Hire a scaffold to hang festive lights

First decide exactly where the lights will hang

Walk the facade and point out the fixing points before choosing a size. For Christmas lights those are usually the gutter, the tops of the window frames or a hook under the roof edge. For a banner they are two fixed points at either end. The highest point sets the size you need, not the average of all the points together. Write that highest point down, so you do not have to reconstruct it from memory when you order.

Then look at where the scaffold can stand. A border, a sloping drive or a parking space in front of the door all affect how close to the facade you can get. If the scaffold sits a metre back, you reach further and effectively have less height. Measure from the spot where the scaffold will actually stand. Think about a canopy or an overhanging roof edge that forces you to keep further from the wall, too.

Note how many metres of facade you have to cover while you are at it. Two fixing points beside the front door is a different job from a light rope across the full width of a shopfront. What each job involves is set out on the application page fitting exterior lighting. On a long facade you then know straight away how often you will move the scaffold, and that decides how long the job takes in total.

Key facts

Working out the height for a fixing point

Working height is platform height plus two metres, the reach of an adult. Stand on a platform at three metres and your working height is five. For hanging work, though, that two metres of reach is optimistic, because you rarely fix anything with your arms stretched above your head while also squeezing a clip shut. So count on standing slightly lower than the theoretical reach suggests, certainly if you are working in gloves.

So work with the platform height rather than the working height. You want the fixing point between chest and eye level, because then you can see what you are doing and keep your arms low. For facades and lamp posts that usually lands you on a platform noticeably lower than people estimate in advance. Stand too high and you are working below your hips, which is every bit as awkward as reaching.

The range runs from 4.2 to 14.2 metres working height, so a tall shopfront or a commercial facade is well covered. Pick the size on the working height page and read in how high a mobile scaffold may go what taller set-ups demand in stabilising and anchoring. On a tall shopfront with a balcony or a canopy it pays to read that page before ordering, because there the standing position matters more than the facade height.

Hanging Christmas lights on the facade

Christmas lights are light material, but they are long, they tangle and they blow about. From a mobile scaffold you lay the whole string on the platform, unroll it as you shift along and keep both hands free for the fixing. That is the main gain over a ladder. You can also set your tools down beside you instead of keeping them in a pocket.

Work from the top down and out from a fixed point. Start at the highest fixing point, where the cable carries the most tension, and work outwards from there. That way you avoid going back halfway because the string turns out to be too short at one end. Test the string at ground level before you go up, because finding a dead bulb four metres up costs you the whole run again.

Carry a handful of cable ties, hooks or clips in your pocket rather than in a box on the platform. Bending down on a platform with a light string in your hands is precisely when you knock something over. What else goes into fitting lights on a facade is covered at fitting an outside light. Take scissors or cutters as well, because trimming surplus cable ties at ground level rarely happens in practice.

Banners, signage and display boards

A banner is a different proposition from a light string: it is heavier, it catches a lot of wind and you usually need two people to pull it taut. On a wider platform you can lay it rolled up and unroll it section by section, instead of holding it like a sail in your hands. Only unroll the banner once both fixing points are reachable from the position you are standing in.

Never hang a banner in gusty conditions and always fix the top corners first. A banner fixed at one end and hanging loose elsewhere pulls at the scaffold with surprising force. With a display board you also watch the weight that sits on the platform for a while. Never leave a banner hanging loose at one end while you move the scaffold, because it then pulls on the structure.

The equipment is Altrex, complies with EN 1004 and sits in load class 3, meaning 200 kilos per square metre. What that means in practice is set out in mobile scaffold load and weight. For the job itself there is the page fitting a display board. With a heavier board, work in a pair and spread the weight across the platform rather than resting it in one corner.

Indoors: halls, stairwells and business premises

Festive lighting does not always hang outside. A string in a shop, bulbs in a restaurant or a decoration in a tall hall calls for a scaffold that fits through an interior door and may run on a finished floor. That is the RS44 room scaffold, which passes an interior door from about 70 centimetres. Think in advance about protecting the floor, because in a shop or restaurant you do not want to leave marks.

For a garage, an outbuilding or a smaller space where you work alone, the MiTower is a compact option up to six metres working height. You set it up quickly, move it without help and need no wide opening. The options are at room scaffold hire and MiTower hire. For a single fitting or a short string it is often the quickest solution of all.

Working indoors above a staircase or in a hall with a hard floor, put something under the castors to avoid scratches and keep the brakes on. For ceiling fittings there is the page hanging a pendant light, covering what you need. Agree when you can work indoors as well, since in a shop or a bar that usually means outside opening hours.

