Need to do gutter repairs, fascia painting and all that (been here 20
years - 'bout time I did it) and I plan to do it off a hired tower.
Trouble is that the house has bay windows and other obstructions which
stop one getting a tower in close to the wall all the way round. I
guess the bottom of the tower would be as much as a meter out at those
points.

Is it safe to plan to lean over to get at the gutters? I will get a
tower with outriggers.

--

Henry Law Manchester, England

On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:46:49 +0100, Henry Law
wrote:

Need to do gutter repairs, fascia painting and all that (been here 20
years - 'bout time I did it) and I plan to do it off a hired tower.
Trouble is that the house has bay windows and other obstructions which
stop one getting a tower in close to the wall all the way round. I
guess the bottom of the tower would be as much as a meter out at those
points.

Is it safe to plan to lean over to get at the gutters? I will get a
tower with outriggers.

Can't see a problem with that.
Looks safe to m
e
e
e
a
a
r
r
g
h
h




....sorry..couldn't resist!

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{who is at}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

"Henry Law" wrote in message
...
Need to do gutter repairs, fascia painting and all that (been here
20
years - 'bout time I did it) and I plan to do it off a hired tower.
Trouble is that the house has bay windows and other obstructions
which
stop one getting a tower in close to the wall all the way round. I
guess the bottom of the tower would be as much as a meter out at
those
points.

Is it safe to plan to lean over to get at the gutters? I will get a
tower with outriggers.

--

Henry Law Manchester, England

I had a similar(ish) situation with my tower (actually using it as a
cantelever tower crane to lift the casing off a large 100kva
generator) and I tethered the 'likely to lift' side to a very heavy
weight ( a pallet of sash weights weighing over a ton) with a taut
rope.

AWEM

Andrew Mawson wrote:
"Henry Law" wrote in message
...
Need to do gutter repairs, fascia painting and all that (been here
20
years - 'bout time I did it) and I plan to do it off a hired tower.
Trouble is that the house has bay windows and other obstructions
which
stop one getting a tower in close to the wall all the way round. I
guess the bottom of the tower would be as much as a meter out at
those
points.

Is it safe to plan to lean over to get at the gutters? I will get a
tower with outriggers.

--

Henry Law Manchester, England

I had a similar(ish) situation with my tower (actually using it as a
cantelever tower crane to lift the casing off a large 100kva
generator) and I tethered the 'likely to lift' side to a very heavy
weight ( a pallet of sash weights weighing over a ton) with a taut
rope.

AWEM


If you lean towards the house, that's the way the tower will fall.

And I reckon it WILL.

However there is a perfectly simple way to stop it.

Out a plank across the platform that butts up to the house and screw it
down to the platform You can safely (probably) even walk along it.

Henry Law wrote:
Need to do gutter repairs, fascia painting and all that (been here 20
years - 'bout time I did it) and I plan to do it off a hired tower.
Trouble is that the house has bay windows and other obstructions which
stop one getting a tower in close to the wall all the way round. I
guess the bottom of the tower would be as much as a meter out at those
points.

Is it safe to plan to lean over to get at the gutters? I will get a
tower with outriggers.


You'll probably spend more time moving the tower than doing the work
and, if you've still got to stretch a metre, it hardly seems worth it.
Scaffolding probably wouldn't be that much dearer and you would have
proper access. You also wouldn't have to worry about the mounting hire
charges if the weather turns against you.
I'd think about having the whole lot replaced in plastic but I don't
know the extent of the "cladding". Upvc installation is one of those
areas where prices are sufficiently reasonable to tempt me away from
d-i-y. Working off ladders obviously keeps the costs down.

On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:46:49 +0100, Henry Law
wrote:

Need to do gutter repairs, fascia painting and all that (been here 20
years - 'bout time I did it) and I plan to do it off a hired tower.
Trouble is that the house has bay windows and other obstructions which
stop one getting a tower in close to the wall all the way round. I
guess the bottom of the tower would be as much as a meter out at those
points.

Is it safe to plan to lean over to get at the gutters? I will get a
tower with outriggers.

So you know - Wickes, and other places sell 'drain rods' but they also
come with an attachment to help scrape out gutters. May save you from
over-reaching

wrote:
So you know - Wickes, and other places sell 'drain rods'

Thanks for this and other replies; I'm particularly taken by the NP's
idea of bracing the tower against the wall of the house with a plank or
planks, and Andrew Mawson's of installing ballast on the
away-from-the-wall side, though I'm not sure I've got anything heavy enough.

I'll price a complete scaffold from a local supplier - that really would
make everything so much easier - but I can't imagine that it would stack
up in economic terms against £150-odd per week for an alloy tower.

--

Henry Law Manchester, England

Henry Law wrote:
wrote:
So you know - Wickes, and other places sell 'drain rods'

Thanks for this and other replies; I'm particularly taken by the NP's
idea of bracing the tower against the wall of the house with a plank or
planks, and Andrew Mawson's of installing ballast on the
away-from-the-wall side, though I'm not sure I've got anything heavy
enough.

I'll price a complete scaffold from a local supplier - that really would
make everything so much easier - but I can't imagine that it would stack
up in economic terms against £150-odd per week for an alloy tower.

Ive just BOUGHT a steel tower for £150 quid...

On Sat, 28 Jul 2007 11:38:55 +0100, Henry Law wrote:

wrote:
So you know - Wickes, and other places sell 'drain rods'

Thanks for this and other replies; I'm particularly taken by the NP's idea
of bracing the tower against the wall of the house with a plank or planks,
and Andrew Mawson's of installing ballast on the away-from-the-wall side,
though I'm not sure I've got anything heavy enough.

I'll price a complete scaffold from a local supplier - that really would
make everything so much easier - but I can't imagine that it would stack
up in economic terms against £150-odd per week for an alloy tower.

===================================
You might find that it's actually cheaper to buy 2 budget priced towers
(6' x 4' recommended) and lock them together with scaffold clips around
your bays. I've been using this method for the past 10 years without any
problems. I bought the towers for about 80 GBP each(West Midlands) and I
think they're about 100 GBP now. Planks to suit from a local timber yard
shouldn't break the bank.

As far as bracing is concerned short lengths of scaffold tube with a few
clips will make you very secure. I used mine like this last week at gutter
height with room (almost) for a quick waltz.

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================

"Henry Law" wrote in message
...
Need to do gutter repairs, fascia painting and all that (been here 20
years - 'bout time I did it) and I plan to do it off a hired tower.
Trouble is that the house has bay windows and other obstructions which
stop one getting a tower in close to the wall all the way round. I guess
the bottom of the tower would be as much as a meter out at those points.

Is it safe to plan to lean over to get at the gutters? I will get a tower
with outriggers.

Don't know your exact dimensions but would a ladder with a good standoff
clear the bay? If you have deep soffits there is a "microlite" standoff
which bridges to the roof which gives really good clearance as well as safe
roof access.

Jim A

Jim Alexander wrote:

Don't know your exact dimensions but would a ladder with a good standoff
clear the bay? If you have deep soffits there is a "microlite" standoff
which bridges to the roof which gives really good clearance as well as safe
roof access.

That's worth a go. I've got a standoff already - a small one, about
350mm - and use it all the time for window painting and such, but it's
not deep enough for the gutters, which overhang more than that. The
idea of a deeper one hadn't occurred to me.

--

Henry Law Manchester, England

Stephen Howard wrote:
On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:46:49 +0100, Henry Law
wrote:

Need to do gutter repairs, fascia painting and all that (been here 20
years - 'bout time I did it) and I plan to do it off a hired tower.
Trouble is that the house has bay windows and other obstructions
which stop one getting a tower in close to the wall all the way
round. I guess the bottom of the tower would be as much as a meter
out at those points.

