Most home improvement projects that require elevation can be done with the use of a ladder. However, for more work-intensive DIY work, it’s not uncommon for labourers to opt for scaffolds instead. In this blog, we will highlight what projects are best used with a scaffold, as well as why.
Scaffold Tower’s benefits
Scaffolds are typically constructed adjacent to a building. They are usually added for a particular purpose and then dismantled once the job is complete. But in truth, tower scaffolding is just as portable as ladders, and is not much more difficult to use and store.
Before we go on to the specific projects that scaffold towers are suitable for, let’s take a short look at the different elements of a Scaffold Tower that makes it such a handy piece of equipment.
- Platforms – The platforms of DIY scaffolding towers are long and wide things that allow for easy manoeuvring. This essentially means that you can reach much more area within a horizontal axis than you would on a ladder, where you’re heavily restricted. The platforms are made of either wood or metal and have locking mechanisms securing them.
- Adjustable Heights – You may think that whilst scaffolds have the advantage in terms of how much you can move from side to side, ladders would have an advantage when moving vertically. But this isn’t actually the case because scaffolds come with adjustable poles extending or retracting the scaffolding platform higher or lower.
- Stability – Cross braces run horizontally across the length of your tower in order to secure and keep it together. This makes scaffolding towers not only strong but stable. It makes it so that you’ll feel no shifts under your feet, which is dangerous for your balance.
- Portability – Castors are wheels with built-in, lockable brakes that come with some scaffold towers. This makes adjusting the tower position easy, making it far more efficient. This essentially turns all towers into portable scaffold towers.
Let’s take a look at how these pros help us in the following projects.
DIY Scaffolding Projects
Painting
Long painting tasks with a ladder can be hard for a few reasons. For one, ladders are vertical, meaning that’s the only direction you can move whilst it’s firmly on the ground. If you want to move horizontally, you have to descend and move the ladder from right to left. This task makes a ladder physically demanding, as to use it safely you have to have three points of contact at all times. This can make using a ladder for large-scale painting work incredibly inefficient, tiring and time-consuming.
Tower scaffolding is different because they can be adjusted to reach just about any height, unlike a ladder. They are also a lot more stable, as the multiple legs, each spaced out and supported by interlocking bars, meaning the scaffolding platform has no chance of shifting underfoot.
You can also add further stability accessories added, like guardrails to prevent falling and increased confidence. Scaffold towers also give you free rein of movement horizontally, allowing you to get far more work done per level of adjustment.
Roof Repair
The average UK household has two stories, and as a result, there is always a risk of falling for a serious injury. A scaffold tower almost entirely negates this risk by being the most stable option you can find. Its interlocking cross-braces fix the poles together to create a network of metal and deny any chance of the structure shifting beneath you.
On top of this, roofing usually requires the use of multiple tools. The platform of scaffolding towers gives them the perfect place to sit, where you have perfect access to them.
If you’re still concerned about safety, you can invest in tower scaffolding that has guard rails. This would not only make where you stand stable, but in case of a mishap you have a guard rail as a safety net.
Gutter Cleaning
Do you need scaffolding to replace guttering? No. But cleaning a gutter can be physically demanding and laborious without one. Gutters run along the edges of your roof horizontally. With a ladder, the amount of adjustments you’d need to make to keep up with your task is sure to use up a lot of time and energy.
With a scaffold tower that comes equipped with castor wheels, you can easily move the scaffold. Considering scaffolds cover more of a horizontal length than ladders do, there will be far fewer adjustments needed. As a result, scaffolding towers are much more efficient.
Window Repair
Regardless of the level of repair you’re carrying out, windows and the tools you need to repair them tend to require a pair of hands rather than just one. The tools required for this can include drills, screwdrivers and saws, making them much more intensive than tools for most projects.
This makes it a very difficult job to carry out on a ladder. A fundamental rule on ladder safety is to maintain the three points of contact – which means having both feet and at least one hand on the ladder at all times. This means you’d either need some sort of accessory to keep your tools in, or travel up and down.
A scaffold, however, frees both of your hands and allows you to adopt just about any position to complete your work. You can both use your tools freely and keep them nearby and accessible on your scaffolding platform.
Tree Trimming
Depending on the size of a tree, a scaffold may be a much better option than a ladder. For smaller trees, just about any set-up will work. However, when it comes to larger trees, tower scaffolding is always better.
This is because a ladder’s stability is at risk when cutting trees mostly because of the soft ground. Also, in order to trim all of the branches, you will need to rotate around the trees, so like gutter cleaning, trimming trees will require multiple adjustments.
With a scaffold, it’s as easy as rolling it over to a desired location. It is also fairly tricky to use shears and other tools whilst maintaining the three points of contact on a ladder, making scaffolding a better option to ensure safety.
Conclusion
Overall, a scaffold tower’s main strength is its safety, adjustability and efficiency. By having a scaffolding platform you can work on and place your equipment, you can essentially treat a scaffold elevated platform like the ground.