Which scaffold for which hanging job

The table shows, per type of hanging job, what you measure to, which model usually suits and what to watch. Use it as a starting point and adjust it to your situation, because a narrow passage or a low carport can still overturn the choice. Check too whether the same model will serve for taking everything down after the holidays, so you only measure once.

If you are torn between a mobile scaffold and a room scaffold, because you are hanging things both inside and out for instance, mobile scaffold or room scaffold puts the two side by side on space, access and use. Two short hires are often more practical than one model that not quite works in either place. It also saves carrying: a model that nearly fits ends up going in through the door in sections.

Power, cables and working as the light goes early

Lights tend to go up in the season when dusk arrives by four in the afternoon. So keep work lighting on the ground rather than on the platform, because a site lamp you knock over yourself blinds you at exactly the wrong moment. Work in daylight where you can and leave testing the lights until last. So plan the hanging as early in the day as you can, even for a short stretch of facade.

Cables are the underestimated risk. An extension lead running across the platform is a trip wire four metres up. Run the cable down alongside an upright and do not drape it over the guardrail, where it can snag on a brace while you move the scaffold. Use a cable reel you unwind fully, because a coiled reel under load gets warm and sits in the way besides.

Run through the points below before you go up. What else belongs to working safely at height, guardrails and toe boards included, is set out in fall protection on a mobile scaffold. Read the list through before the scaffold is delivered, so there is still time to fetch anything missing. It does not list the tools you bring yourself, so run through that separately.

With a long light rope you work the facade in bays and move the scaffold along each time. Clear the platform before you move, let nobody stand on the scaffold while it rolls and lock the castors again afterwards. Roll up the loose section of the string and lay it on the platform, or it will snag on a brace. Check the stabilisers at every new position, as described in stabilising and anchoring a mobile scaffold.

• Keep work lighting on the ground, aimed at the facade
• Run leads alongside an upright, not across the platform
• Test the lights at ground level before hanging them
• Carry fixings in your pocket rather than in a loose box
• Use gloves that keep their grip in the cold
• Make sure somebody knows you are up there

Wind, frost and working through the winter season

Festive lighting goes up in the period when the weather cooperates least. Wind is the main constraint: a light rope or a banner catches a lot of it and pulls you off balance before you notice. In strong gusts you postpone the hanging, even for a small stretch of facade. A facade with a light rope along it is also harder to judge for wind than a bare wall, because the string already pulls.

Frost makes the platform and the rungs slippery, and cold hands grip less well. Wipe the platform before you start and use gloves that keep their grip. If you work in a pair, agree who stays up and who passes things across, so nobody climbs up and down needlessly. Take breaks indoors rather than on the platform, because standing still at height in the cold chills you faster than you expect.

What else the winter months bring is covered in hiring a scaffold in winter. The general rules around working at height are in safe working at height rules. Both pages are worth reading before starting a facade job in November or December. Read them before you order, because they sometimes decide which week you pick.

Short hires, delivery and returning the set

Hanging lights is very much a one or two day job. The first hire day carries the full rate and every following day costs five percent of that day rate, so an extra day in case of wind is a small item. What hiring per day means is set out on price per day. An extra day also gives you room to dismantle calmly rather than in the dark.

Order before 15:00 and the scaffold is ready the next working day, anywhere in the Netherlands. Delivery and collection sit together in a fixed amount per province, listed on the delivery cost page. Collecting it yourself is free by appointment at Zeeburgerpad 89 in Amsterdam. Make sure someone is present during the agreed window, otherwise delivery slips a day.

You assemble the scaffold yourself using the supplied manual and an instruction video; Steigertaxi does not deliver assembled. On delivery the deposit is 500 euro for the RS51, RS52 and MiTower and 150 euro for the room scaffold, and it comes back within one working day after return. The conditions are on the deposit page. Return the set complete and undamaged and the refund goes through without any queries.

If you are unsure which size suits your facade, send a photo with the height to the fixing point via WhatsApp. With those two details a suitable model is usually named within a few messages, matched to the job and to the space you have. Mention where the scaffold will stand and whether there is a gate or a step in between.

• Measure to the highest fixing point from the scaffold position
• Pick a day with little wind and keep a spare day in reserve
• Clear the strip along the facade of bikes and furniture
• Lay out fixings and lights before the scaffold arrives
• Agree who helps you assemble, because two people is quicker
• Book the collection as soon as you know when the job ends