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Scaffolders: why AR...
 

Scaffolders: why ARE THEY SO LOUD???

 Pook
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[#12915577]

Work being done up the road.  One of those castle of scaffolding over the top jobbies.  The blokes* doing it seem unable to talk at level not below 500dB.  They're standing right next to one another.

What music can I put on my Bluetooth speaker to override their crappy Capital Radio box and inane lad lad lad bantz?

*lads lads lads


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:06 am
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You're lucky....the scaffolders on the house next door to mine were talking loudly about....shudder.....eBikes!


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:11 am
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A recent experience with a couple of scaffold crews suggests they might be a bit stimulated on something stronger than caffeine………………..


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:19 am
tuboflard, jamesoz, RustyNissanPrairie and 2 people reacted
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They’re much louder now the all use cordless torque wrenches as opposed to a good old wrench. Even Bloomin tube monkeys gone electric


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:21 am
billiethedog reacted
 nbt
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We had a bunch in to do our house recently - twice actually for two separate jobs, frustratingly. They were loud when throwing poles around and clanging  during the erection (oo-er) but the dismantling at 7.30 on a saturday morning was really quiet. They didn't shout at each other, they worked really quickly and efficiently and did a great job. If anyone needs good scaffolders around the Marple area, I can highly recommend Mapole Scaffolding.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:21 am
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The blokes* doing it seem unable to talk at level not below 500dB. They’re standing right next to one another.

What music can I put on my Bluetooth speaker to override their crappy Capital Radio box and inane lad lad lad bantz?

*lads lads lads

Sometimes I wish I were in a job like that - they always look like they're having a lot more fun at work than I am! 🙂

Probs getting paid more too!


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:23 am
funkmasterp reacted
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The best way to deal with scaffolders is to grab the ringleader get him in a headlock and rub your knuckles on the top of his head, this is the only way to gain their respect.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:25 am
mogrim, oldtennisshoes, thebunk and 12 people reacted
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They're all geezas innit

And you rarely see a fat one. Must be the strongest trade as they spend all day lifting weights


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:27 am
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They are a bit sweary.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:27 am
 kilo
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As above, they’re heavy on gak.

Advice from a late uncle who was high up in Murphys: never get in a fight with scaffolders.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:27 am
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As previously mentioned, scaffolders are unique. Best advice: let the Wookiees win & live another day.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:29 am
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Sometimes I wish I were in a job like that – they always look like they’re having a lot more fun at work than I am

Reminds me of something a friend who worked in an office said to me once about my job in the print trade.

He said he sometimes wished he could spend all day "laughing at farts".

I should have been offended, but still laugh at it something like 30 years later 😂


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:31 am
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An old friend of mine is a scaffolder offshore.

He broke his back at work a few years back. He's Ok and back at work now.

I did a basic scaffolding course at work a few years back, it's quite satisfying. However the speed at which they can work at is quite amazing. Not sure how long it takes to get that quick?


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:31 am
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I deal with scaffolding companies all over the country ....... They freely admit they're a "unique" breed.

Getting them to use an app that will make their lives much easier is like herding cats!


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:35 am
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Yep, you don't mess with scaff lads, the hardest and most mental of all the trades.
Rough as a badgers bum, hard as nails and strong as oxen.
You're a brave man who asks them to turn the tunes down.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:35 am
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never get in a fight with scaffolders

And never **** over a skip company / "waste management" company


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:35 am
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I had scaffolding up recently for the second time in a year. First lot just the Brixton briefcase, second lot a lad sang very loudly, almost operatic. Quite pleasant and amusing in equal measure. I now need a bit of chimney work and am slightly dreading a repeat (as well as the expense).


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:44 am
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Rough as a badgers bum, hard as nails and strong as oxen.

I have always considered that scaffolders are only about 80% human, which probably explains why I generally feel very comfortable in their company.

IME scaffolders are the easiest going trade, partly no doubt because they are rarely reliant on other trades - they come, they see, they scaffold, they go home.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:48 am
funkmasterp reacted
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Never mess with an industry where they created a ratchet, hammer and stabby podger - all combined into one tool.....


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 10:53 am
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They're loud because their tubes are steel. If they used composites they'd be much quieter. Or slightly more realistically, if you snuck on the site and plugged their tubes with expanding foam that would quieten them down a bit.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 11:00 am
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Its nearly the weekend and the poor things are excited. In my Uni days i worked on sites for student cash and all that clanging of pudlocks and steel collars made them a little deaf. We used to have to test the scaffold while they were still on site - talk about a death stare.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 11:06 am
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In a very similar vein, Frankie Boyle on Bin Men


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 11:07 am
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What music can I put on my Bluetooth speaker to override their crappy Capital Radio box and inane lad lad lad bantz?


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 11:12 am
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Quite a few scaffolders I've known over the years must have good insulation, imagine the kwikstage on a wet Feb morning
Some seem to take long holidays 6 months sometimes 9 , not very exotic sunny places eg the big hotel near the M8 Glasgow or maybe head up to Perth gateway to the Highlands or if your lucky the castle just outside Dundee


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 11:13 am
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It's a surprisingly common stereotype that scaffolders are all coked up.

