Scaffold signal woes

Dave_Gregory

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Hi all,

I have had to have scaffold put up around the chimney as i had a leak :( The boards were about a foot over the LNB so obviously no signal which was to be expected. When the work was done I went up and removed the boards, but I still have no signal so I am guessing the dish was knocked when they put the scaffold up :mad:

Problem is I need to leave the scaffold up at the moment as there is another leak on another part of the roof so cant take it down until all works are finished and proven.

My problem is that I am loath to call out an engineer to fix the alignment as they could easily knock it again when they remove the scaffold, and I am back to square one, so is there anyway I can just move the LNB a little at a time with the wife watching the TV to see when I am on the right plane? or should I buy a sat finder?

Its been about 3 weeks now and the wife and kids are starting to go stir crazy as freeview just isnt cutting it, and thats before I mention the £52 i am wasting a month !!!

cheers
Dave
 
Are you sure the signal isn't being blocked by the tubes as well (1)?

As (presumably) you have a decent platform(2) to stand on - it can't hurt to move the dish with someone else looking at the signal strength in the service menu - use a mobile phone rather than shouting - it will be less stressful.


James


(1) if there is a tube in the way, and it looks ok to move it - you'll find the fittings (couplers) have very perculiar sized nuts (1/2" whitworth) so use an adjustable spanner.


(2) If you have to rearrange the scaffold boards to provide a platform, remember they can only span 4' unsupported. The scaffold, if built correctly (about a 50% chance of that on a chimney stack) should be laid out to accommodate this.
 
Are you sure the signal isn't being blocked by the tubes as well (1)?

As (presumably) you have a decent platform(2) to stand on - it can't hurt to move the dish with someone else looking at the signal strength in the service menu - use a mobile phone rather than shouting - it will be less stressful.


James


(1) if there is a tube in the way, and it looks ok to move it - you'll find the fittings (couplers) have very perculiar sized nuts (1/2" whitworth) so use an adjustable spanner.


(2) If you have to rearrange the scaffold boards to provide a platform, remember they can only span 4' unsupported. The scaffold, if built correctly (about a 50% chance of that on a chimney stack) should be laid out to accommodate this.

Cheers James, I thought of this as well so I will have another look. And yes I had to use mole grips to remove the board at the sides to get the offending boards out originally as none of my spanners fitted.

and yes I do not intend to join Rod Hull for a fair few years yet :D (hopefully)
 
Cheers James, I thought of this as well so I will have another look. And yes I had to use mole grips to remove the board at the sides to get the offending boards out originally as none of my spanners fitted.

and yes I do not intend to join Rod Hull for a fair few years yet :D (hopefully)

Be safe.

Presuming we are talking about the tower that goes up the side of your house:

The uprights (standards) can't be moved.

The horizontals (ledgers) parallel to the wall and level with the platform can't be moved

The horizontals (transoms and board bearers) at right angles to the wall can be moved slightly if you are very careful.

The guard rails, generally about 750mm and 1200mm above the platform level can be moved up and down slighly. But not removed.

The diagonal bracing on the outside face of the tower should not be touched.

The diagonal bracing within the tower, can be moved up and down a bit (so as to change the angle).

Whatever you do, do it with care, and ensure that you leave a note so that who ever comes to use the scaffold after you knows what has been done.
Be especially carefull not to create a 'trap' - where a scaffold board doesn't have a tube within 6" of its end.
 
I had the same problem when I had my roof replaced. The scaffold even blocked the neighbour's dish too, which didn't go down too well.

I just rang the roofing company and they made sure that they removed the boards each night (they just piled them at the back of the scaffold platform when they'd finished each day) and everything was fine.
 
Be safe.

Presuming we are talking about the tower that goes up the side of your house:

The uprights (standards) can't be moved.

The horizontals (ledgers) parallel to the wall and level with the platform can't be moved

The horizontals (transoms and board bearers) at right angles to the wall can be moved slightly if you are very careful.

