Kinda on-topic: Shoes for Metal Roofs
Tim Wescott
raised metal-tab stuff, and when it gets the least bit wet it's slicker
than snot -- to the point where we've already had a family member fall
off and injure himself (not badly, but still a good warning).
My New Balance tenny runners don't grip it when it's wet, I can just
barely keep traction by sitting down on it in jeans -- and denim usually
grips metal roofs pretty well.
So, are there any trick shoes, or shoe attachements, that one can wear to
keep from falling and breaking one's neck? Any of them that don't cost
an arm and a leg, yet still really work?
TIA
Brian Lawson
wrote:
Hey Tim,
Not real sure why you want to wander around on the roof, but "deck
shoes" for yachting have a pretty neat tread. They work pretty well
on wet fibreglas/gel-coat. Try West Marine store or similar.
Take care.
Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario
Pete C.
Something like rock climbing shoes might help, but really the proper
thing is a fall protection package with appropriate harness, rope grab,
rope and anchor brackets. They aren't particularly expensive and you
should be able to buy a suitable kit at a ladder and scaffolding
supplier.
Tim Wescott
Basic maintenance, keeping the fir needles (fir needle tea is mildly
acidic, and corrosive), fixing the old leaky ones, etc.
Why else?
Tim Wescott
I've considered that, even if it isn't manly (the roofers that put on our
roof just brag about broken bones). How do you anchor them when the roof
you're on is the highest thing around?
Pete C.
There are ridge anchors available, both temporary ones intended to be
screwed in place, as well nice stainless ones intended for permanent
installation.
Of course the first up and last down can be unprotected, but you are
also not carrying tools at that point and can be extra cautious.
Pete C.
A pressure washer with an extension pole and 180 angle head ought to
take care of cleaning from ground level.
Ed Huntress
"Pete C." <aux3....@snet.net> wrote in message
news:4b48f126$0$17777$ec3e...@unlimited.usenetmonster.com...
I intend to get some of the safety gear described in this thread, but I keep
putting it off. Meantime, I throw a long length (around 75 feet) of 5/8"
nylon line over the ridge of the house, tying the standing end off to a tree
in one case, or to a masonry porch column if I'm working on the back.
Then I tie a bowline-on-a-bight into the line at an appropriate distance. If
I have to move much, I re-tie the knot.
It's inconvenient and it's not 100%, but a fall from my two-story roof, at
my age, would change my life in a bad way if it didn't kill me. I'm willing
to take the extra time.
--
Ed Huntress
Pete C.
The kit I have has a full body harness, Petzel line grab, shock
adsorbing lanyard to connect the two, a 50' or so assembly of 3/4" rope
with double locking hook on one end and one of the temporary type screw
down ridge anchors, all in a duffel carry bag.
The permanent mount SS anchors are of course a separate item if you
wanted to install them.
Falling off a two story roof is not generally a pleasant thing I
suspect.
Wes
>The kit I have has a full body harness, Petzel line grab, shock
>adsorbing lanyard to connect the two, a 50' or so assembly of 3/4" rope
>with double locking hook on one end and one of the temporary type screw
>down ridge anchors, all in a duffel carry bag.
>
>The permanent mount SS anchors are of course a separate item if you
>wanted to install them.
>
>Falling off a two story roof is not generally a pleasant thing I
>suspect.
Still in a duffle bag out in the garage is a climbing harness and dynamic climbing rope. I
was so worried my brother would kill himself building his house I bought it for him. My
brother is a monkey, no way he would use it.
Rock climbers don't use 3/4" rope but they use a much thinner rope that stretches
(dynamic). I seem to remember fall factor 2 meaning it would hold up catching a 185# man
falling from the full length of the rope above the anchor to the full length below and not
fail.
Wes
--
"Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect
government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home
in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller
pyotr filipivich
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:09:00 -0600 did write/type or cause to appear in
rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
>
>> Ed Huntress
>
>The kit I have has a full body harness, Petzel line grab, shock
>adsorbing lanyard to connect the two, a 50' or so assembly of 3/4" rope
>with double locking hook on one end and one of the temporary type screw
>down ridge anchors, all in a duffel carry bag.