Is it safe to plan to lean over to get at the gutters? I will get a
tower with outriggers.

Can't see a problem with that.
Looks safe to m
e
e
e
a
a
r
r
g
h
h




...sorry..couldn't resist!

Just brilliant :-)


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

wrote:
On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:46:49 +0100, Henry Law
wrote:

Need to do gutter repairs, fascia painting and all that (been here 20
years - 'bout time I did it) and I plan to do it off a hired tower.
Trouble is that the house has bay windows and other obstructions
which stop one getting a tower in close to the wall all the way
round. I guess the bottom of the tower would be as much as a meter
out at those points.

Is it safe to plan to lean over to get at the gutters? I will get a
tower with outriggers.

So you know - Wickes, and other places sell 'drain rods' but they also
come with an attachment to help scrape out gutters. May save you from
over-reaching

That's exactly how I clean most gutters. Its called a drop scraper.
Doesn't fit all gutters though, depends on the size & tile overhang.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Message-ID: from Henry Law
contained the following:

I'll price a complete scaffold from a local supplier - that really would
make everything so much easier - but I can't imagine that it would stack
up in economic terms against £150-odd per week for an alloy tower.


Buy scaffold, do job, sell scaffold. Sorted.
--
Geoff Berrow (put thecat out to email)
It's only Usenet, no one dies.
My opinions, not the committee's, mine.
Simple RFDs http://www.ckdog.co.uk/rfdmaker/

In article ,
Henry Law writes:
wrote:
So you know - Wickes, and other places sell 'drain rods'

Thanks for this and other replies; I'm particularly taken by the NP's
idea of bracing the tower against the wall of the house with a plank or
planks, and Andrew Mawson's of installing ballast on the
away-from-the-wall side, though I'm not sure I've got anything heavy enough.

I'll price a complete scaffold from a local supplier - that really would
make everything so much easier - but I can't imagine that it would stack
up in economic terms against £150-odd per week for an alloy tower.

It was £300 to get the front of my house scaffolded for 4 weeks,
and £15/week extra thereafter. That was for a structure strong
enough to take weight of roof tiles whilst I replaced the felt and
battens. I would do that again without any hesitation, verses using
ladders or towers.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Henry Law writes:
wrote:
So you know - Wickes, and other places sell 'drain rods'

Thanks for this and other replies; I'm particularly taken by the
NP's
idea of bracing the tower against the wall of the house with a
plank or
planks, and Andrew Mawson's of installing ballast on the
away-from-the-wall side, though I'm not sure I've got anything
heavy enough.

I'll price a complete scaffold from a local supplier - that really
would
make everything so much easier - but I can't imagine that it would
stack
up in economic terms against £150-odd per week for an alloy tower.

It was £300 to get the front of my house scaffolded for 4 weeks,
and £15/week extra thereafter. That was for a structure strong
enough to take weight of roof tiles whilst I replaced the felt and
battens. I would do that again without any hesitation, verses using
ladders or towers.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Well this January it was £1100 to scafold access to my roof to replace
a SINGLE tile !!! OK It's three stories and it was an insurance
claim - I was horrified but the insurance company said it was cheap -
but I thought that they were bonkers !

AWEM

Andrew Mawson wrote:
"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Henry Law writes:
wrote:
So you know - Wickes, and other places sell 'drain rods'
Thanks for this and other replies; I'm particularly taken by the
NP's
idea of bracing the tower against the wall of the house with a
plank or
planks, and Andrew Mawson's of installing ballast on the
away-from-the-wall side, though I'm not sure I've got anything
heavy enough.
I'll price a complete scaffold from a local supplier - that really
would
make everything so much easier - but I can't imagine that it would
stack
up in economic terms against £150-odd per week for an alloy tower.
It was £300 to get the front of my house scaffolded for 4 weeks,
and £15/week extra thereafter. That was for a structure strong
enough to take weight of roof tiles whilst I replaced the felt and
battens. I would do that again without any hesitation, verses using
ladders or towers.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Well this January it was £1100 to scafold access to my roof to replace
a SINGLE tile !!! OK It's three stories and it was an insurance
claim - I was horrified but the insurance company said it was cheap -
but I thought that they were bonkers !

