Does anyone have ideas on building “2×4 and plywood” walk boards? I need two walk boards, 20′ long and 16″ wide. I’ m considering ripping 2x8x20 Spruce to 2x3x20, and putting 3 boards on edge beneath 1/2′ 4-ply exterior grade plywood, and screwing it all together with HD galv screws, and painting the wear surface with non-skid paint. I’ll build two walk boards and bolt them together at the ends with 1/2′ bolts to make a 40′ walk board, and raise the 40′ platform on 4 pump jacks. I’ll use a similar, although lighter weight, platform for the guard rail/work table, with another guard rail at each end of the walk board. Any advice will be appreciated.
Regards,
Andy Lee,
TinyHouseCompany.com
LivingEarthEcoVillage.com
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Take 24' -2 x 8 southern yellow pine, clean and knot free, rip it down the center. Place them on a deck with a 2 x 4 on the flat at the center point(under both rips) and then flex the ends down and toenail them to the deck(center is high, both ends down tight ,14-1/2"in between both rips) fill in the space with 14-1/2" "studs" every 16" on center (get it, now you have a 16" x 24" studwall with a 1-1/2" crown in the middle) Rip a 3/8" sheet of plywood into 3 -16" rips, GLUE and nail the plywood to the wall you have on the deck before you take out the toenails....bada bing. Make 2 if you want 40'.
Thanks Keith, excellent suggestions....I hadn't considered putting the 2x4 underneath to get the sag out of the middle, that's a really good point....I'll let you know how they turn out.....
Regards,
Andy Lee
In the 80s I, actually everybody around here, would use 2 by 10 cypress boards. Once in a while I would get the job, an easy and enjoyable one, of driving out to a not-so-local saw mill and hand pick the walk boards. I was sure to pick clean , straight lumber with no knots or defects. We would then test them by suspending them between pieces of 4 by 6s laid on the ground and getting several hefty laborers to stand on them to expose any hidden defects. Any questionable sections would be cut out.
I would have a 70 ton lift them to the scaffolding I was building. A better proposition than hauling them up by hand two at a time. Try that with OSHA boards. I was pretty careful knowing that I would be stepping out on a single board 5 stories up without nets or safety lines. When I was done the scaffold would have double walkboards and double hand rails and toe boards. Everything nailed down, tied in to the building and stable.
I worked like that for 4 years and never had a walkboard fail without being partially cut through by an overzealous carpenter. The OSHA approved boards were just becoming available in this area and were not liked very much by anyone who had to move them. I still miss my cypress boards.
Go buy an osha approved walk plank.
blue
8" 12 GAUGE C CHANNEL WITH 3/4 PLYWOOD ON TOP
Why the heck would you rip a 2x8 in half when you can buy 2x4s?
I have a couple of the planks Keith described but with just two joists and blocking at the (staggered) joints. They are great to work on, but almost too heavy for me to move around. I think I will try steel studs for the framing if I ever make more.
Edited 5/3/2002 10:26:22 AM ET by jim blodgett
I use the 2 x 8's because we have never seen a southern yellow 2 x 4 around here, and if we did , it would be full of knots, we do however have an abundant amout of 2 x 8- 2 x 12's of clear SYP stock.
Go RENT an osha approved walk plank.
Renting the aluminum walk boards is an excellent idea, but I live in a rural county that only has one rental yard and he doesn't carry walk boards. I'd have to go to the big city, which is 1-1/2 hours from here to rent them.
To buy the "osha approved" walk boards is also a good idea, but they cost $500 per 24' length. The 2x4 and plywood walkboards I built following Keith's suggestions are way more than safe, and they only cost me $100 for enough materials to build two 20' units and one 16-foot unit, plus a pleasant Saturday morning in the shop putting them together.
Keith's suggestion to rip 24' 2x8 stock into 2x4 is because we can buy clear grade southern yellow pine 24' feet long in 2x8, but only 16-feet long in 2x4. I suppose 24' 2x4's would be available by special order, but I needed them last week.
We've used the 2x and plywood walkboards everyday for the past week and I couldn't be more pleased. The building inspector, who's a safety nut, likes them, too. I like the aluminum walk boards too, but, I'm a carpenter, so building my own tools when I can is fun and in this case saved me several hundred dollars.
Regards,
Andy Lee