Tall House Painting
Peter Brooks
For what it's worth, I've been watching a Victorian DIY renovation
in my neighborhood. The owners acquired scaffolding and have
had it in place a fairly long time (several months). I don't
know what the rental rates would be for this; for a major project
it might be worthwhile to buy used scaffolding and resell later.
FYI, this is the conventional frame and plank scaffolding, with
X-braces to keep the frames sturdy. They have it against a two
story wall, and it seems to be pretty steady.
This Old House had a segment on scaffolding some years back,
and they mentioned several types. One that could be suitable
for painting was a system that had an aluminum "plank" that
mounted to uprights, possibly made from 2x4s nailed together to
make a "4x4" (probably 3.0" x 3.5"). the plank was raised with
foot jacks. It was ideally suited for two people, though one
person could handle it if he/she didn't mind running back and
forth a little. The uprights were set on the ground (some
kind of foundation would be needed), while the top frames
were lagged to the house.
I've never had the pleasure :-) of painting a two story house,
but even for a single story one, scaffolding can turn a nasty
job into one relatively simple. Of course, the scaffolding for
a single story house can look a lot like a few saw horses and
a couple of planks, but you get the idea.
Pete Brooks
Gary Fritz
of >30-foot-high painting. I shudder to think of they day when I either
have to repaint it myself OR pay someone else to do it!
When it was first painted, the painter used a "2 * 2x4 => 4x4 lagged to
the roofline" as supports for a makeshift scaffold. Didn't look like
fun to me, but he'd obviously done it before.
Gary