Which scaffold do I need?

Start with the working height, not with the model

Most people pick a scaffold first and only then check whether the height works out. The other way round is easier. Working height is platform height plus two metres, because that is how far an adult reaches from the platform. If the gutter you need sits at six metres, you want a platform at roughly four metres. Skip that conversion and you rent a tower two metres too tall, working above your head all day.

Measure from the spot where the scaffold will stand, not from the front door. If the back garden lies half a metre lower than the terrace, that difference counts. When in doubt, measure from the ground to the highest point you still need to reach with your hands. The working height overview shows which set-up belongs to each height, and calculating your working height works through the sum in full.

For a house with several storeys, the floor level is often an easier starting point than a figure in metres. A dormer on the first floor calls for a different set-up than a window frame at ground level. Scaffold height per storey sets out which working height fits each floor in practice.

Measure the passage before you choose a width

The second figure you need is the narrowest passage on the route to the work area. A mobile scaffold arrives in parts, but once it stands you want to be able to roll it without dismantling it again. The narrow RS51 is 75 centimetres wide and therefore fits through most gates, garden paths and rear entrances. The wide RS52 is 135 centimetres and needs considerably more room to pass a shed or squeeze between two houses.

Both models have a platform length of 245 centimetres, so there is nothing to choose in that direction. The difference is width, and with it stability and working area. If two of you go up with materials, the RS52 is far more comfortable. If you have to pass through a 90 centimetre gate, the choice is made before comfort even comes into it. Both stand side by side on the mobile scaffold rental page.

• The narrowest gate, door or passage on the route to the work area
• The space between the facade and a fence, hedge or parked car
• The clear height under a canopy, balcony or overhanging roof edge
• The room around the tower needed to extend the stabilisers
• The spot where the parts can be left at delivery

Indoors calls for different dimensions than outdoors

Inside the house the door opening is the problem, not the wind. That is what the RS44 room scaffold is built for: it fits through a standard interior door from about 70 centimetres, so you roll it from the hall into the living room without undoing a single bolt. On a job that covers several rooms, that saves a great deal of assembling and dismantling. What comes with the room scaffold is listed on the product page.

Indoors, also watch the floor and the clear height above your head. On a poured floor, laminate or newly laid stairs you want pads under the castors and the wheels kept clean. In a stairwell or over a stairwell opening the set-up is a separate matter, because the four support points no longer sit at the same level. Using a mobile scaffold indoors covers that situation.

The four models side by side

The range holds four models and each one is built around a different dimension: the narrow RS51, the wide RS52, the RS44 room scaffold and the MiTower. Together they cover working heights from 4.2 to 14.2 metres. The table puts the dimensions side by side, so you can see at a glance which model drops out on the passage or on the height you need.

The ground decides how much preparation you need

A mobile scaffold puts its entire weight on four small points. On tiles, paving or concrete you can usually start straight away. On grass, sand or freshly backfilled ground a castor sinks in as soon as load is applied, and you only notice once the tower is a few platforms high. Put load spreading pads underneath and check all four points again after a wet night.

A slight deviation is taken up by the adjustable legs, which is how you level the base frame. A real slope, an embankment or a driveway with a steep fall is another matter, and manhole covers and hatches carry load differently from the paving next to them. If you are unsure about the position, read a mobile scaffold on uneven ground or send us a photo on WhatsApp.

• Tiles, paving and concrete: usually ready to build on straight away
• Grass, sand and garden soil: use pads and recheck after rain
• Slight unevenness: take it up with the legs until the base frame is level
• Manhole covers, gullies and hatches: never use them as a support point
• Slope or embankment: talk it through with us before you book

Working alone or with two people

Whether you are on your own changes the choice more than most people expect. The MiTower is set up as a one person tower and goes up to 6 metres of working height, so hanging a light, sanding a frame or touching up a fascia board needs nobody else. What is included is set out on the MiTower rental page.

An RS51 or RS52 at greater height goes more comfortably with two people: one on top connecting the parts and one below passing them up and watching the stabilisers. That is not a matter of strength but of oversight. On a job where the tower has to be moved several times, two people make it quicker and calmer.

What may stand on the platform

All the equipment is made by Altrex and built to EN 1004, in load class 3. That means 200 kilos per square metre of platform. Everything counts towards it: you, your colleague, your tools, your paint and your materials. A toolbox and a bucket of mortar add up faster than you think, and solar panels or roof tiles run up quickly indeed.

So spread the weight across the platform instead of stacking it in one corner, and take up only what you genuinely need that day. Load and weight on a mobile scaffold explains how to make that calculation. If heavy materials are involved, the wide RS52 with its larger platform is usually the more sensible choice.

How many days you need the scaffold

The rental period counts almost as heavily as the model. The first rental day is charged in full and every following day is 5 percent of that daily rate. A job spread over two weekends therefore gets cheaper per day, and renting for longer than a single day is rarely an expensive decision. What that means for your job is set out on the price per day and the price per week.

Estimate the period generously rather than tightly. Painting that looks like two days on paper runs on through rain or through rot you only spot once you are standing in front of it. Extending during the rental period is possible, but you do not want to be left without a scaffold halfway through a job. How many days to rent a scaffold gives the rules of thumb per type of work.

Delivery or collecting it yourself

Order before 3:00 pm on a working day and the scaffold is with you the next working day, anywhere in the Netherlands. Delivery and collection together are one fixed amount per province, so you know the total before you book. What that amount is for your address is shown on the delivery costs page.

Collecting it yourself is free by appointment at Zeeburgerpad 89 in Amsterdam. That works well if you are nearby and have a van or a trailer, because a complete mobile scaffold does not fit in a passenger car. Make sure you can carry the parts lying flat and bring ratchet straps. The cost of having a scaffold delivered shows when delivery is the more practical option.

The deposit per model and when it comes back

With delivery the deposit is 500 euros for the RS51, the RS52 and the MiTower, and 150 euros for the room scaffold. If you collect it yourself, the deposit is 1000 euros for the RS51 and RS52, 750 euros for the MiTower and 150 euros for the room scaffold. The amount follows the size of the set rather than the height you rent.

The deposit is back in your account within 1 working day of the return, provided the set is complete. So sort the parts together when you hand them back and count them, because a single toe board left in the garden holds up the settlement for no reason. The full conditions are on the deposit page.

You assemble it yourself, with a manual and an instruction video

We deliver the scaffold in parts and you assemble it yourself. The manual for the model you rent comes with the delivery, and an instruction video online shows the sequence. Allow for a level spot to unpack, and lay the parts out in the order you need them: base frame and castors first, then frames, braces and platforms, and finally the guardrails and toe boards.

The assembly order is not a suggestion but part of the standard: guardrails all round, brakes applied, stabilisers extended and climbing on the inside through the hatch. Work through those points before you climb and repeat them every working day. The full sequence is set out step by step in safe assembly according to EN 1004.

When a mobile scaffold is not the obvious choice

Not every job calls for a mobile scaffold. For five minutes of work at two metres a ladder is quicker, although it only works comfortably if you keep one hand free and do not have to reach sideways. As soon as you need tools, materials and both hands, the platform wins. The comparison is set out in ladder or mobile scaffold.

If you have to reach an entire facade in one go, a tower you move repeatedly is not always the most practical answer. And on ground you cannot roll across at all, such as a steep slope or a roof surface, you are looking at a different kind of equipment. What is left is covered in mobile scaffold or cherry picker and in mobile scaffold or facade scaffold.