Working on a chimney stack with no scaffolding…..

Is it possible to do this safely, and how??

Though I’d save myself some cash by intalling log burner myself but when I went up to chimney to put flue down it became apparent the chimney stack needs some work carried out on it which I will be able to do myself…….but will I have to spend the money I saved by self-installing woodstove on scaffolding or is there an alternative?

thanks

Hire a cherry picker

If your DIYing, you can just attach your harness to a sky hook – no scaffolding required.

Serious answer – if you think you can do the work from a ladder, then crack on. Only you can decide if you NEED scaffolding.
If you think you do need a platform to work from, then maybe a tower would work – depends on access really.

think about what you are asking. no, i mean think about it – if you are happy risking your neck to save a few quid, crack on.

have you got kids? married? just asking like.

we used this but it might not be any use if the chimner stack is on a gable..

platform ladder staging system

but the teams using it said it wasn’t the safest they’ve ever been so we binned it and went back to proper scaffolds erected by a professional company.

As above, too many unknowns to give a decent answer, but it will probably take at least 3 times longer to do whatever you need to do.

Where are you? I have a tower that is not being used at the moment.

didn’t Rod Hull ask Emu this very same question?

I’ve just hired these when I wanted to do at height work:

You need a Gable end.

NB My chimney fitters pulled the liner up from the bottom with a rope, that way the guy on the roof never had a large mass to handle and just was up a ladder pulling on a rope over the chimney – much more stable.

Yeah, I agree with Smudger….it just ain’t worth taking a chance.

However if you can secure a Harness to the chimney, (£40 ish to buy) then you’d at least be immune to falling far.

many people fall from roofs every year and are seriously injured, and some dont work on roofs without scaffolding.

only yopu can decide the risks, and how to pay the mortgage, if you fall and cant work again.

Yes, you will have to spend the money you saved, but the contractor would have stung you for the extra work anyway, or would have left it in a state for you to fix later.
Hire a tower or cherrypicker, save yourself a broken neck. Cement & bricks are heavy, you need 2 hands free to do any worthwhile work.

I Have used Roofing Ladders and Ladder Cripples with scaffold platform on it before.
It did not comply with ANY H&S requirements at all and was not suitable for a gable end.

I was used to working at height, used to working on unguarded platforms and cripples and I didn’t have much to do (About a days work) and I was able to borrow the kit.

Now I am older (Fatter) and +2 kids, I would scaffold it 😉

on unguarded … cripples

I suspect the “I was a kid in the 1970’s” mental image I now have is not the correct one.

About 30 years ago, a chap at our place had to do some work on the roof round the back of his house. He tied a safety rope around his waist and to the towbar of his car, parked at the front.
What could possibly go wrong? . . . .

His wife popped out to the shops. 😯

on unguarded … cripples

I suspect the “I was a kid in the 1970’s” mental image I now have is not the correct one.

More like the don’t play on electricity pylon “Jimmieeeeeee……..” safety films from the 70’s.

Thanks for sensible replies, much the same replies my SOH and two daughters (21 & 18) were giving me!

Not on gable end so might look at the tower option to get me to gutter level (!) and to use as a platform to get up the roof with cat ladder. Could keep all tools needed and cement mix on tower and then use cat ladders to get up to stack to work with a harness

Neilwheel….I’m based on the Wirral, I dont suppose you’re close?

Sorry, nowhere near.

If you go for the above be careful of putting any side load into the tower.

Chimney stacks are also often worse the deeper you go, so steady away.

I often get asked to balance on a roof with my hand board in one hand and a trowel in the other to plaster a chimney off a cat ladder,yes sounds daft now doesn’t it.

You can buy or hire angle grinders and use same without any training 🙄

At work all grinding/cutting equipment is under lock & key and We have to attend a training course before using. Plenty of YouTube video evidence as to why 🙁

In work ladders are now under lock and Key for the same reason. Health and safety may have gone mad but generally its saving lives.

Depending on how far you stack protrudes above the ridge line, I’ve found you can do most things (a bit of re-building, removing pots, capping with a paving slab, installing a liner, etc.)whilst sitting astride the ridge or standing on a roof ladder from 1 side. At the end of the day, only you can decide how comfortable you feel in the situation.

However if you can secure a Harness to the chimney, (£40 ish to buy) then you’d at least be immune to falling far

Don’t google injuries from safety harnesses!

Working in construction, I get weekly updates on news and prosecutions from the HSE – there’s always a good entry of darwin nominees for falls, yet still people take unnecessary risks.

Good

Not so good

Fun!

Perfectly acceptable to use a tower then crawler. One question I would ask tho is what sort of pitch and what roofing material. Also bear in mind we’re due some frosts over the next few days in places.