>
>The permanent mount SS anchors are of course a separate item if you
>wanted to install them.
>
>Falling off a two story roof is not generally a pleasant thing I
>suspect.
It ain't. If you are lucky, you will land on your fat assed
brother in law, and be mildly hurt when you bounce off. Or you can
fall down, go boom and break something in a non-lethal manner. You'll
heal, but it is going to be a long time while you try to recall what
it was you had been doing before The Fall. Tod's been a year
recovering from a head injury from falling off a roof, and he's still
not back up to speed.
Worse case scenario is, you almost kill yourself, and are so
crippled up, you can't do anything - and you have to hear that your
fumble fingered brother-in-law "finished" it for you.
-
pyotr filipivich
We will drink no whiskey before its nine.
It's eight fifty eight. Close enough!
sta...@prolynx.com
I've an old pair I use when having to get up there on the metal
carport roof and the house roof(shingles). I've been up there when
it's been wet, works for both, the carport doesn't have that great a
slope though it does have pine needles on it.
Wally world carries them for about $6 a pair, not this time of year,
though. Work reasonably well on wet ice, like today. In the 40s, ice
is melting all over, but still have to walk on it. Just don't get
into mud or you'll be tracking it everywhere. Those tread slits pick
up small gravel, too. Slip them off before stepping on polished
floors.
Stan
Steve R.
"Tim Wescott" <t...@seemywebsite.com> wrote in message
news:meOdnS6tmKSzS9XW...@web-ster.com...
Workboots with corked soles.
Steve R.
kfvo...@gmail.com
I used Walmart boat shoes and a safety rope. Then I found a roof hook
that you put on the end of a ladder. You hook it on the ridge and work
off the ladder. A little slower but way less scary. It's pretty easy
to move around.
Karl
pyotr filipivich
9 Jan 2010 23:39:34 -0800 did write/type or cause to appear in
rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
>
Those work nice, just don't walk on the hardwood floors.
Wes
>Or you can
>fall down, go boom and break something in a non-lethal manner. You'll
>heal, but it is going to be a long time while you try to recall what
>it was you had been doing before The Fall. Tod's been a year
>recovering from a head injury from falling off a roof, and he's still
>not back up to speed.
> Worse case scenario is, you almost kill yourself, and are so
>crippled up, you can't do anything - and you have to hear that your
>fumble fingered brother-in-law "finished" it for you.
I can't understand why so many people joke about falls. I'm in the class of the bigger
you are the harder you fall. Not to be confused with the bigger they are the harder you
fall in a fight sense.
I had a 6ft ladder leaning against my house as I tacked on some siding. It collapsed. I
landed on the ground. It took months for my shoulder to heal up. All I can recall is I
was standing straight up when if failed. I don't lean sideways on ladders.
http://wess.freeshell.org/ladder/DSC01433.JPG
http://wess.freeshell.org/ladder/DSC01434.JPG
http://wess.freeshell.org/ladder/DSC01435.JPG
Ed Huntress
I've saved this message so I know what to look for. Thanks, Pete.
--
Ed Huntress
Bob La Londe
Gerald Miller
<hunt...@optonline.net> wrote:
>
>I intend to get some of the safety gear described in this thread, but I keep
>putting it off. Meantime, I throw a long length (around 75 feet) of 5/8"
>nylon line over the ridge of the house, tying the standing end off to a tree
>in one case, or to a masonry porch column if I'm working on the back.
Just don't anchor to the car when SWMBO gets the urge to shop!
>
>Then I tie a bowline-on-a-bight into the line at an appropriate distance. If
>I have to move much, I re-tie the knot.
>
>It's inconvenient and it's not 100%, but a fall from my two-story roof, at
>my age, would change my life in a bad way if it didn't kill me. I'm willing
>to take the extra time.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada
Gerald Miller
>pyotr filipivich <ph...@mindspring.com> wrote:
>
>>Or you can
>>fall down, go boom and break something in a non-lethal manner. You'll
>>heal, but it is going to be a long time while you try to recall what
>>it was you had been doing before The Fall. Tod's been a year
>>recovering from a head injury from falling off a roof, and he's still
>>not back up to speed.
