# Help with reaching this foyer



## jr.sr. painting (Dec 6, 2013)

I need some advice on reaching this interior dome foyer ceiling. Height is 28' floor to ceiling. The chandelier is completely in the way and there is no mechanical pulley or way of lowering the chandelier. The floor is travertine and is being repaired and filled with epoxy on the bad cracks. Is it possible to rent a small lift that will fit inside a standard 36" door? There are a few cracks to be repaired in the ceiling as well as re caulking the trim. Would I be better off with scaffolding or a lift maybe one the can articulate around the chandelier. Any advice is greatly appreciated 


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## Epoxy Pro (Oct 7, 2012)

Myself I would use planks and ladders all day.


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## ParamountPaint (Aug 25, 2016)

A bold fellow might lay some planks on top of the railings with some canvas to protect the rails. 

A smart fellow might set up some scaffold on opposing sides of the landing and use an extendable plank to bridge it.

*Generally, if someone can afford to build a house with circular stairs and big chandeliers, they might be expected to be able to afford to properly maintain such a place. I wouldn't listen to any sob stories about it...just do whatever it takes to do safely and charge appropriately.


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

Since there is no way to lower the chandelier, maybe ask them how the hell they change the light bulbs and go from there. Damn cheap ass builders.


$50 says they ask you to change that one bulb while your up there.


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## ParamountPaint (Aug 25, 2016)

PACman said:


> Since there is no way to lower the chandelier, maybe ask them how the hell they change the light bulbs and go from there. Damn cheap ass builders.
> 
> 
> $50 says they ask you to change that one bulb while your up there.


We get asked to clean the chandeliers...not doing it.


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## AngieM (Apr 13, 2016)

I did a circular foyer, similar to this one. Drywallers skimmed the entire thing and I had to spray prime it and paint it. Same exact chandelier hanging that I had to mask. 

I had a 6 ft Werner scaffold and the home owner happened to have one too. I stacked it, one on top the other and used it to mask that chandelier and cut in what I could reach. For over the stairs, I used a pivot ladder stabilizer and an extension ladder with someone at the bottom to hold it since I was 70 degree angle. 

I rolled the entire thing on top that scaffolding, rolling horizontally. I have pictures I'll try and find. 

Hope that helps


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## AngieM (Apr 13, 2016)

If you rent it, you'll be able to get the outrigs and railing, which would have been MUCH safer.

A Scissor lift is an option, but I'd be very leary with a travertine floor. 

Depending how high you need to get, you could lean an extension ladder against one wall, and plank to an A frame at the top of the stairs. 

I'm sure you're charging according based on the difficulty factor. Most painters I know would run from a project like this. But not us 😉


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## bobross (Jun 27, 2016)

2 Baker scaffolds if they will fit on opposite sides then place 2-3 planks across. Make sure to tie off the planks so they don't slide or move as well as tie them together. Talking aluminum planks not wood.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

bobross said:


> 2 Baker scaffolds if they will fit on opposite sides then place 2-3 planks across. Make sure to tie off the planks so they don't slide or move as well as tie them together. Talking aluminum planks not wood.


yep ^^^


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## ParamountPaint (Aug 25, 2016)

It might be 28'...but that is from the bottom floor. Looks to me like you can set some frames on the landing and plank across.


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## jr.sr. painting (Dec 6, 2013)

Thanks for all the replies I will look into those options 


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## journeymanPainter (Feb 26, 2014)

Scaffold either side, plank across to each scaffold, and if possible set up guard rails

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## fipple (Oct 12, 2016)

Call the people that did it before ....its been painted at some point....Tricky one indeed!...mAYBE 2 ladders either side and double plank/board across to produce a walkable platform and then pray you dont fall.


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## fipple (Oct 12, 2016)

Rent a midget that can paint and extend him or her(dont want to be sexist do we  and extend the midget all the way up....if theyre light you could hold the pole with one hand while they paint and use your phone with the other hand and send tweets out to your friends at how your ingenuity and thinking out of the box is paying off....


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## Gracobucks (May 29, 2011)

In Winnipeg, MB our scaffold can not be higher then 3 times its base. A baker scaffold with outriggers base is roughly 5' allowing you to build up to 15'. Still too short for what you need. I think you would have to build a standard scaffold to do this safely. Also here you would need fall protection because you are working over 10'. I don't use planks often here but I am pretty sure workplace safety wouldn't like the idea of you using them with out fall protection and guard rails. I would look into getting a one man person lift. They fit through a 32" door, easy to push around and cheap to rent. Cover some of your costs of the rental by cleaning the chandelier.


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

ParamountPaint said:


> We get asked to clean the chandeliers...not doing it.


We often get asked to re-lamp and clean chandeliers. We're happy to do that, since the clients are paying painter wages for janitorial work. As a matter of course, we don't just replace the burned out lamps, we replace all of them.

As for scaffolding, I'd go with towers of sectional scaffolding clamped together. Add planks on side and end brackets and outriggers below if needed. Something that height we'd do ourselves. We did some work in a church years that needed something similar. That one was 60 feet high, so we hired out the scaffolding.


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## Mr Smith (Mar 11, 2016)

I wouldn't walk on planks from that height. You'd have to rig some type of rail system and additionally I'd certainly use a harness attached to the stairwell railings. Remember,with planks, you'll have to put a rolling pan on it and step around it.

