What Size Scaffold Tower Do You Need For A Two-Storey House?
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This is the single most common question we are asked, and it has two answers, because "what size" is really two questions wearing one coat: how high, and how wide.
The height: around 6m working height
Take a standard two-storey house. The gutter sits at roughly 5.5m to 6m above the ground. You do not need a platform at that height — you need a platform about two metres below it, so the work is at chest and head level rather than at your feet.
That gives you a working height of around 6m, which puts the platform at roughly 4m. On every tower page here, the number in the title is the working height, so a 6m tower is what you are looking for.
Two things push that number up:
- A raised ground floor. Victorian and Edwardian houses often sit well above street
level. If there are more than three or four steps up to the front door, measure rather than assume — you may be looking at 7m.
- Roofline rather than gutter. Bargeboards, verge tiles and the top of a gable are
above the gutter. For those, 7m to 8m.
And one thing that pulls it down: if the job is only a single-storey extension, a garage or a porch, 4m is enough, and a smaller tower is quicker to build and easier to shift along the wall. The height guide has the full table.
The width: it depends on the route, not the job
This is the part people get wrong, and it is the part that wastes a day.
A standard internal door in a UK house is about 762mm wide. A 750mm single-width tower passes through it in components — down a hallway, through a kitchen, out of a back door, along a side return. A 1.35m double-width tower does not; its components will, but the built tower will not, so it has to reach the work from open ground.
So the question to ask is not "how big is the job" but "how does the tower get to the wall?"
- Front elevation, open driveway, no obstruction — take the 1.35m platform. The extra
deck space pays for itself the moment two of you are up there with materials.
- Rear elevation reached through the house, or down a passage narrower than a metre —
take the 750mm. It is the only one that will get there.
- Side return with a gate — measure the gate, not the passage. Gates are usually the
narrowest point and they are rarely as wide as they look.
The size guide covers measuring the narrowest point, the floor area you need including stabilisers, and the clear height required while you build.
What people over-hire
Two patterns, both expensive.
Too tall. Someone measures to the ridge of the roof when the job is at the gutter. A tower two sizes bigger than the job is heavier to build, needs more space for the stabilisers, and costs more per week for nothing.
Too wide. Someone books the roomy platform, and then finds the only way to the back garden is through a side gate. The tower arrives, the components fit through, the built tower does not, and the job stalls while the right one is arranged.
Both are avoidable in ninety seconds with a tape measure.
The quick version
| Job | Working height | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Gutters, fascias, soffits, painting — two-storey | 6m | 1.35m if you have open ground, 750mm if not |
| Roofline, bargeboards, gable | 7m to 8m | 1.35m where possible |
| Single-storey extension, garage, porch | 4m | Either |
| First-floor window or vent, reached through the house | 4m to 5m | 750mm |
Still not certain?
Send us a photo of the access on WhatsApp before you book. Ninety seconds of looking at the actual gate, passage or driveway settles it better than any table can, and it is a lot cheaper than a tower that will not go where you need it.
You can see what we carry in the mobile tower range and the single width range, and check delivery to your postcode on any tower page.