BLOG - Walking on a Roof for Idiots!

I was walking past a residential construction site the other day and I saw a contractor lean a ladder against the building and the young homeowner climbed up on the roof in flip-flops. Then his two buddies, in flip flops, then a woman climbed up. They were walking around on the roof laughing. The comp roof was new so I assume it had plenty of loose granules. I turned around and walked the other way. I was a nervous wreck for them. The tile just got installed on the floor below and he probably wanted to show his friends his new home so he was looking for an open window on the second story. Slippery roof – in Flip Flops! What an unnecessary risk, (that’s nice talk for ‘what a bunch of idiots’).

Don’t people realize how unsafe it is on a roof? Only roofers should be on the roof and half of them don’t even belong up there. On one hand I feel like I am over reacting, on the other I feel like I am the wise one. For years our dads were hanging Christmas Lights and the kids were jumping off the roof into the pool. Am I calling our dads idiots? We know the kids were. Is there rules on how to walk on a roof I am unaware of that makes it all OK? Is it just that I have a fear of heights and everyone else should too?

There are classes on how to install roofing and safety classes on how to stay safe on a roof, but do we have classes that tell you how to walk on a roof? Is that just a learn by slipping process? Shouldn’t you be putting extra consideration in the type of shoe you are wearing? We all know there are certain types of materials that you don’t want to walk on at certain times of the day, or in certain weather. Does anyone have a rule book we can look at? Let’s write it and call it ‘Walking on a Roof – For Idiots’.

Over 30 years ago I worked on a new construction job in a town called Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. We were working on a cabin "in the bush" as they say up there. As the day warmed up, two guys were down to their underwear by lunch time and in the afternoon three guys were working with just tool belts on. I never went less than shorts myself. From the front, those guys just looked like they had too many tools hanging from the tool belt and you couldn't help but start giggling. From the back, you realized there's way too much bending over in roofing.

Vickie, it depends on the pitch of the roof; below 4/12 it is no big deal. Are roofs safe? Hell no, but neither is walking down the road! You can only fall off the edge, If you stay away from the edge, no danger of falling. You are over reacting. Hey, they are still idiots though.

I've been known to shingle in my socks.

Tinner that going to leave a lasting scar on my brain :ohmy:

:laugh: I did a roof at WTR in the nude. I put the nails in a box and didn't wear a belt. 4/12 pitch. No tan lines for me! :laugh: It was 90. I went up in flip-flops since it was something I'd always though would be fun. :woohoo: No clothes, no belts, plenty of sweat! I slid right out of those things! :laugh: