Hiring a scaffold as a private individual: what to check

You hire the same scaffold the painter uses

There is no separate do it yourself scaffold. The equipment that goes to private customers is exactly what painters and maintenance firms take with them: Altrex mobile scaffolds built to EN 1004, in load class 3. That works out at 200 kg per square metre as a distributed load, ample for you, your tools and a few tins of paint. You do not get a lighter or simpler version because you are working at home.

The difference is not the equipment but the routine. A painter knows which height he needs and puts the scaffold up without thinking, stabilisers in the right position included. As a private customer you may do this once every five years, and then the decisions you make beforehand are what count: the right height, a model that fits your path, and enough days to work at a steady pace instead of watching the clock.

Key facts

Start with your working height, not with the model

Working height is platform height plus two metres, because that is how far an adult reaches from the platform. So measure from the ground to the highest point you will be working on, for example the top of the gutter or the ridge of your dormer, and subtract two metres. What remains is the platform height you need, and that is the figure you choose a model with.

The range covers working heights from 4.2 to 14.2 metres, from a low garage to a tall town house facade. When in doubt, take a step up rather than a step down. On a scaffold that is too low you end up stretching, standing on your toes and leaning over the guardrail, which is exactly how things go wrong. A scaffold slightly too high costs you one extra frame at most. The working height page walks through the heights one by one.

If you are working on a window or facade on the first or second floor, the storey height is a useful check on your measurement. A job on the first floor usually calls for a different build than the gutter of that same house, even though it feels like the same facade. So measure properly rather than going by what the neighbours had standing last year.

Which model suits your job

The choice is mainly about width and about where the scaffold has to stand. Outside along the facade you work most comfortably on a wide mobile scaffold, indoors you want something that fits through a door. Every mobile scaffold has a platform length of 245 cm, so you always cover a decent stretch of wall before you have to move it. That saves more time than people expect beforehand.

If you are torn between two models, look at the narrowest point on the route to your work area and at how much material you want up there. A bucket, a roller and a sander fit on any platform, but with stacks of boards, cladding panels or a tool chest you want the wider version. For work indoors the room scaffold is almost always the answer, because an ordinary mobile scaffold will not come down your hallway.

• RS51: 75 cm wide, fits along a garden path or through a gate.
• RS52: 135 cm wide, roomier platform for facade work with materials.
• RS44 room scaffold: fits an internal door from about 70 cm.
• MiTower: for one person, up to 6 metres working height.
• All mobile scaffolds: platform 245 cm long.

Does it fit along your path and through your gate

The size of the scaffold is one thing, the route to it is another. Measure the narrowest opening between the street and the place where you will work: the gate, the garden path, the gap beside the garage, the space between two fences. Allow for the corner as well, because the longest parts have to come round it without catching the hedge or a window frame. An RS51 at 75 cm manages where an RS52 at 135 cm gets stuck.

For interior work the room scaffold is built around a standard internal door, from about 70 cm. That makes it suitable for a stairwell, a tall wall or a ceiling, where an ordinary mobile scaffold simply will not come inside. If you are working outside on the facade, also check that you keep enough room all round for the stabilisers, because they project on every side and need a flat spot to stand on.

Delivery or collecting it yourself

Order before 15:00 and the scaffold is at your door the next working day, anywhere in the Netherlands. Delivery and collection are covered by a fixed amount per province, so no mileage charge or surcharge appears afterwards that you had not counted on. What that amount is for your address is shown on the delivery costs page, so you can weigh it up before you book.

Collecting the scaffold yourself is free by appointment at Zeeburgerpad 89 in Amsterdam. That saves the delivery charge, but you need transport for it and the deposit on collection is higher. If you live nearby and have a van or a trailer it is a sound choice. If you live further away, an afternoon of driving rarely balances out against what you save. See also hiring a mobile scaffold without a trailer.