Highest ally scaff tower with a cantilever extension is 8.1m working height. If that will get you to your roof, roofing ladder and up you go. Will cost you around £300 for a week, many places will only hire for that long.
Don’t sit the ladder on the scaff tower, it will go horribly wrong. The towers aren’t the most stable thing and in ‘industry’ you need a ticket to erect one, so make sure you are happy with it. They can feel a bit fragile up over the 5m mark, I’m a rope access tech and I hate the things, along with ladders. Give me a pair of ropes any day!
I’d also consider the worth of a harness and securing yourself to the stack, considering that you are up there to repair it? I’d have to be pretty sure it was absolutely bombproof to consider it a suitable anchor point, would be more happy with a rope fired over the roof and anchored to something like a van or **** off big tree below. Won’t be my funeral though, so you do whatever feels right!…

Wow some interesting replies here.

Don’t do it. Employ professional’s!

Scaffolding will cost around 350 quid and you will save a couple of days working by being able to access things properly.

Cherry picker hire, around 200 plus vat for training alone and don’t even think about using one without it.

Aluminium towers, fairly cheap to rent usually by the day etc. But very easy to get wrong in use and not suited for what you need. It wontbe stable enough to run a ladder against and work safely.

Your comment “Could keep all tools needed and cement mix on tower and then use cat ladders to get up to stack to work with a harness” suggests you are well out of your depth so really ought to employ someone else and use the days you save to earn cash to cover the bill.

Oh and don’t even think about using a harness unless you are trained and have a rescue plan in place.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1223&bih=596&q=safety+harness+injury&oq=harness+inj&gs_l=img.1.1.0j0i5l4j0i24l3.878.3541.0.6759.11.10.0.1.1.0.128.984.7j3.10.0.msedr…0…1ac.1.58.img..0.11.989.YWHnuVY-W34

You might think this is scaremongering but serious things happen at height.

Please do take a look at the guy who went balls out.

As a DIY type who has hired a tower to paint up to the apex of a roof and a cherry picker (genie) to remove a chimney my vote goes for paying for proper scaffolding. Get a quote, I think that £350 guess will be about right. The extra ease of working will be well worth the extra cost.

^^ I said don’t google harness injuries FFS!

Not dinnertime safe!

Rubber Buc, that isn’t a random guess. Im owner of a scaffolding company 😆 The number of times I have this conversation is ridiculous.

40mpg, you did say that but it hadn’t refreshed by time I posted. No pics present tho, to click or not is up to the op.

So removing a chimney, on a ladder tied to the battens is a no no then?

i’m a joiner by trade, worked as a one man band for last ten years, in conjunction with a roofer, fitted many chimney liners in the past, and worked on roofs day to day. my advice? get scaffolding. impossible to carry out any significant work on a chimney from cat ladders, where are you gonna put a bucket of cement? are you happy standing on a ridge without holding on? spare materials? as above, a chimney scaff should be about £300, buy it, crack on.

wwaswas – Member

on unguarded … cripples

I suspect the “I was a kid in the 1970’s” mental image I now have is not the correct one.

Quite possibly !!

These are what I was talking about, amazed you can still legally hire them. 🙄
We used to set them up on roof ladders, above and below the stack with boards to work from.

Normally just painting Rendered stacks though rather than rebuilding them. proper scaffolding is much nicer to work on, if not quite as easy to set up and tear down DIY.

Bunch of fannys! What would twinwall do? 😆

The guy who fitted my stove earlier this year insisted on scaffolding due to the height of my chimney: think it cost £400. I thought it seemed a lot at the time, but, from what I’ve subsequently heard, it was about standard for round here (Surrey).

We hired a roof ladder and I climbed from the ladder up onto the chimney lowering a rope to the wife below and pulled the liner up from between my feet. It was easy if you’ve got a; a head for heights b ; a harness slings and climbing rope enough to build a belay to climb using and a static anchor of the chimney to attach to once up there.
The whole cost of hiring in traders was simply insulting. More than just pricey.

but the teams using it said it wasn’t the safest they’ve ever been so we binned it and went back to proper scaffolds erected by a professional company.

Gives me the willies just looking at it. This could though be connected to me falling off a ladder a couple of weeks ago, luckily it was only from my outhouse roof, but 10 ft is still 10 ft…

Heard enough stories of chimney stacks disintegrating when used as anchors to never want to rig off one unless I knew it was absolutely bomber.

Hover boots

Jet pack

Put it this way , if you fall of the roof your more then likely gonna up in a box or a wheel chair , worth saving a few hundred quid ??

In the last five years, I’ve had an uncle fall off a roof and seriously injure his back, another uncle fell through a car port (and got lucky with loadsa bruises) a guy a work fell off when his ladder slid away under him whilst using it on a flat roof, and another guy at work was on his single story roof, fell off and saved his head by sticking his arm out. Unfortunately his arm didn’t fare so well, bones and ligaments everywhere, coming up to 6 months off work, still no strength in his hand and no feeling either. He is a manual worker…

Forget the equipment hire, pay someone! I parked my van under the gutter and climbed up above it on my bungalow roof (using a ladder, the van just reduced the chance of hitting concrete!) to cut away an old telephone bracket and that was bad enough, all I needed was a pair of cutters in my pocket!