>> Worse case scenario is, you almost kill yourself, and are so
>>crippled up, you can't do anything - and you have to hear that your
>>fumble fingered brother-in-law "finished" it for you.
>
>I can't understand why so many people joke about falls. I'm in the class of the bigger
>you are the harder you fall. Not to be confused with the bigger they are the harder you
>fall in a fight sense.
>
>I had a 6ft ladder leaning against my house as I tacked on some siding. It collapsed. I
>landed on the ground. It took months for my shoulder to heal up. All I can recall is I
>was standing straight up when if failed. I don't lean sideways on ladders.
>
I got six months off work by pushing some crown molding into place
against a 9' ceiling - the ladder went sideways and I landed on an old
fireplace hearth under the carpet, no bounce there!
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada
Bruce L. Bergman
Tim: The solution to not falling off the roof is one or more of the
permanent fall-arrest anchor rings on the roof ridge, and a safety
harness and rappel rope with a self-belay device.
To get started throw a rope all the way across the roof and tie off
to a tree on the other side of the house, then you can get up to the
ridge and install the permanent anchor ring. Then tie off to the ring
using a separate safety rope to the new anchor while you work.
With a self-belay device, you can move around freely on the roof to
get your business done, but if something starts to get slippery you
can release the handle to belay and slam on the brakes.
And switch back to your tree anchor rope on the last trip down for
the day. Leave the anchor ring up there, they are cheap enough and
fairly unobtrusive. (You can spray paint it to match the roof.)
>
>Workboots with corked soles.
>
It's not "corked" as in a cork sole, wouldn't work that well because
the friction isn't going to be reliable enough.
What you were thinking of are called "Caulked Boots" - basically
old-style carbide tipped golf shoe spikes in a work boot sole.
Loggers used to have their boots built with tacks/nails pounded
through the leather boot soles pointed out, but they stole the
screw-in spike idea from the golfers so the spikes could be changed
easily when they wear out or break.
Real good on dirt and vegetation and felled logs, not so good on
hardwood floors or metal roofs - they will leave BIG scars. And you
can't drive or do a lot of other things while wearing them.
--<< Bruce >>--
Clay
Clay
"Tim Wescott" <t...@seemywebsite.com> wrote in message
news:meOdnS6tmKSzS9XW...@web-ster.com...
kfvo...@gmail.com
> pyotr filipivich <ph...@mindspring.com> wrote:
> >Or you can
> >fall down, go boom and break something in a non-lethal manner. You'll
> >heal, but it is going to be a long time while you try to recall what
> >it was you had been doing before The Fall. Tod's been a year
> >recovering from a head injury from falling off a roof, and he's still
> >not back up to speed.
> > Worse case scenario is, you almost kill yourself, and are so
> >crippled up, you can't do anything - and you have to hear that your
> >fumble fingered brother-in-law "finished" it for you.
>
> I can't understand why so many people joke about falls. I'm in the class of the bigger
> you are the harder you fall. Not to be confused with the bigger they are the harder you
> fall in a fight sense.
>
> I had a 6ft ladder leaning against my house as I tacked on some siding. It collapsed. I
> landed on the ground. It took months for my shoulder to heal up. All I can recall is I
> was standing straight up when if failed. I don't lean sideways on ladders.
>
>
> Wes
> --
> "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect
> government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home
> in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller
I fell off a rickety 2 foot ladder. That was far enough for me.
Karl
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh
news:meOdnS6tmKSzS9XW...@web-ster.com:
> So, are there any trick shoes, or shoe attachements, that one can wear
> to keep from falling and breaking one's neck? Any of them that don't
> cost an arm and a leg, yet still really work?
>
>
Not trick shoes, but a trick. Wear sneakers or cleated boots and walk
ONLY on the screw heads.
'Been up'n'down a lot of barns that way. Mostly they were 4-in-12 and 5-
in-12 roofs. I personally wouldn't want to walk on a wet metal roof over
5-in-12.
LLoyd
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh
>
> I've considered that, even if it isn't manly (the roofers that put on
> our roof just brag about broken bones). How do you anchor them when
> the roof you're on is the highest thing around?
