Scaffolding Question

Rusty190

I'm looking to have some chimney repairs carried out on a capped off chimney at the gable end of my terraced house.
There is a small single storey "extension" attached to the gable end wall with an apex(?) roof which spans the full width of the wall and is half mine and half my attached neighbours'.
I believe this "extension" was part of the original construction of the houses and was once the coalhouse/outhouse.
The party wall of the extension does not go all the way up to the outer roof height ie. from my loft, I could step over the knee high "party wall" and be standing in my neighbours loft and vice versa.
Am I correct in my assumption that putting weight bearing scaffolding on such a roof would be disastrous? 

Section62

Rusty190 said:

I'm looking to have some chimney repairs carried out on a capped off chimney at the gable end of my terraced house.
There is a small single storey "extension" attached to the gable end wall with an apex(?) roof which spans the full width of the wall and is half mine and half my attached neighbours'.
I believe this "extension" was part of the original construction of the houses and was once the coalhouse/outhouse.
The party wall of the extension does not go all the way up to the outer roof height ie. from my loft, I could step over the knee high "party wall" and be standing in my neighbours loft and vice versa.
Am I correct in my assumption that putting weight bearing scaffolding on such a roof would be disastrous? 

It depends what (additional) loadbearing capacity the roof has.  But ultimately is a call for the scaffolders.  If they think the roof doesn't have capacity for some extra load then they can span over the roof.  E.g. using ladder beams or effecting the same using standard components.

However, if the load is spread using boards, then the average roof ridge is capable of supporting a fair amount of additional load unless the roof structure is already defective.

The absence of a full-height party wall isn't likely to be an issue only an issue unless the roof is constructed using only purlins and these have to span an excessive distance for their size.

Rusty190

Apologies.
 I missed out a potentially key piece of information in my description.
The scaffolding in question would only be on my side of the roof and on my decking - nothing on my neighbours half or on his land.
There was mention of a "cantilever" by the builder but I forgot to mention the lack of central wall support when he was here.
I'm just concerned that in my quest for smart, tidy brickwork, I end up with a huge hole in the roof! 

twopenny

Can you get a scaffolder to come round and explain how he'd do it?
They should be so skilled that they would be able to do it.
As it possibly won't be the scaffolder that the builder has you could offer to pay cash for his time.
Check how much first though 😉

Section62

twopenny said:

Can you get a scaffolder to come round and explain how he'd do it?
They should be so skilled that they would be able to do it.
As it possibly won't be the scaffolder that the builder has you could offer to pay cash for his time.
Check how much first though 😉

Better to talk to the builder.  They know what their scaffolder can and can't do, and also know what they will be using the scaffolding for (in terms of loading).

If ladder beams are needed these are often hired in by smaller companies, so asking one scaffolder how they'd tackle the problem could give a different answer to the one given by one the builder uses.

The party wall not being full height should only matter in a limited set of circumstances - in most cases it won't affect whether the scaffolding will work.

Most scaffolders know what they are doing, and won't put up a scaffold which might cause the building supporting it to collapse.  The scaffold would then be unsafe to work on, and may be damaged, which would give the scaffolder the headache of safely removing a potentially dangerous/damaged scaffold.