AWEM



And I expect the roofer shot up a ladder to do the initial inspection.

"Stuart Noble" wrote in message
...
Andrew Mawson wrote:
"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Henry Law writes:
wrote:
So you know - Wickes, and other places sell 'drain rods'
Thanks for this and other replies; I'm particularly taken by the
NP's
idea of bracing the tower against the wall of the house with a
plank or
planks, and Andrew Mawson's of installing ballast on the
away-from-the-wall side, though I'm not sure I've got anything
heavy enough.
I'll price a complete scaffold from a local supplier - that
really
would
make everything so much easier - but I can't imagine that it
would
stack
up in economic terms against £150-odd per week for an alloy
tower.
It was £300 to get the front of my house scaffolded for 4 weeks,
and £15/week extra thereafter. That was for a structure strong
enough to take weight of roof tiles whilst I replaced the felt
and
battens. I would do that again without any hesitation, verses
using
ladders or towers.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Well this January it was £1100 to scafold access to my roof to
replace
a SINGLE tile !!! OK It's three stories and it was an insurance
claim - I was horrified but the insurance company said it was
cheap -
but I thought that they were bonkers !

AWEM



And I expect the roofer shot up a ladder to do the initial
inspection.

25 years ago the entire roof was retiled off ladders !

AWEM

Andrew Mawson wrote:
"Stuart Noble" wrote in message
...
Andrew Mawson wrote:
"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Henry Law writes:
wrote:
So you know - Wickes, and other places sell 'drain rods'
Thanks for this and other replies; I'm particularly taken by the
NP's
idea of bracing the tower against the wall of the house with a
plank or
planks, and Andrew Mawson's of installing ballast on the
away-from-the-wall side, though I'm not sure I've got anything
heavy enough.
I'll price a complete scaffold from a local supplier - that
really
would
make everything so much easier - but I can't imagine that it
would
stack
up in economic terms against £150-odd per week for an alloy
tower.
It was £300 to get the front of my house scaffolded for 4 weeks,
and £15/week extra thereafter. That was for a structure strong
enough to take weight of roof tiles whilst I replaced the felt
and
battens. I would do that again without any hesitation, verses
using
ladders or towers.

--
Andrew Gabriel
Well this January it was £1100 to scafold access to my roof to
replace
a SINGLE tile !!! OK It's three stories and it was an insurance
claim - I was horrified but the insurance company said it was
cheap -
but I thought that they were bonkers !

AWEM


And I expect the roofer shot up a ladder to do the initial
inspection.

25 years ago the entire roof was retiled off ladders !

AWEM



Mine was only 5 years ago, luckily without detection by the safety
police. The roofer was telling me how they used to repair church
steeples off a ladder.
Net result of the new thinking is that nothing gets repaired, and
everything is left until it becomes a major job.

On 27 Jul, 22:46, Henry Law wrote:
Need to do gutter repairs, fascia painting and all that (been here 20
years - 'bout time I did it) and I plan to do it off a hired tower.
Trouble is that the house has bay windows and other obstructions which
stop one getting a tower in close to the wall all the way round. I
guess the bottom of the tower would be as much as a meter out at those
points.

Is it safe to plan to lean over to get at the gutters? I will get a
tower with outriggers.

--

Henry Law Manchester, England

Tell the hire shop thats what you want to do, and they will find a
tower to do the deal.
For example cuplock (heavy steel tower) has parts to extend the
platform at the top bigger than the base, where as a H section tower
it would be V dangerous.

Also consider a cherry picker, lots of hire shops do them.

Rick