ToughButterCup Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 OK, @lizzie , @Hecateh , @newhome , @Pete and a few others yer just going to say MTFU. Now that you've got that off your chests, I need to tell you that I have a vaulted ceiling to do : top is 4m off the deck, bottom about 2m. I don't mind heights - I respect them, and it's nowhere near as bad as some of the tricks I've pulled before now. But lifting boards into place when already on an internal scaffolder tower? I was wondering what you thought of one of these? Worth it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 (edited) Yes, but from the floor not the tower (for clarity). If you after more height, then I would look at a 2m extension for the lifter, which costs very little extra https://www.manomano.co.uk/plastering-tools/set-xxl-drywall-lift-sheetrock-lifter-panel-hoist-6ft-extension-809585 I am not sure what the precise issue is here .. is it that the pb lifter is 18 inches too short,or that you want to put it .. or the pb ... on the tower? F Edited March 24, 2019 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recoveringbuilder Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Omg no! Just something else to fall off the tower, fall on top of you, trip over while you’re up there, you will realise I hate heights and can’t even stand and look down my staircase! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfb Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 can you not just lean the boards upright against the tower and then pull them up from the tower? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crofter Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 I wish I had got one of those board lifters. I had a vaulted ceiling to do, and my initial plan was to balance the board on my head and walk up the stepladder with it. You can get about two steps up before the board snaps. Maybe a thicker board would have worked better, but it would have been heavier too... In the end I built a contraption using spare lengths of timber and some hinges. I propped this up against the wall, laid the board on it with the white side inwards, and then swung the whole thing up on the hinges, bringing in a prop to hold it in position. In hindsight a hundred odd quid for a board lifter would have been a much better idea, but, you know, budget and all that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Plasterboarding is not really a single person job. Even getting a sheet up onto the lifter at it's lowest height is a chore for one. It all becomes easy peasy with 2. Me and SWMBO sheeted out entire house with an OSB layer and then the PB layer, including the vaulted ceilings upstairs. All without a PB lifter (though we did borrow one to do the downstairs ceilings. For the vaulted ceilings, it is all a matter of technique. Screw a temporary batten at the top of the wall (bottom of ceiling) to support the bottom edge of the lower board, Then you rest the bottom edge of the board on that and you only have to support the top edge until you get a few screws in, Then move your temporary batten so it overlaps the top edge of the fixed board creating a pocket to slot the bottom of the next board into. Repeat until you get to the top. The biggest problem I found with the PB lifter is the damned thing then gets in the way for putting the screws in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 39 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said: yer just going to say MTFU One of my favourite phrases at work but hate heights so all power to you going up there to start with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivienz Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Get some help in. There's nothing unmanly about having an extra body to help. PBs are large and unwieldy, even with a lifter and if you want to get a good close fit with them, there's ni substitute for manual assistance. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hecateh Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Not a chance of MTFU. My plasterer wasn't crazy about doing the high boarding in my entrance hall - about 3 1/2 m. And he was pretty slim but had shoulders like an ox. He brought a helper with him. Didn't have a lifter though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 I have been using my p/b lifter all this week and it is great. Have finished 3 complete rooms in 4 days including the walls. You have to get used to it but it is fairly straight fwd. I would recommend the ext piece as to build a tower and move it around is alot of work. @ProDavementioned not having access to do the screws but you can easily screw the board in place and then finish off when you have lowered the lifter. I bought a hand lifter as well as this makes carrying them easier (80 sheets a distance of 30 metres each way) and also helps position them on the lifter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreadnaught Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 6 minutes ago, Pete said: Have finished 3 complete rooms in 4 days including the walls. Solo? I ask as boarding is one of the tasks I am tempted to try my hand at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizzie Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Noooo bite the bullet and get some help please......hospitals are not nice places! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue B Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 First house, large extension and every ceiling in the house had to come down. We were late 20s early 30s. Peter did all the PB by himself - set up a large T the height of the ceiling to hold one end up while he screwed the other end. I had no idea it was a heavy job and he didn’t complain, just got on with it. Last house we did the upstairs together and boy did we struggle - it was hard work. When we started on the downstairs, we discovered a plasterboard lifter. OMG - it was a life changing moment. Yes, get one or ten but DO NOT USE THEM AT HEIGHT - I am scared of heights to the extent that I don’t like to see or know anyone else is at height. I believe that they will turn into lemmings. If they do one for high ceilings, get it now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryE Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 1 hour ago, ProDave said: Plasterboarding is not really a single person job. +1 An expert could do it single handed, albeit a lot slower. This is one to buy in a labourer to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 I think you could manage on your own as long as you have a lifter and a decent tower. A lot of up and down though! Assembling the tower single handed is a pain, as are the rest of the jobs. Maybe plan it so you lift up a board, screw one end, come back down, secure the other end with a prop, lift the next board, screw two ends at once. Although it is strictly banned, it is so much easier to get someone to carefully move the tower while you are up there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 1 hour ago, Hecateh said: Not a chance of MTFU. My plasterer wasn't crazy about doing the high boarding in my entrance hall - about 3 1/2 m. And he was pretty slim but had shoulders like an ox. He brought a helper with him. Didn't have a lifter though. The vaulted ceiling in our entrance hall is a bit over 6m high. The two chaps that boarded and plastered it didn't use a board lifter, just the scaffold tower I bought (which I ended up selling to them in the end). They were young and fit, though, but even so it looked to be a hell of a job, manhandling boards up the scaffold tower with just the two of them (they could have done with some help from the look of things at times). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 1 hour ago, Dreadnaught said: Solo? I ask as boarding is one of the tasks I am tempted to try my hand at. Yes, on my own. I have a door lifter as well and use that to lift the boards up while I screw them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 To be honest Ian Its safer two people on a tower than one with a boardlifter single handed on a slope They can tip Ive a boardlifter that I done use that you can borrow and I could call up and give you a lift to get your slope out of the way if you like We don’t want you to be the first forum death Gary 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Construction Channel Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Afraid I'm with the majority on this one. Buy the board lifter anyway because it will make everything a lot easier, But you will need help on this and unless Debbie is deceptively strong. Ideally you need someone that can lift the board from the pile and put it on the lifter alone. Annoyingly your height means that with the extension you won't be able to load the lifter from the ground. So you will need to grab the board from a small scaffold to load it. Then climb back up to the top and screw it while the other person winds the lifter and adjusts it. There's no sugar coating it. This will not be fun. The lifter and scaffold will have to be constantly moved and there will be a lot of ladder work. Let me know when you plan to start and I'll make sure I'm busy ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan52 Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 It can be done on your own if you are well prepared. A dead man is essential, a long T shape prop cut about 50mm longer than your ceiling height. You need 2 of these. You will also need some sort of scaffolding, either trestles and planks for lower ceilings, 3m high or something like kwikstage for higher bits. But and it's massive size but if you sit at a desk all day and aren't used to moving big awkward things about an day think long and hard about doing it. It will really really take its toll on you. After your first few days you will need spoon fed your dinner as you won't be able to get your hands past your belly button. Your arms shoulders and neck will ache. I done all the lifting and got the boards up and a few screws in just to hold it and then carried on boarding. The wife and young lad done the rest of the screws. It meant I got a sort of break which you will be glad of. I done it like this guy only instead of using the short piece of timber I used another dead man. Works the same way but just quicker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted March 24, 2019 Author Share Posted March 24, 2019 Oh..... looks like I need to give this some more thought then dunnit? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted March 24, 2019 Author Share Posted March 24, 2019 1 hour ago, JSHarris said: [...] They were young and fit, though, [....] You sayin' I'm old and feeble then, eh? ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 1 hour ago, recoveringacademic said: You sayin' I'm old and feeble then, eh? ? Let's just say that I'd not have been able to lift boards the way those lads did. Not sure, but I suspect we're pretty close to being the same age, within a couple of years or so (hint: I was told that I was outside Buckingham Palace at the Coronation, albeit being carried in a carrycot). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted March 24, 2019 Author Share Posted March 24, 2019 I was born the day after the coronation..... my parents carried me round on a sheet of plasterboard, Im told. ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Construction Channel Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Can't remember how your steel work goes but don't forget to use the correct board around it. I also can't remember if fire or sound board is heavier but you will know about it after a day of moving those around Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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