Climbing on steep roofs!

[Nick1911]

Climbing on steep roofs probably makes the top 10 "Things I hate to do, but have to suck it up and do anyways" list.

What's on your list? 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

climbing on wet steep metal roofs   and anything with drywall

[Boomhauer]

I hate heights (Yes, I know, many think that's weird, because I am a pilot). Outside of an aircraft, I'm terrified of heights.

Unfortunately, we also have an...interesting roof. Think wide, long, somewhat steep, ski slope on one side and very steep and shorter on the other side.

The transition from the ladder to roof and back freaks me out, walking on it freaks me out, looking over the edge really freaks me out. Seeing the tops of the really tall pine trees level when at the peak freaks me out the worst. I am only remotely comfortable when laying spread eagle on it.

[French G.]

My roof is metal. The longest drop is 26' to flat hard gravel. It's also frequently windy. Did I mention I hate going up there?

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

my best time on a metal roof is being 60 feet up and slipping in a blood spill(guess who's) then dropping a box of trim pieces that went down and bombarded the general contractors truck. looked like horrible hail damage. i did manage to catch the gutter and stop so i didn't add a big fat dent to the truck

[Perd Hapley]

I just send my eight-year old up there.  I've got about twenty kids, so they're expendable. 

[Doggy Daddy]

Steep roof, no problem.

But if I have to have blood drawn, there's a chance I'll wind up on the floor.  I do hate needles.   

DD

[mtnbkr]

Drywall repair and carpentry.  I hate both.

Chris

[280plus]

FYI always get on and off the ladder to your strong side. Right handers should step off to the right and get back on the same side. Vice versa for lefties. Also, you should have 3 rungs above the roof line, no more, no less.

Me? I hate the long steel ladders that are attached to the wall and go straight up. These days, given my age and health, I pass on jobs that have those. I had one that took a 14' ladder just to reach the bottom rung, ~25' climb IIRC. I HATED that ladder but forced myself up it many times. Then they didn't call me for a couple years and when they finally did again I passed, told them I was getting too old to deal with that ladder anymore.

[Sindawe]

Packing and re-packing chromography columnschromography columns.

Explaining for the umpteenth time that Exchange is NOT a file storage system and that it is a very bad idea to have 20 GB mailboxes.

Filling out a weeky time sheet for 40 hours of work, even though I'm on salary and have just put in a 60 hour week.

[Jocassee]

I've spent a little bit of time on roofs...try INSTALLING a roof, putting up the ridgepole. Once stood on a little tiny 2x6, holding a heavy ridgepole above my head (unable to use hands for balance) waiting for my buddy to nail it in place. This particular house was a custom job...if I had fallen it could have been about 50 feet--if I didn't hit anything else on the way down!

[Gewehr98]

Climbing on steep, icy roofs.

My Dish Network job lasted just a few months, thanks to that.

No need to die just so people can have their NFL Network, IMHO.

[Waitone]

God meant other people to do sheet rock and roofing work.

Me?  I haaaaate replacing the wax ring on a toilet.

[Jim147]

I'm sitting here paying bills. I have to put that at the top of my suck list.

You did remind me I need to get up on the roof and fix the drip at one of the sky lights. I don't look forward to that much. That must be why I keep forgetting about it when it's not raining.

And then we come to in-laws. After the fun of the last couple of years they get their own special list.


jim

[41magsnub]

I don't mind roofs or sheetrock, except for taping and mudding.  That I will happily pay somebody else to do.

[trapperready]

I can bust open my knuckles just looking at an engine.

Filling out a weeky time sheet for 40 hours of work, even though I'm on salary and have just put in a 60 hour week.

I worked for an accounting firm for a few years and absolutely despised keeping track of the entire day in 6-minute increments.

[Marnoot]

I don't mind roofs or sheetrock, except for taping and mudding.  That I will happily pay somebody else to do.

+1. We're currently doing some remodeling in our house. I don't mind plumbing, wiring, tiling, framing, etc., but I hate mudding with a passion.

[mtnbkr]

+1. We're currently doing some remodeling in our house. I don't mind plumbing, wiring, tiling, framing, etc., but I hate mudding with a passion.

When I mentioned drywall above, I really meant taping and mudding.

Chris

[TMM]

plumbing work is a PITA and electrical work confuses me and scares me a little bit ( i once did a bit of impromptu arc-welding once while testing a wire with a multitester).

roofs? nah, i think i'll pay someone for that. unless it's a one-story house or shed...

tmm

[MillCreek]

I worked for an accounting firm for a few years and absolutely despised keeping track of the entire day in 6-minute increments.

Ah yes, how well I remember filling out the timeslips to bill the clients by the tenth of the hour.  I got to be pretty good at it, though. 

[coppertales]

Ditto what Avenger29 says.  I was on the roof this past weekend trimming trees that were overhanging the roof.  I am getting a new roof next week so I had to make the roof clear for the roofers.  It was a project I was going to do anyway.  I weigh 250 pounds and my feet keep trying to slide on the shingles.  The pitch is not that bad either but I am 65 years old.  Too old to do roof work.....chris3

[Boomhauer]

God meant other people to do sheet rock and roofing work.

And concrete work. God, I hate concrete with a passion.

[41magsnub]

Last time I did work on a steep roof I rigged up a improvised rappelling harness and tied off to a tree on the other side of the roof.  It was no big deal, I would just set the rope to a certain length for the level of roof I was working on.

[Boomhauer]

Last time I did work on a steep roof I rigged up a improvised rappelling harness and tied off to a tree on the other side of the roof.  It was no big deal, I would just set the rope to a certain length for the level of roof I was working on.

Smart.

I've also heard that roofing crewmembers often use a piece of foam rubber to sit on so they don't slide.

[Physics]

When I did roofing for a summer, I fell off 2 houses.  Both were ~20 foot drops from dew on a cedar shake roof.  First one I hit the ground, second one I landed in a shrub and my stripping shovel landed point down about 1 inch from my head. 

I learned quickly how to stop yourself from sliding.