Project #1 from Hooda. Paint House/Scaffold Build

[hooda]

Here's the scaffold build, I just FELL ASLEEP at the keyboard, and my right pinky backspaced 30 minutes of typing, so I'm going to bedddddddddddddddd. More on this tomorrow.

[hooda]

So, look at the picture above. I bid about $100.00 for scaffold rental into the job simply to reach the roof peak on one end of the building. So, I'm in the pawn shop, pawning my 47" LCD for some survival $$, and I run across 2 pump-jacks for $60.00. At this point I know nothing about them, so I buy them all along the voice in my head saying "how much could a few pieces of lumber cost?" Kind of a mistake, a costly mistake. Here's the breakdown to get these 2 pieces to actually function as a working scaffold.

• pole lumber for 20 foot poles $22.00
• glue and screws for poles(3x stronger then nailing) $13.00
• pole anchors (bottom 2@$20.00) $40.00
• Top anchors to anchor top to building (2@$40.00) $80.00
• 12 foot 2x12's to walk on (2@$11.00)$22.00

But wait, there's more!!
Once I got this all together, all that was there was what you see in the picture from about 1/2 way down on the red vertical members. I failed to realize the need for the top rail(guard rail) plus someplace to put the tools/materials that I'd be using. Once I got the scaffolding about 5 feet off the ground, that need became crystal clear (one false move=falling off the scaffold, plus, I'd be bending over for EVERYTHING I'd be working with) so back to the big-box for the following:

• Combination guardrail/workbench holders (2@$50.00)$100.00
• 12 foot 2 x 12- $11.00
• 12 foot 2 x 6 $6.00
• 12 foot 1 x 6 $5.00

So, that covers the part of the assembly that you see from 1/2 way up the red side members, on up. The side members consist of the pump jack itself, along with the guardrail/workbench holder, which are pinned together 1/2 way up.
All said and told, It ended up costing me $60.00 for the pump-jacks (a $60.00 savings) Then $299.00 more, for a total of $359.00 to get them actually functional as you see here:



Why would I even post this as a thread? First is that due to the time I've been spending trying to get my business up and running, I haven't spent enough time posting for the contest, so I need to get my post count up, and this definitely IS a project. But more importantly is to warn of the [B]dangers[B] involved in these rickety affairs. They climb fairly good, but trying to get them down the poles can be a terrifying affair. The construction of the jack assemblies is about 1/8" steel, and they have a ratcheting system that likes to be un-cooperative more often than not. If anyone out there has used these, I'd like to hear of any mods that you've made to the jacks to make them safer.

[DaveO]

ARGH! Man, that's frustrating. But you've spent forward, haven't you? Next time there's an overhead job you've already got the equipment, right? So this upfront expense will pay for itself 2 1/2 jobs from now, and after that it's gravy... just looking to put a positive spin on it. I can't see the photos just now, but be safe!

[67cudafb]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Commercial-G...item2a146ce817 Looks like that could hurt you. If you plan to do alot of this type of work you should look for used steel scaffolding.

[Tritium]

I remember seeing some threads over at WW in their safety section of some VERY dangerous use of ladders as scaffolding. Yours looks pretty safe.

Thurmond

[hooda]

I remember seeing some threads over at WW in their safety section of some VERY dangerous use of ladders as scaffolding. Yours looks pretty safe.

Thurmond

Well Thurmond, after spending a couple of days perched up on these with the prep, caulking, and painting, I'd definitely call them safe going up, and once they're locked into position. Not that a person would want to do "Jack Rabbit Slim's World Famous Twist Contest" up there, but safe enough to get the job done without being terrified. One of the main things I did for stability is went beyond the instruction's specs on building the poles. They just spec'd to nail 2x4's together every foot with a 10 penny nail, and every 6 inches along a 3 foot overlap for extending length. I opted to use 3 inch screws and a 4 foot overlap. Once I got them together, I didn't like the way they "wobbled", so I unscrewed them and put a healthy coat of regular elmer's wood glue down, then screwed them back together. Next day, what a difference! I have no way to quantify the increase in strength, other than to say that they literally felt twice as stiff as before the glue.

The trouble starts when it's time to come down. Along the climbing bar, there's a bend put into it, and the idea is to slide the bar into an unlocked position, release the second locking bar, and turn the "bent" part like a crank which should, in theory at least, slowly and gently lower the unit. Instead, the unit gets jammed within the mechanism, and drops 6-12inches suddenly. After you change your underwear, the other side will lower fine. Upon inspection, everything looks identical. I'm stumped

[jerky]

no matter how stable those things are, you will never catch me on them. mind you you wouldnt get me in a genie boom either. but look on the bright side, if anyone ever needs painting or work done up high, they will call you up.... even try renting them things once your done with them

[DVA]

That is almost as expensive as fixing a kitchen sink, but making things is half the fun.

[ogorir]

those genies are a trip! I've had to get up in one a few times to change stage lighting, they are about the most unstable feeling thing! I've been on 5 rises of Bil-jax before and that's WAY more stable than a genie at 25'

I always watch craigslist for used bil-jax. I saw 5 sections for $500 before we bought our house, unfortunately I was broke and didn't have anyplace to put them. apart from having to move them, they make roofing almost fun

[hooda]

So, I've been tied up with finishing the job that I built these with, and haven't until now sat down to explain what needs to be done here to make these things safer/more useful, which is what makes them even more of a project than I intended. My intent is to weld up a set of cranks out of 3/8" chrome moly to replace the originals, and to tack down all the thru-pins an each assembly that isn't specifically designed to be removed. I think that the design CONCEPT that drives these is brilliant, but the EXECUTION of the design is horrible. A little bit of tightening up, some reinforcements welded at the major stress points, and these things will be no problem at their 30 foot max height callout. I also plan to weld on sheet metal boxes on the end pieces for holding brushes, a utility knife, tape measure, level, and the rest of the tools a guy commonly needs when doing a job like this. I'm planning on getting the improvements done as soon as I finish the job I'm currently on.