I've had some round my gaff this week. The first pair were great - one wanted his coffee as strong as possible, but was still very chilled, friendly to chat to, and careful round our stuff.  He was probably in his 40's.

The second pair, a few days later... they were 20-somethings and even though it was 8am, if you told me they'd had a cheeky line in the van beforehand (parked on the kerb, on the corner of a T junction) I would not have questioned it!


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 11:42 am
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Terrifying, and you get the impression that the rules (all rules) just don't apply to them - which molly meter maid is going to be brave enough to ticket the flatbed?


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 12:26 pm
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Saw a nice viral video the other day of a customer who'd not paid his scaffolders, so they put up a small selection of poles around his car until he transferred them the cash. It seemed relatively civilised given their reputation.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 12:28 pm
davros reacted
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If the two scaffolders I know are representative, they are likey coked up...


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 12:28 pm
jamesoz reacted
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never get in a fight with scaffolders.

Always discuss things one standard tube length apart and if your job requires a tie, wear a clip on.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 12:32 pm
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7.30 on a saturday morning

blimey that's a late start, but then I guess they probably have to have a brew with 17 sugars before starting properly.
round here (in Germany) they'll start working at 1 nanosecond past 7am, which doesn't stop them preparing to start working before then.
it's the guys digging up the road to put new pipes in that are the noisy ones right now, who need to shout to each other 100m further along the street.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 12:35 pm
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In Building Site Deathmatch the real ones to avoid were the hod-carriers they worked all day in a very physical job and not a half day as scaffolders did (job and knock). Just the scaffolders worked in gangs.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 12:35 pm
 DrP
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I did a basic scaffolding course at work a few years back, it’s quite satisfying. However the speed at which they can work at is quite amazing. Not sure how long it takes to get that quick?

You start low, and build up, I guess....

DrP


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 12:59 pm
mogrim, gifferkev, funkmasterp and 7 people reacted
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It’s a surprisingly common stereotype that scaffolders are all coked up

I think they get thrown off site if they don’t have sufficient stimulants show up on random drug tests.
I’d often see them stop by the garage near our old yard at daft times in the morning, at least one would have a can of Tennants Super on the go.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 1:23 pm
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They certainly are a special breed! It’s  truly frightening some of the work they have to do.
One job one particularly hot summer (when I was still on construction sites) we decided to wear shorts. Site agent said put on trousers or go home. I told him I will put trousers on after he’s told the scaffolders to do the same. We spent the summer in shorts.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 2:01 pm
lowey, funkmasterp, binners and 1 people reacted
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An empty vessel makes the most noise as my old man used to say.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 2:05 pm
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@pook must be a Sheffield thing, loads round here think that everyone wants to hear them


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 2:05 pm
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When I was working in the arches painting cars we had an issue with some non payers.

One of the friendly scaffolders behind us who we used to paint their stolen scaffolding for offered to kill them for £2000.

This was the early 90s, so probably a bit more now.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 2:10 pm
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They boys who put up my scaffolding don't drink, "why would I put that into my body?" Definitely on Pantani's favourite marching powder though.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 2:14 pm
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I’ve a mate who is a scaffolder.

Lovely guy. He is also a single speeder and rides Enduros on a steel hardtail, sends gaps and is as fast AF. Has a nice beer bottle top stem cap.

Was funny when he rode his single speed to one of the hospitals I work at. Not the normal mode of transport.

They had to put five storeys of scaffolding up a mental health unit. He said they were all a bit wary of looking through the windows.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 2:22 pm
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mick_r
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Never mess with an industry where they created a ratchet, hammer and stabby podger – all combined into one tool…..

And some posters are made by king dick tools.

Most of the scaffs I've worked with are as wide as they are tall with hands like shovels.
I'm a rope tech so a job stealing bastard. I've laboured for them and lumping 21ft tubes around all day and passing them up lifts is tough going.

My experience also relates to minimal f++ks given to their H&S.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 2:43 pm
 pk13
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Rule 1 was never upset the pole swingers .

Rule 2 was never go drinking with them.

They do like stimulating energy drinks ***


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 4:37 pm
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How do you get rid scaffold when job is complete ?

Over month they have been storing scaffold at my place....can't communicate with them.

Job paid for as well 🙁

Wondering whether to take it down myself 😉


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 4:46 pm
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They're not all loud


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 4:51 pm
 LAT
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i expect they are deaf and off their tits.


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 6:34 pm
davros reacted
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Gotta say, the scaffolders on site certainly never did the substance abuse, if they did they'd be out on their arse. Definitely rough though, you always made sure you went for a morning shite either before or well after their smoko. Had a couple make their way into ops, mental but good guys.

the dismantling at 7.30 on a saturday morning was really quiet. They didn’t shout at each other, they worked really quickly and efficiently and did a great job.

Suprised nobody has stopped to enlighten you.

What do you think they were up to the night before?
Why do you think they wanted to be quiet?

There you go...


 
Posted : 04/08/2023 7:00 pm
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