Scaffold net and sheeting
Nets and sheets fixed to the outer face of a scaffold to hold back dust, spray and debris; sheeting also keeps out rain but greatly increases wind load.
Also called: debris netting, dust net, scaffold sheeting, keder sheet, banner sheeting, scaffold cladding
Anyone who has blasted a facade in a narrow old-town street knows that without cladding the dust ends up on the neighbour's balcony. Nets and sheeting are fixed to the outside of the scaffold and hold back dust, paint mist, dirt and small parts. Sheeting also shields against rain and draughts, for instance when render has to dry in poor weather. Along the way it hides the site, right up to printed banner sheeting on city-centre facades.
One distinction matters: a scaffold net is cladding, not a safety net for people. It replaces neither the side protection nor the roof edge protection screen.
Variants
- Debris nets: mostly coarse plastic mesh with reinforced edges and eyelets, letting through some air and light.
- Sheeting: closed, often grid-reinforced fabric, sometimes translucent. It keeps out the weather but catches the full wind.
- Keder sheets: sheets with a welted edge drawn into keder rails, giving a taut surface that hardly flaps.
- Fixings: cable ties, toggle or bungee ties and ratchet straps.
Many nets and sheets come in system sizes matching bay length and lift height, for example cut to suit 2.57 or 3.07 m bays. When buying, look at fire behaviour, UV resistance and tear strength.
Fitting
First clarify whether the scaffold is designed for cladding: nets, and sheeting even more so, need a denser tie pattern than an open scaffold. In the UK, NASC TG20 covers many netted and sheeted tube and fitting scaffolds; anything beyond it needs a design. Install the extra ties while every point is still easy to reach. Unroll the cladding from the top and fasten it to the outer standards at short intervals; many instructions give 0.20 m as the maximum. Overlap the widths, wrap the cladding around the ends so the wind cannot get behind it, and tie off the edges of openings. On dismantling, the sheeting comes down first and the additional ties last.
What to watch
- Underestimated wind load: sheeting turns an airy scaffold into a sail, one of the most frequent causes of scaffolds blowing over in storms.
- When a storm is forecast, take sheeting down or roll it up rather than hoping the ties hold.
- Replace loose or broken ties promptly; flapping sheeting tears itself and its fixings apart.
- Never lean against nets or sheets.
On used material, check for tears, torn-out eyelets, UV-brittle areas and burn holes. Small holes can be patched, frayed edges hardly. A net is enough against dust and debris and loads the scaffold far less; sheeting pays off when weather protection is needed. Nets and sheets are part of our accessories. More in wind and storms.