>
>
Over the peak, Tim. Lowes and Home depot sell a "bucket" of fall-
protection kit. Roof cleat, safety line, harness, line-grabber, and
snubber, all for about $100.
LLoyd
Ed Huntress
"Gerald Miller" <grmi...@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:65hlk59s0jj4l1f7u...@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 9 Jan 2010 17:14:40 -0500, "Ed Huntress"
> <hunt...@optonline.net> wrote:
>
>>
>>I intend to get some of the safety gear described in this thread, but I
>>keep
>>putting it off. Meantime, I throw a long length (around 75 feet) of 5/8"
>>nylon line over the ridge of the house, tying the standing end off to a
>>tree
>>in one case, or to a masonry porch column if I'm working on the back.
>
> Just don't anchor to the car when SWMBO gets the urge to shop!
Good point! <g>
Greg O
"Tim Wescott" <t...@seemywebsite.com> wrote in message
news:meOdnS6tmKSzS9XW...@web-ster.com...
> So, every roof on the property is now metal. Our house roof is the
> raised metal-tab stuff, and when it gets the least bit wet it's slicker
> than snot -- to the point where we've already had a family member fall
> off and injure himself (not badly, but still a good warning).
>
> My New Balance tenny runners don't grip it when it's wet, I can just
> barely keep traction by sitting down on it in jeans -- and denim usually
> grips metal roofs pretty well.
>
> keep from falling and breaking one's neck? Any of them that don't cost
> an arm and a leg, yet still really work?
>
>
> --
> www.wescottdesign.com
I work on a 5-12 pitch metal roof from time to time. I would not even
consider going up there when the roof is wet or snow covered. This is a
standing seam roof, so no screw heads to stand on. With my hiking boots I
wear I can almost stand in place on the roof when it is dry. I will slowly
slide down and have to reposition my feet a few times a minute to stay in
one place. Try to sit on the roof and you will slide right off if you are
not tied up, or hanging on to something. A safety rope is the best option
with a safety harness, but I often work on this rood with no gear. working
up there was a bit un-nerving at first, but the traction is fairly
predictable, but bordering on poor!
Greg O
William Wixon
"Tim Wescott" <t...@seemywebsite.com> wrote in message
news:meOdnS6tmKSzS9XW...@web-ster.com...
> So, every roof on the property is now metal. Our house roof is the
> raised metal-tab stuff, and when it gets the least bit wet it's slicker
> than snot -- to the point where we've already had a family member fall
> off and injure himself (not badly, but still a good warning).
>
> My New Balance tenny runners don't grip it when it's wet, I can just
> barely keep traction by sitting down on it in jeans -- and denim usually
> grips metal roofs pretty well.
>
> So, are there any trick shoes, or shoe attachements, that one can wear to
> keep from falling and breaking one's neck? Any of them that don't cost
> an arm and a leg, yet still really work?
>
> TIA
>
> --
hey tim, good luck.
i'm surprised nobody has cracked a joke yet about magnetic shoes. i did a
google search just as a goof, this is the only thing i could find for
"magnetic shoes"
b.w.
Wild_Bill
magnetic shoes.
All ya gotta do is.. get some hard drive magnets, or the electromagnetic
bases from mag drills, etc.
I'd like to see a picture (video even better) of that stack climber coming
down head first.
--
WB
.........
metalworking projects
www.kwagmire.com/metal_proj.html
"William Wixon" <wwi...@frontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:FpS2n.22906$AO4....@newsfe02.iad...
Pinstripe Sniper
>> Hey Tim,
>>
>> Not real sure why you want to wander around on the roof, but "deck
>> shoes" for yachting have a pretty neat tread. �They work pretty well
>> on wet fibreglas/gel-coat. �Try West Marine store or similar.
>>
>> Take care.
>>
>> Brian Lawson,
>> Bothwell, Ontario
>
>I've an old pair I use when having to get up there on the metal
>carport roof and the house roof(shingles). I've been up there when
>it's been wet, works for both, the carport doesn't have that great a
>slope though it does have pine needles on it.
