lornmastro

i had some jobs painting 17ft. ceilings and i've always been able to handle it with ext. ladders and 12 or 14 ft. a frames. i need to put together an estimate on a 20 x 20 ft. room with 18 ft ceilings and wondering if i'm fooling myself thinking i can do this room without scaffolding. how difficult is scaffolding to put together(how long will it take?) and do you think its light enough for 2 woman to put it together.i was thinking about renting it before the job to check it out but its kind of pricey. what do you all think?? is there a specific one i should rent??

joasis

I am not a painter, but I can tell you that working that kind of area would suck bad working off of A-frame ladders. The prices for scaffloding has really came down in the last few years, probably due to the import and off brand makes. I would think for an investment of $500 you would be set to tackle this one, and you can always sell it later. I use 7ft standard frames, and 2 peaople can easily set them up since you would only need to go one frame up. 4 frames and 3 X braces, 4 connector pins, and 2 walkboards, all for around $500. If you have the budget, get the castor wheels, makes life a lot simpler.

johnjamesalaska

Of course I have not seen your job but cant see needing scaffolding for 17' ceilings. I personally dont like scaffolding for most painting situations. Sometimes you need it but for 99% of the homes there is no need. If I was rolling it I would use a 8' pole that extends to 16... of course it does take muscles ....and would cut in with an extention ladder.
and if I was spraying I would use a 10' A frame step with an 3' extention on my gun with an angle tip. http://cgi.ebay.com/18-Tip-extension...QQcmdZViewItem

In my opinion scaffolding takes too much time
and just gets in the way. But hey thats just how I do it and theres more than one way to skin a cat.

slickshift

Being a one-man show I find it difficult and time-consuming to assemble/move/dis-assemble scaffolding
I have often found that for a little more money than renting the scaffolding, I can get a 20 foot "push-around" cherry picker
The time it saves me can make up for the expense
The ease of use certainly does

It might be worth looking into for your needs

This is a pdf of the line I use
They don't have a pic of the exact one, it's the smallest they've got
It's usually not in the rent-all brochures either, you have to ask for it
http://www.midwestaerials.com/AWP%20SUPER%20SERIES.pdf

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Humble Abode

Thats a awesome idea slick I'll have to look into those.

My advice to lornmastro would be to splurge and rent some scaffolding. And maybe rent one of those cherry pickers. See what you like. Sometimes you can find used scafolding at really good prices.

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Woz the Painter

IMHO.... if you can price scaffolding, either by renting or buying into the job, then rent or buy it. If it's a short job maybe rental would be the way to go. If a long job you might buy it, just make sure you have a place to store it.

lornmastro

thanks for the advice....will check into renting some scaffolding/cherry picker....don't have the room to store the scaffolding but that cherry picker does look very interesting...will look into both....anyhow how long would it take me to set up scaffolding for the first time?? haven't a clue how to price out this job!!

lornmastro

slick...is the cherry picker really like 650 lbs. ....or am i just reading the spec. incorrectly??

slickshift

It could be
The model I use isn't in there, it's a bit smaller, but it's set up like that
I usually pay to have them drop it off, I would have to borrow a pick-up (I use a van for work) and that just runs into me running around more p/u-d/o the truck, the picker...bah I just let them do it
It gets there @ 8AM, I'm painting by 8:15

One guy rolls in to the end of their truck, kinda leans it off and down, and sets it to the ground, I then take it where I gotta go
I have taken it in elevators before, so it didn't hit the max on those
(Though once there was not room for me-I had to send it up alone, then run up the stairs to meet it.....lol)

I call them up when I'm done, so either I'm gone or I leave it outside and work on something else, but the one guy backs it up to their truck and leans it back on
Sometime it's two, but it's been just one also

I don't know if I could do it by myself, but they do

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lornmastro

thanks for the info will call around to the rental companies....i know this is kind of a crazy question but i'm having a difficult time with this estimate since i've never done high ceilings in a room this size(20x20). would really like a little advice....do you think $1200.00 is too much too little $$...its ceiling(1 coat??i hope)/walls(2 coats)/trim(1 coat) ...would love any kind of feedback on this one.

Woz the Painter

That depends if $1200.00 is enough to buy your materials, rent your scaffold and pay for your labor, overhead, and profit. Only you can determine that!

lornmastro

i'm having problem with the labor....how long will it take to paint a 20 x20 ft ceiling??? with scaffolding and with a frame ladders???

paintr56

I would agree with John James I can not see the need for scafolding on this job. The only thing I can think of that might justify it is an extrordinary amount of items to trim around on the ceiling. I would roll with an extention pole, use a brush holder on the pole to trim edges of ceiling down onto the walls a little, a 12' step ladder to trim around any lights or fans etc. Then use an extention ladder against the walls to trim wall color to ceiling I ussually roll side ways around top as I trim it makes rolling with an extention pole from the floor easier on tall walls.

I do own scaffolding and to acually answer your question two women should be able to set up three sections of scaffolding in about ten to fifteen minutes with minimal practice. Assuming you have the room to roll the scaffolding around get the wheels and you will only need to set it up once. My daughter could handle setting it up when she was thirteen.

Depending on how much stuff is in the room that needs to be moved and worked around this should be a one day job.

I hope this helps and good luck

Jim Bunton

lornmastro

thanks all for all your advice...thanks jim for the detailed answer...i think i will look into the cherry picker but will use ladders if the cherry picker doesn;t work out. thanks all for your advice..got to love this forum