Shiny new scaffolding

You know what really sort of stinks? Working at heights. You know what is even worse than working at heights? Not having a good way of doing it safely. Last year, we borrowed scaffolding for a big chunk of the building season, but this year, we needed to find a new scaffolding option for our construction needs, which includes a lot of work high off the ground.

Turns out we ended up deciding to buy our own, since no one in the area has an adequate setup that can reach the heights we need. I dreaded having to buy our own set of scaffolding, but I think it was the right choice to make.

Our straw bale house is tall, very tall. A bit too tall for my liking, and my for preference of working on (or at least close to) the ground. I don’t get excited about working on the roof.

We realized we could spend a lot of of frustration trying to make do with a ragtag setup (and dealing with the worry of being unsafe the whole time), or spend the money now and have a complete rig, which we will no doubt use on future projects, as well. I guess calling the scaffolding an “investment” makes it feel better, and eases the pain of the price tag a little bit… Plus, we can always rent to out to other builders.

We ended up getting a 20′ tower package from Scaffoldmart.com, which so far has been a pleasant experience. For some reason, it seems lighter than I would have imagined, but it is still very stable. It’s nice to finally have proper walk boards, too, instead of a lineup of 2x6s and 2x8s up there. That alone makes a huge difference.

We are going to have a lot more opportunities to use the scaffolding in the coming weeks, as we continue to install our siding, and do our living roof edge work. Lucky us.

You can probably tell how much I dislike working at heights by now, but I do feel way better knowing we have a safe way of doing it. It’s like having health insurance! (At least something like that…)