17. Improvised Scaffolding, Cranes & Jacks

If you’re at the mercy of US Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) or similar  regulations, then you have to purchase and use expensive proprietary approved scaffolding and rigging devices. But, if not, then you have the opportunity to use your own resourcefulness, creativity and ingenuity or to use time-tested site-built devices to make working at height or raising heavy objects both easy and safe.

[See Safety on the Jobsite for the full list of Safety Tips]

For the 30 years of my building career, I’ve almost always relied on my own improvised or site-built methods, sometimes coupled with already available equipment (such as ladders, ladder jacks and wall and roof brackets) along with hand-picked rough-sawn planks to get me where I needed to go. These devices have never failed.

Testing the Strength of My Building Class’s First Project

Simple, site-built sawhorses are often the first thing built at any job-site, and they can double as scaffold horses. I often prefer to build them 24″ tall – what I call “saw ponies” – as they are more useful and versatile than standard 30″ horses. I’m still using these ponies 8 years later.

If you can nail to the sheathing or to window rough openings, there’s all kinds of options for exterior scaffolding, either with vertical ground posts or triangulated back to the building. Just make sure that vertical legs are well footed and cross-braced and that planks have positive stops or are clamped or nailed in place. And watch out for that “2 inch heart attack” where two planks overlap.

Site-built wall brackets can be custom-made to fit your wall framing (these are sized for my 12″ thick Riversong Truss walls and are “ambidextrous”) and require only two clamps per bracket to hold them securely in place (I would not use them on anything less than 2×6 studs on single walls). Note that the plank is also clamped to the bracket for safety.

For roof framing, I place just-off-center uprights at the calculated ridge height to hold the ridge boards in place and build rectangular braced scaffold brackets to support planks at the right height to align and nail the rafters to the ridge board (the blocking on every second pair of ceiling joists is for a “gangplank” to access the attic above the loose-fill cellulose insulation level from a “hayloft” door at one gable end).

Similarly on the interior when the framing is exposed, temporary platforms can be built – in this case to work on the ceiling above a stairwell.

Creative use of ladders – in this case, a 16′ extension ladder coupled with an 8′ step ladder – allows access in difficult areas, such as in this winding staircase to finish ceiling drywall. Note that planks are clamped to ladder.

 

Adjustable scaffold brackets, braced together, coupled with 2 old Lynn scaffold ladders that I found at a yard sale 20 some years ago, allows a “rising scaffold” along the entire length of a house for installing and applying the final finish coat to novelty drop siding and for roofing the south solar shading roof (clamps on 2×4 “rungs” not shown).

Classic triangle wall brackets with carpet padding are perfect for working above prefinished siding as they require no attachment other than gravity and a single, braced 2×4 post to the ground on a solid footing.

And, by simply using longer 2×4 legs (X-braced with strapping), you can “walk” up the wall to a nearly 16′ height.

Using vertical struts to the legs allows the plank to be moved farther from the building (to clear the soffits, for example) without risking rotation of the wall brackets on the legs, and allows use of a guard-rail (not shown here).

They can be used on any wall surface that doesn’t allow easy attachment.

Combining roof brackets (strategically left in place after roofing) with a ladder jack and a site-built “cupola”, one can work up the siding along an ell addition.

And, with an aluminum scaffold plank, it’s even sturdy enough – with clamped toeboards – to use stepladders to reach the gable peak.

 

 

These aren’t mine, but they’re sturdy fixed-height wall brackets that double as access ladders, made from site scraps.

When a ladder is at any angle shallower than 70°, it should have its feet fixed to the ground to prevent kick-out, either by stakes or tie-backs to the building.

 

 

And, it should be supported mid-span to prevent deflection. A ladder is designed for its rated load only when properly angled (a rung at shoulder height should be an outstretched arm’s length when your feet are at the base). Particularly when extended, a two-section ladder must be supported when at a low angle, such as for roof access.

 

Note spring and bar clamps to keep assembly together, and prevent step ladder “strut” from shifting.

An old boat trailer hand winch, attached to a 4×4 with a loose-pin butt hinge at the base (to attach to subfloor and allow pivoting), and a pillowblock pulley at the top (over which the cable rides), makes a great home-made wall lifter.

And, with a fixed base and a slight forward lean (which makes it into a braced monkey), the same rig works as a beam raiser (or for any other load).

Jinniwink Crane (version 1)

A home-made rotating-base Jinniwink is useful for lifting and placing loads, such as on this flat-bed trailer, using a cable come-along for angling and a rope pulley system through a butt block for lifting.

4:1 Jigger for Mechanical Advantage

Jinniwink Boom Top Block

Jinniwink Crane (version 2)

In this version, a cable come-along serves for both lifting and angling, with the boom base rotating as the load is brought aboard.

A simple lashed tripod can assist in raising loads.

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An A-frame or “shears”, guyed back to an anchor, can be used as a high point to raise loads

or as a pivoting redirect for tilting a timber-frame “bent” to the vertical.

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Or a simple gin pole with a clove hitch can be used as a vector redirect for timberframe raising…

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…with each braced-to-the-ground bent serving as the high-directional pulley mount for the next bent.

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A log “dead man” anchor, held in place by a pair of triple “pickets”, tied back with twisted “windlass” cordage or webbing can provide considerable resistance for a mechanical advantage hauling system.

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Low-stretch kernmantle rope, aluminum swing-cheek pulleys, and 8mm nylon prusik cords creates as much mechanical advantage as required (in this case a complex 5:1) to move otherwise immovable objects  – even by a single person.

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Rollers (1″ iron pipe) dramatically reduce friction and allow heavy objects – even whole buildings – to move with relative ease, and can even be angled to force a turn.

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Jack ledger, poles and screw jacks to raise second floor and roof…

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…so that wall and rotted sills can be replaced.

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PT 4×4 post, angled jack base & screw jack to raise porch roof to level and repair porch.

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Jack ledger, posts and screw jacks to remove and rebuild barn foundation.

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Double 4:1 pulley systems for raising new beam sections to replace rotted beam.

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Moving heavy timbers solo can be accomplished with a handtruck for a trailer and a home-made pull-cart made from an antique lawn mower.

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This site is my gift to you. If you find value here and are moved to reciprocate:

If you need project consultation or design services, contact me directly at

HouseWright (at) Ponds-Edge (dot) net.

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by Robert Riversong: may be reproduced only with author attribution for non-commercial purposes and a link to this page

For more on rigging techniques, see:  Rigging, Rolling & Raising

I teach, and provide consulting services, for technical rigging and rope rescue:

aVERT

a Vertical Emergency Response Training

to aVERT disaster in the VERTical environment

aVERT – a Vertical Emergency Response Training

email: avert (at) ponds-edge (dot) net

See: Ropes & Knots, Hardware & Harnesses for an overview of knotcraft.