Detailed comparison of DIY Towers

In this blog we expand on the differences between our eDIY, MDIY and SUPER DIY Towers as detailed in the below comparison table:

Quality

Exactly as it says on the tin and can be summarised by looking at the product weights; The eDIY Tower is the lightest with rectangular ladder rungs and round braces. The MDIY Tower is exactly the same as the eDIY Tower plus stiffener bars for additional rigidity. The SUPER DIY Tower is the heaviest with stiffener bars and advanced guard rails, larger round ladder rungs and heavy duty rectangular section braces.

All of our DIY Towers are designed and manufactured by a fully accredited ISO 9001: 2015 manufacturer with safety and durability in mind and come with a no quibble 5 year guarantee on manufacturing defects for your peace of mind also. They incorporate the same high quality design and manufacture as our certified Trade and Industrial Towers, all to rigorously controlled standards.

Usage

The eDIY and MDIY Towers are ideal for infrequent use and occasional use respectively, with their bolt and wing nut brace design. The SUPER DIY Towers are ideal for regular use, with their heavy duty quick clamp locking braces, so can be assembled and disassembled in roughly half the time of the eDIY and MDIY Tower equivalents.

Working Heights

Our DIY Towers are available in various sizes, the eDIY and MDIY Towers with working heights ranging from 3.8m (12’6”) to 7.15m (23’5”) and the SUPER DIY Towers with working heights ranging from 4m (13’1”) to 9.35m (30’8”).

Please see below link for a handy diagram to help explain the difference between platform height, tower height and working height:

Height Specification
 

Safety extras included

Telescopic Outriggers are included as standard on all our DIY Towers with working heights above 5 metres and can be added on the lower heights for extra stability also. In our testing the eDIY 5 tower is 350% more rigid with our telescopic outriggers when compared to other manufacturers towers with conventional outriggers. The tower is also 44% more resistant to tipping over for your peace of mind. Please see this eDIY Tower Deflection Comparison for details. Extra-large (XL) outriggers are supplied with the tallest SUPER DIY Towers to further enlarge the footprint of the tower and result in rock solid stability and offer ultimate user confidence.

All of our DIY Towers are supplied with trapdoor platforms – The tower is always climbed internally, ‘Through The Trapdoor’ (3T Compliant) which is then lowered to form part of the platform, guard rails are supplied for every platform level as standard.

They come with a poster with step-by-step assembly instructions and a diagram showing the complete tower set up. The assembly instructions are also on foil, weather resistant stickers on the tower frames, and the poster is freely downloadable from our website, in the Manual Library section and on the individual product pages, should it get lost/wet.

In addition to these;

The MDIY and SUPER DIY Towers include Stiffener Bars for ultimate rigidity and peace of mind. In our testing the MDIY 5 tower is up to 87.5% more rigid with stiffener bars when compared to the standard eDIY 5 model. There is also less deflection with stiffener bars when compared to other towers with conventional outriggers. Please see this MDIY Tower Deflection Comparison for details.

And the SUPER DIY Towers include Advanced Guard Railing for extra safety, adding to speed of installation and dismantling at working platform level.

Optional extras

Stiffener bars can be added to any eDIY Tower which turns it into the MDIY Tower equivalent. For all DIY Tower types, the Advanced versions are supplied with screw threaded height adjustable baseplates which allow the tower to be finely levelled on stairwells/steps and uneven ground where the tower doesn’t need to be moved around. The Advanced Plus versions are supplied with screw threaded height adjustable locking wheels which allow the tower to be finely levelled on uneven ground where the tower needs to be moved around often. The “with Toeboard” versions are supplied with a toeboard, which prevents items falling from the top platform level, and additional guard rails at the intermediate platform levels making these the safest domestic towers in the marketplace. Please see the relevant category pages for any of these tower options and the relevant accessories section to purchase any of the components separately.

Offset Kits, available to purchase in the DIY Tower Accessories section, allow the base of the tower to be positioned right up against a building so that the platform is as close as possible to the area that you are working on. The spacers, supplied with the offset kits, prevent the tower falling towards, and potentially damaging, the wall and greatly improve the rigidity of the complete structure also. In our testing the eDIY 5 tower has 50% less lateral movement with the Offset Kit added when compared to the standard model. Please see DIY Tower with Offset Base Bars for a short video for details.

