How To Hire A Boom Lift To Paint Your Home

If your home's exterior has seen better days, you may have wondered whether you could save money painting it yourself. Whether you want to paint your walls or siding, sand down and stain or re-paint wooden windowsills or even faint the fascia around your gutters, a boom lift can help you. There are different ways to save money and the right solution for you will depend on the length of your project.

1.    What Are The Advantages Of Boom Lifts?

The safety platforms on boom lifts can be hydraulically raised, lowered and rotated. They are the easiest way to paint your home as you can keep a range of paints, brushes, tools and other things with you on the platform. If you try and paint your home using a ladder, the quality of your painting will suffer as you have to find a way to hold the paint without getting tired. Ladders can be dangerous and may damage the sides of your home such as vinyl siding if you aren't careful. Hire a boom lift to do the best quality DIY job of repainting your home.

2.    Get Trained, Choose Dry Hire

If you are trained to operate a boom lift you can dry hire a boom lift (without an operator) and save a huge amount over the cost of wet hire (with an operator). In Australia anyone without any experience of using a boom lift can take an Elevated Work Platform Train & Assess course and become proficient over 2 days. If you pass the theory and practical assessments, you will receive the necessary license of operate a boom lift. If you are looking to use a boom lift for an extended period, this course will work out cheaper than wet hiring. It will also come in handy in subsequent years when you want to repaint.

3.    Check The Hiring Firm's Pro Rata Rate

Boom lifts are hired out at rates based on periods of hire and hours of usage. You can end up paying more than you planned if you fail to understand the terms of the hire rates. For example, ‘a day' in the hire contract might mean 8 hours, spaced throughout 24 hours. If you use the boom lift for longer than 8 hours, you will be charged pro rata. Therefore, a firm with a higher rental rate but longer hours of usage may work out more cost effectively if you plan on using the Boom Lift for a long time during the day.
Diesel Or Electric?

While most boom lifts have their hydraulics run by a diesel motor, some have electric drive motors which run off batteries. These are usually for indoor situations such as for use inside shopping malls as they have small wheels. There are instances where you might prefer a quiet electric lift such as in certain residential situations where noise levels are critical. Before you choose the slightly cheaper electric models though, you will need to consider whether you require a generator. If you plan on working somewhere for an extended time without an adequate electricity supply, generator rental will be an additional expense. For most residential situations, a diesel boom lift with rugged tires will be the preferred choice.

If you are looking to hire a boom lift to paint your exteriors all by yourself, you might consider consulting Vulcan Engineering in Perth, Western Australia as they provide electric as well as diesel run boom lifts. To get more information on boom lifts simply visit this site today.