Good evening gents, I have been asked to paint the external windows of a house. There is a great big conservatory on the back end - beautiful (Im pretty sure it's wooden) but making access to two windows difficult. Any ideas that wont leave me or the conservatory in pieces. Dont want to go the scaffold route if poss. My initial thoughts are to use scaffold planks or equivalent to tip toe across or a roof ladder with the curve at the end to grip the apex of the conservatory. Or one vertical and one horizontal to get to the middle. This is all probably too vague I have pictures on my phone but too technophobic to download them. Any useful ideas welcome Pat
Scaffold it, to comply with your liability insurance and the HSE. That's why the owner isn't painting it...to risky!
thought it might be this - thanks for the suggestion - been quoted £450 for scaffolding so will look into the price many thanks Pat
Hi Pat, I always rig a scaffold tower to about roof apex height, then lash a ladder across. Add a couple of thin planks to cover the rungs and you're away. However, I always make sure the single ladder section that reaches across is tied down tight and weighted to make sure that as little stress as possible is placed on the Cons roof - when the ladder's sitting there with no load on it it's sitting 8/10 inches off the point of contact. I usually weight it by "borrowing" a couple of wheelie bins off the householder and filling them with water. Use a ratchet strap through the handle to tension the ladder onto one of them, and strap another to the top of the tower and you'll be fine. I always include in the quote a disclaimer that I'm not held responsible for any subsequent Conservatory leaks, but to be honest, I've done at least 20 Conservatorys this way and never had a problem. Bear in mind the hassle and time involved in rigging this lot, so add a generous amount to the quote and you'll still be quicker, faster and less intrusive than getting a scaff' company in. 9 out of 10 reading this will agree with it, but I'm off to find my tin hat to protect me from the Health and Safety mob...! Hope this helps
Thanks for taking the time to reply. Good idea , I am going to put it in the hands of the scaffolders and let them sort it - HSS quoted me £187 P.W for a tower (though I know I can get one cheaper) which, by the time, i ve sussed out how to rig it up it is probably more effective to let the pros do it. Anyhow, its up to the customer at the end of the day. My days of risking life and limb are over. Thanks again and all the best pat
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