SUPER DIY Linked Towers, available to purchase in the Specialist Access section, provide a continuous large working area by linking two standard SUPER DIY Towers with a bridging unit and utilising walkthrough frames. Ideal for working across large buildings and structures as well as spanning obstacles such as porches and hedges.

Braces

The eDIY and MDIY Tower braces are made from 25mm diameter round tube and the SUPER DIY Tower braces are made from 25mm x 40mm rectangular, weight bearing, section. All tower types have colour coded braces for easy selection during assembly and no tools are required to build them.

Brace mechanism

The eDIY and MDIY Tower braces are positively locked to the tower frames using bolts and wing nuts. The SUPER DIY Tower braces have a heavy duty quick clamp locking system, the same as our certified Trade Tower braces, and are tested to EN1004 Standard.

Platform height adjustment

The platform can be placed on any of the lower ladder rungs, in 0.3m (12”) increments on the eDIY and MDIY Towers and in 0.25m (10”) increments on the SUPER DIY Towers, for comfortable working over a variety of heights. Always remember to lower the guardrail at the same time for your safety!

The frames can be offset in these increments also for use on stairs and slopes.

Platform

All of our DIY Tower platforms are tested to EN1004 Class 3 Standard for your safety and reassurance. They are made using marine grade plywood, which is sealed and tested for up to 72 hours under boiling water, with a non-slip surface for sure footing.

The eDIY and MDIY Tower platforms have 2 hooks, one at each end, that are positively locked to the ladder rungs with their unique serrated teeth design and attach in seconds, compared to other manufacturers J bolt design which takes minutes to install and may slip on the ladder rungs. See this Platform Hook Design Comparison for details.

The SUPER DIY tower platforms have one quick locking catch at one end and 2 hooks the other for easy removal. Simply release the hooks and depress the catch with one hand while lifting the platform with the other to remove.

Safe working load per platform

All of our DIY Tower platforms have a safe working load of 150kg (23.6 stone) per platform i.e. the maximum safe working load (combined weight of the user, tools and materials) that may be placed on a single platform is 150kg uniformly distributed. We’ve tested them to 560kg but stick to 150kg just to be on the safe side!

Frame sizes (excluding spigots)

The eDIY and MDIY Tower frame section heights (excluding spigots) are as below:

6 Rung Base Frame – 1.8m (5’11”)
6 Rung Upper Frame – 2m (6’7”)
3 Rung Upper Frame – 1.1m (3’7”)
7 Rung Frame – 2.1m (6’11”)

The SUPER DIY Tower frame sections are all 1m (3’3”) making the SUPER DIY Towers more flexible in terms of the different tower heights you can construct from a single unit, coincidentally why we refer to them “X in ONE” in some of our website literature as you can build X number of the tower variants using that one tower. The frame design also makes them much more easily upgradeable, easier to transport and store, and as there are more strengthened joints the tower is more rigid too – 70% less movement when compared to 2m frame models.

Full component dimensions can be found in our blog “Selecting your domestic tower” under the Storage and transportation section.

Frame uprights

All of our DIY Tower frames have 40mm diameter round uprights with a ribbed, easy grip profile for extra safety.

Ladder rungs

The eDIY and MDIY Tower frames have 25mm x 30mm rectangular section ladders rungs and the SUPER DIY Tower frames have 40mm diameter round ladder rungs. All of the ladder rungs have a ribbed, non-slip profile for your peace of mind when climbing inside the structure.

The ladder rungs are welded to the frame uprights, same as our certified Trade and Industrial Towers, for ultimate strength. Our welded frames are a 1/3rd stronger than the cold pressed type which weakens the structural integrity of the frame upright.

Product weight

The eDIY Tower is the lightest, the MDIY Tower is exactly the same as the eDIY Tower plus stiffener bars, and the SUPER DIY Tower is the heaviest.

There’s a specification table on each of the individual product pages which includes the product weight.