Lifts for commercial painting projects: types, access considerations and how to save money
Posted on October 14, 2022
Commercial painting is all about efficiency. The faster a commercial painter can paint a project, the lower the price for the client. Painting a project more efficiently depends on how the commercial painter paints large projects without constantly setting up and taking down ladders.
Time spent setting up and moving ladders is massive on commercial painting jobs, often resulting in higher labor hours for the client.
Usually, by using a lift on a large commercial painting job site, we can save our Client more than the cost of the lift in labor costs.
Aerial work platforms and man lifts:
We use several aerial work platforms in commercial painting – scissor lifts, telescopic boom lifts, and articulating boom lifts.
Interior and exterior uses of lifts on a painting site:
Lifts save money on commercial job sites (and some residential projects, too) by reaching tall heights more easily. Indoor lifts help painters and carpenters reach high walls and ceilings, while outdoor lifts easily reach tall outdoor buildings and structures.
Lifts also make it easy to move painters from one exterior section to another (even on buildings that are not tall) because there are no ladders to move. The time savings of driving a lift to the next building versus constantly setting up and taking down ladders, saves massive labor hours, resulting in a lower overall cost of the project.
Generally, when working at 36 feet+, we rent lifts with a platform height of 45 feet. This extra footage gives the painter some extra leeway up and down.
Types of lifts we rent for commercial painting projects:
Articulating boom lifts: Great for painting hard-to-reach places. Bonus, it can turn 360 degrees.
Straight boom lifts: Similar to an articulating boom, but it doesn’t rotate.
Rough Terrain Scissor lift: Can only go up and down up to about 60 feet high but is meant to operate on uneven terrain like grass, dirt, and gravel of a job site.
Electric Scissor Lift: This can only go up and down, and is meant for indoor jobs in high places. It’s wheels or tracts won’t leave marks on indoor floors.
Scaffolding
When working under 15 feet, scaffolding might be a good idea to increase access. However, to reach heights over 15 feet high, using a lift is usually safer and more efficient.
In residential situations, scaffolding is often the right answer when access is difficult or especially high.
Reduce the cost of the lift by choosing the most cost-effective rental period
To rent a man lift, we estimate how long the painting project will take. Adding a bit of extra time you’ll need the lift will allow for weather and other delays. You can always return the lift rental early and pay less.
Compare daily, weekly and monthly rates. The daily rate is the highest per-day rate, while monthly rates offer the lowest per-day rate.
Consider bundling two jobs together, renting the lift for a more extended period to get a lower daily rate, and moving the lift between the two jobs (factor in the move fee to the price). This means even if we have two different clients, we can often rent one lift for a month, securing the lowest “per-day” rate and moving it to the other client’s location halfway through the rental period. Because we work on so many interior and exterior commercial painting projects each year, using the lift for two jobs (even if the jobs are not for the same client) is one of the advantages we offer our commercial painting clients looking to save money on lifts and equipment.
When painting commercial (and sometimes residential) properties, we always work to save our commercial painting clients time and money. Lifts and scaffolding allow us to work faster and at greater heights than ladders.
If you have questions about a Commercial Painting Project, contact Dave at (781) 422-1018 or [email protected].