>Wally world carries them for about $6 a pair, not this time of year,
>though. Work reasonably well on wet ice, like today. In the 40s, ice
>is melting all over, but still have to walk on it. Just don't get
>into mud or you'll be tracking it everywhere. Those tread slits pick
>up small gravel, too. Slip them off before stepping on polished
>floors.
>
>Stan
I'll third on the "deck shoes" I presume we are all talking about the
Sperry Topsider style/design where many razor cut "sipes" are made in
an otherwise flat/smooth rubber shoe sole. I used to get the Sperrys
on sale at West Marine (~$40 on sale) then switched to the West house
brand ($~20 on sale) I'll have to take a look at the $6 Wallys.
Couldn't beat their $~20 steel toeds for high cut /crap risk
environments. (yes I know Red Wings are the best/worth it)
PsS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
A fictional account of how to drastically reform the financial world...
More at http://PinstripeSniper.blogspot.com and if that gets banned, check
www.PinstripeSniper.com
Pinstripe Sniper
first step :-) in gathering the equipment to do this roof work safely.
Przemek Klosowski
> I've considered that, even if it isn't manly (the roofers that put on
> our roof just brag about broken bones). How do you anchor them when the
> roof you're on is the highest thing around?
I always thougth a belaying hookup at the top of the roof (well anchored
to the rafters of course) would be a good idea, and I don't even have a
tricky roof (colonial, with shingles). I did belaying in a climbing
harness, with my father-in-law down at the other side of the house---it
makes cleaning gutters a snap when you just skip around the edge of the
roof, worry-free.
Bruce L. Bergman
You take a foam-rubber Softball, drill a small hole through the
middle, lace one end of a 100-plus-foot chunk of heavy twine to 1/4"
rope through the hole, tie a big knot. Lay the small rope out on the
lawn so there's free slack, then throw the ball over the roof to the
other side, across the ridge.
Tie your climbing rope to the small rope, pull it across to the other
side, and tie it of to a bomb-proof anchor item like a mature tree.
Then you can climb that side of the roof with relative impunity.
If you need to go out on a hip end of the roof, then you nail down one
of the Roofer's Anchor Point Rings, and attach your rope with a
locking carabineer where it makes that 90-degree turn, then you are
roped off on the hip roof slope too.
Take a stud finder and a piece of chipboard so you can find the
rafters. Then put a little elastomeric caulk on the roof surface
underneath the anchor ring when you nail it to the ridge board and
down the joist on both sides. Lots of nails, no empty holes.
Last thing you do on the way down is to take your rope out of the
anchor and shift it to one side, so you don't get caulk or paint in
the rope. Then hit the nail heads and the edges with the elastomeric
caulk again to make a good rain seal, Then spray-paint the whole
anchor point with FLAT spray paint roughly the color of the roof
shingles. The anchor point will pretty much disappear.
Next time you are up there, the anchor is installed. And they are
cheap enough to build into the bid and leave on the site for next
time.
They can put a layer of new shingles right over the anchor next time
they replace the roof. Totally disappears except for the ring
sticking out.
If you really want to take the anchor ring home with you, use duplex
head nails, they are easy to pull back out. BUT the anchor straps
will get messed up after being reused a few times and have to be
trashed, and you now have to seal up all the holes you made in their
roof - Still better to leave it.
--<< Bruce >>--
Jim Wilkins
The ropes are a nuisance when you are shingling, they catch on tools
and piles of shingles.
I built a little platform next to the chimney, supported by two 2"
pipes on the low end and galvanized straps reaching up under the
shingles on the upper end. Vent stack cones seal the pipes.
I built it to clean the chimney safely in winter, but it was extremely
helpful when a tree fell through the roof and I needed power tools and
a generator up there to patch the holes.
For roof anchors I used large screw eyes in the end rafters, through
the fascia boards which needed to be replaced. That was fine until I
shingled near them. The ridge rope cuts into the shingles and drip
edge if pulled tight.
Roof anchors sound good, but how would you connect to them if the roof
was covered with snow and ice? If I left a climbing rope up there it
could be exposed to the sun for months (problem?) and if I don't I
have to reach the anchor somehow. I'd most likely have to go up right
after an ice storm, when a light pull line looped between the anchors
could be frozen in.
jsw