How the deposit works

The deposit is not a cost but an amount you set aside temporarily and get back afterwards. How much it is depends on the model and on the way you take delivery. On self collection the deposit is higher than on delivery, because we are not the ones putting the equipment in place and collecting it again. For the room scaffold the amount is the same either way.

After the return, the deposit is back in your account within one working day. So make sure every part goes back, including the stabilisers, the toe boards and the locking pins, and group the parts as you received them. If something goes missing in the garden along the way, report it before the driver arrives and it is usually settled quickly. There is more on the page about the deposit on a scaffold hire.

How many days to book

The first hire day costs the full rate, every following day counts as 5 percent of that day rate. Carrying on is therefore a much smaller step than that first day, and that changes how you plan. For a weekend job, for instance, you would rather book Friday through Monday than exactly Saturday and Sunday, because then you have room if the build takes longer or if it rains on Saturday morning.

Estimate your job honestly and count the drying times. Two coats of paint on a facade means waiting between coats, sealant has to cure, and a shower of rain can cost you a day. Count the day of building and the day of dismantling as well, because both take time in which you are not painting. How to judge the period per type of job is covered in the guide on how many days you need a scaffold.

What you can see about the cost in advance

You do not have to call to find out what your job costs. In the configurator you enter your model, your working height, your period and your postcode, and the total appears straight away, including delivery and deposit. That total does not change afterwards unless you adjust the period or the model yourself. It lets you put two scenarios side by side before committing to anything.

If you would rather compare at your leisure without filling anything in, look at the pricing page. It sets the rates per model side by side and shows how the amount is built up, from the first day to the following days and the delivery charge per province. If you are watching the cost, it pays to understand that structure before you pick your period, because that is where the difference is made.

You build the scaffold yourself

Steigertaxi does not assemble the scaffold for you and does not deliver it ready built. You receive the parts, together with the manual and an instruction video showing the assembly step by step. That sounds more daunting than it is, because the parts are made to click together and lock, but it does mean setting aside time on the day of delivery instead of starting to paint right away.

Do it with two people. One passes parts up, the other builds, and you both keep an eye on whether everything is level and locked. Put the castors on the brake before anyone climbs and fit the stabilisers before you go high rather than afterwards, because otherwise you are working at the base of something that can already move. The order is set out in the step-by-step assembly guide.

If you get stuck, there is no need to guess. A quick message for advice takes less time than half an afternoon of puzzling over frames that refuse to fit, and it removes the temptation to skip just one brace. Usually it comes down to a detail: a frame the wrong way round, a pin not yet inserted, or a platform hanging one rung too low.

Working safely around your own house

At home there are things that never arise on a building site: children who see the scaffold as a climbing frame, a neighbour who leans a bicycle against it, and a garden where the ground softens after a night of rain. So walk past the scaffold each morning before you climb and check that everything is as you left it. It takes a minute and catches exactly the things that change overnight.

Do not work in wind force 6 or higher, and take loose items off the platform when you stop, including at lunch. A bucket blowing off at eight metres is more dangerous to the people below than the scaffold itself. Put the castors back on the brake as well once you have moved the scaffold. The wider rules that apply are set out under working safely at height.

• Castors braked before anyone climbs.
• Stabilisers fitted and the feet bearing on the ground.
• Scaffold level, including on a sloping drive.
• Platform cleared whenever you stop work.
• Children and pets kept away from the base.

Taking it down, returning it and your deposit

Dismantling runs in the reverse order of building and is usually quicker than expected. Start at the top, pass parts down rather than dropping them, and group identical parts together in one place. That way nothing goes missing and you avoid searching the hedge with a torch for a single toe board. Take the stabilisers off last of all, once the height is already gone.

Put the parts ready at the agreed spot, within reach of the driver, and not behind a locked gate nobody can pass. After the return your deposit comes back within one working day. How to tackle the dismantling without unnecessary lifting is covered in the guide on taking down and returning a scaffold. If the next facade is waiting, the page on painting a facade gets you started.