The guard rails, generally about 750mm and 1200mm above the platform level can be moved up and down slighly. But not removed.

The diagonal bracing on the outside face of the tower should not be touched.

The diagonal bracing within the tower, can be moved up and down a bit (so as to change the angle).

Whatever you do, do it with care, and ensure that you leave a note so that who ever comes to use the scaffold after you knows what has been done.
Be especially carefull not to create a 'trap' - where a scaffold board doesn't have a tube within 6" of its end.

No need to worry I only loosened the guard rail to get the actual boards out that were directly above the dish, none of the scaffold structure has been touched, otherwise I imagine it would end up like kerplunk if you dont know what you are doing. The other 3 sides of board are still in place.

I assume you know your way around scaffolding then?

I am trying to get the scaffolders back to remove the second layer of the scaffold thats around the top of the chimney and just leave a section so that I can investigate further where the remaining leak is so this should resolve my problem or at least I can confidently get an engineer to realign it.

I am not looking forward to fixing the leak as its not obvious where its coming in as no loose slates or tears in the lead work valley. Water is getting in somewhere and tracking down either on oak beam or the valley and is coming out where they meet. I dont want to start removing all the slates as this might cause more trouble, so I am going to cut some inspection holes in the lath and plaster ceiling to see next to the beam to see if I can see / feel the water trail and then pinpoint where its getting in, to then focus on that area.

Somebody remind me why I bought a lodge that was built in 1904 rather than a new house that needs nothing doing to it :lease:
 
Sorry Dave for asking but you're not by any chance Dave Gregory from the mighty XTC are you? If so, you could always use a Ball and Chain to sort out your problem! If you're not, sorry for asking. Ball and Chain was a minor hit for XTC (my fave band btw!)

martin
 
I assume you know your way around scaffolding then?

I write software for scaffolding companies - and put the stuff up in my gap year before uni:rolleyes:

I am trying to get the scaffolders back to remove the second layer of the scaffold thats around the top of the chimney and just leave a section so that I can investigate further where the remaining leak is so this should resolve my problem or at least I can confidently get an engineer to realign it.

The leak in my stack which took a year to find (good job I get cheap scaffolding), turning out to be a crack in the haunching around the pot (ie the concrete should on top of the stack). Had all the lead and felt nearby replaced, before I took a ladder up so I could look at the top of the stack :thumbsdow
 
I write software for scaffolding companies - and put the stuff up in my gap year before uni:rolleyes:


The leak in my stack which took a year to find (good job I get cheap scaffolding), turning out to be a crack in the haunching around the pot (ie the concrete should on top of the stack). Had all the lead and felt nearby replaced, before I took a ladder up so I could look at the top of the stack :thumbsdow

LOL I write software for manufacturing companies so I can tell you all about Bill of materials if you want :D

Ouch a whole year :eek:

Fortunately for me it was obvious where the leaks in the stack was as you could see that some of the bricks were loose from the floor. I had a leak coming down two of the chimneys, 1 in the wood burner in the lounge and 1 dripping onto the hardboard above the aga. The top load or courses were stepped (corbled??) so it let water sit on each course so the mortar had failed in places so that it where the water was getting down the chimey.

We removed all the haunching on the top which looked like it had been patched a couple of times before, and the top 4 or 5 courses of brick and then rebuilt it all rather than patching it only to fail x years down the line. Do it properly once for the extra day of labour will save cost in the long run.

Dave
 
Sorry Dave for asking but you're not by any chance Dave Gregory from the mighty XTC are you? If so, you could always use a Ball and Chain to sort out your problem! If you're not, sorry for asking. Ball and Chain was a minor hit for XTC (my fave band btw!)

martin

Hi Martin,

Unfortunately we are not the same person, although I would love to be able to play as well as him :D

Dave
 
Well my no signal due to scaffold woes have now gone, as the scaffolders came and removed the majority of it all yesterday :D

Unfortunately I still have 1 leak left to find but the scaffold I have left isnt affecting the signal thankfully.
 

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