If you want to spend a little more money (recommended), have a scaffold company build one for you. They'll do everything. They'll also bring plywood to place on the floor for protection. It's not as expensive as you might think.

Whenever the topic of safety comes up I often think about Artie Lange's father who was a roofer and became a paraplegic because of a fall off a roof. His father actually stole the ladder they used that day so he couldn't sue anyone and he had no insurance. I would spend the extra few bills and get a scaffold built.

Like others have suggested,charge the customer $50 to dust off the chandelier and replace the bulbs.


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## fauxlynn (Apr 28, 2011)

Do not rest anything on those railings. Risky.

I've done a few spaces similar to this. Baker scaffolding and planks. Took us five hours to set up properly on one job, one hour to glaze the ceiling, three hours to break it all down. Had to be done in one day.


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## ParamountPaint (Aug 25, 2016)

Here was a 3 high baker setup. They have the larger outriggers for that. I wasn't fond of it, so I anchored the corners with guy wires. This was years ago...I wouldn't do the same today. That was a sloped floor and I left the pews in place.


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

Mr Smith said:


> I wouldn't walk on planks from that height. You'd have to rig some type of rail system and additionally I'd certainly use a harness attached to the stairwell railings. Remember,with planks, you'll have to put a rolling pan on it and step around it.
> 
> If you want to spend a little more money (recommended), have a scaffold company build one for you. They'll do everything. They'll also bring plywood to place on the floor for protection. It's not as expensive as you might think.
> 
> ...



I'm not sure what would be accomplished by tying off to the railings. Probably just add insult to injury: fall, rip out a chunk of the railing, hit the floor...and then have the broken railing land on you. The legal strength for fall-protection anchors is substantially above that for railings.

If the market would bear it, going with a commercial scaffolding outfit would be great. Around here, at least, that would be spendy.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

Unless I am seeing the situation incorrectly, it appears there are two level floor surfaces offering a pretty good amount of space directly opposite each other. Wouldn't the simplest thing be to erect some shorter scaffolding on each side and then extend metal planking across, over the handrails, to establish a secure working surface? This seems to be what several others have suggested and would, IMO, address the situation just fine. Not sure why it's being suggested by some to have a scaffolding company come in and erect a platform from the ground all the way up. Am I missing something?

Personally, I would not want to use ladders and planks in a situation like this.


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## PRC (Aug 28, 2014)

RH said:


> Unless I am seeing the situation incorrectly, it appears there are two level floor surfaces offering a pretty good amount of space directly opposite each other. Wouldn't the simplest thing be to erect some shorter scaffolding on each side and then extend metal planking across, over the handrails, to establish a secure working surface? This seems to be what several others have suggested and would, IMO, address the situation just fine. Not sure why it's being suggested by some to have a scaffolding company come in and erect a platform from the ground all the way up. Am I missing something?
> 
> Personally, I would not want to use ladders and planks in a situation like this.


Agreed. It looks like what's needed is 2 6' bakers, 5 8-13' aluminum extension planks and enough straps to secure the planks. The toughest spot to reach looks to be the ceiling/wall transition directly over the stairs. May need to put a 24' ladder up there to get the cut. Or use a brush extender from the planks.


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## Gracobucks (May 29, 2011)

I don't think you'd reach the top with baker scaffolds and planks. That light has to be 4' tall and looks like there is 6' of chain on it. It hangs just above the rail which must be 40" or so giving you a peak height of 13' 4" +/-. You would never get the planks on the top of a 6' baker with out trying to move the light.


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## jr.sr. painting (Dec 6, 2013)

Update on the foyer situation. The light will be removed (by electrician)after we setup the scaffolding. My question is how many levels of scaffolding is considered safe? From the floor to the top of railing is 14' and top of railing to top of dome is 13'. 


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

jr.sr. painting said:


> Update on the foyer situation. The light will be removed (by electrician)after we setup the scaffolding. My question is how many levels of scaffolding is considered safe? From the floor to the top of railing is 14' and top of railing to top of dome is 13'.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


There is safe and there is 'safe'. It depends on where you are, states that have their own version of OSHA may have stricter rules. Some jurisdictions allow the maximum height of the scaffold to be only 3 times the narrowest dimension of the base, so a standard 5 x 7 tower could only be 15 feet high. In your case, I'd aim for a tower that was ~20 high at the highest working level.

OTOH, in this particular situation, it would be tough for a scaffold tower to tip over.


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## Gracobucks (May 29, 2011)

Here the scaffold can not be higher then 3 times the shortest base width. (Base is 5' then max height would be 15', (outriggers add to the base) After 30' the scaffold needs to be engineered. After 10' you need fall protection. You and/or your guys would also need to be trained in scaffold safety and fall protection and would need a safework procedure and safework practice for both. It might be totally different where you are. You would have to check your local regulations.


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## thinkpainting/nick (Dec 25, 2012)

We use regular scaffold the bakers are way to shaky high up outriggers or not. The one man lifts work great if you can find one not easy here always rented out. If in a real jam we have the scaffold company due the erecting as they are pros. I've done more then my my fair share but they see stuff like this everyday.

As for cleaning the chandelier we always do that always customers love it and referrals go a long way. We add in costs for any and all rentals or staging and mark it up as a good business owner should do.


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