), but not charge anything for extensions of even several weeks.

 

Around here (South East England), it's more common to have an initial period, and then a weekly charge after that. I think ours might have been 5% per week. In the end we went over by so many months that I asked to renegotiate the deal and he said to just stop paying and not worry about it!

 

I think we had it for about 7-8 months in the end, but that was a bit unusual because of the trouble and delays we had getting the brick slips done, and then we held on for a bit to get the PV up.

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I had a fair quantity of kwikstage that got supplemented for 3 weeks with a full run of standard stuff at £800. That was for 45m at single lift plus 2 gables. If you are DIY and want flexibility then kwikstage is worth every penny. 

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i found some companies didn't mind so much how long it was up (I guess because they have more stock) and fortunately for me I asked for longer than usual (6 months - but I was just reproofing/dormering) So make sure you shop around..

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Ours was up for 5 months but it came down a bit earlier than planned as there was an accident on it (details on this forum). The HSE got involved and slapped a prohibition notice on it and it turns out that the crook of a scaffolder had never insured it here. The day the accident happened he rushed over and put a ‘ticket’ on it dated that day and said that he hadn’t signed it off to be used before then. It had been up a couple of months by then and erected it just before the frame was due. He knew when we were needing it! We didn’t know that it should have had a ticket on it to note that it was insured but that’s one thing to watch out for. Ironically I had suggested buying scaffolding but the OH said that he wanted to use a registered company due to the safety aspect. There wasn’t much wrong with the scaffolding (a few clips missing IIRC) so that was corrected and the HSE allowed it to be used again pretty quickly. The scaffolder then slapped us with a massive bill for ongoing use beyond a certain number of weeks on a per week basis so we had to rush and get it down as soon as we could. It came down even earlier than planned in the end once we were hit with the personal injury claim ... Not a good experience. 

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57 minutes ago, ProDave said:

But I bought my own Kwikstage so no penalty for it being up longer. 

 

I've bought some  Kwikstage scaffolding, but having used it recently to build the basement, I've realised just how much I'm short. Once I have the scaffold hire cost in I might buy more!

 

 

Edited by Triassic
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Pop round and use some of our spare , @Triassic. Provided you don't keep it for a few years..... ?

 

Scaffolding is the second best expensive (over £600)  tool investment. It keeps it's value, is readily  resold, and does what you want it to when you want it to.

Pain in the arse mind. Hard work. Lots of research. Many ways of getting it wrong. I luuuuuurve it.

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1 hour ago, ProDave said:

But I bought my own Kwikstage so no penalty for it being up longer.

 

Do you still have it? Any interest in renting it out?

 

Just a fire-from-the-hip thought as I'm trying to work out how to speed up doing my east gable and my scaffold tower is not ideal for handling sheet material on an exposed site.

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1 hour ago, Ed Davies said:

 

Do you still have it? Any interest in renting it out?

 

Just a fire-from-the-hip thought as I'm trying to work out how to speed up doing my east gable and my scaffold tower is not ideal for handling sheet material on an exposed site.

After the main build was finished I sold most of it.

 

I still have a small amount, just enough for small jobs left like 2 velux windows still to be fitted, and the WBS flue to install, but in the scheme of things the amount I have is now tiny and not likely to make a significant contribution to a whole house build.

 

But even so I prefer not to lend it out, I never know when I am going to need it for those jobs, sometimes I do things a bit spur of the moment.

 

And this last bit I won't be selling either. It is far too handy to have it available.

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19 minutes ago, Triassic said:

If I go down the scaffold purchase route, can anyone recommend any particular supplier?

I bought mine from a private seller on ebay, just finishing a self build.  I could not find any for sale locally at the time so ended up hiring a 7.5 ton flat bed and doing a 700 mile round trip in 23 hours including a few hours kip in the cab.

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2 months and counting.  No "additional hire fee after an initial period" though - its a flat rate and then a bit more each time we ask them to come back and move things around - so not worried how long it takes.  Suspect another 4 months minimum though.

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On 11/09/2018 at 08:21, Triassic said:

How long did you have your scaffolding for?

Ours went up in October 2010 and was taken down in December 2011 and cost £2500 all in. It was for fours sides, two lifts and two hop ups with one side being an oversail of a single storey part of the build.

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I’ve now got the contact details for the four local scaffolding companies.

 

How did you deal with your scaffolding quotes, did you get them to visit site and measure up, or did you phone them and follow up with emailed drawings? How did your scaffolding company do it? Is it best for them to visit?

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