Thread: is it safe to put ladder this way

this is a 24' alu 200 lbs extendable ladder on a shingle roof with out real fascia bodard. instead, it is metal gutter. it is scary to step on it. is it ok I put the ladder this way? any tips on climb on a ladder & walk on the roof?

I am new in this trade. Thank you for all your input.

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Peter
If you have to ask if it's safe. then it's not.

I would not get on that ladder.

As my wife frequently reminds me: "Dead inspectors write no reports."

Ladder safety video

YouTube - Ladder Safety

.

I've 'hooked' ladders onto the ridge like that many times. Is it safe? Hell no. Is it safer than leaning the ladder against the face? Sure.
You shouldn't need to run it that high though. In that position, besides falling, you run the risk of scraping/denting the aluminum capping. If that is Alu capping, looks like it to me.
Knowadays I lean the ladder against the wall and pin it up into the angle of the roof to keep it from moving side to side. At that position it tends to be high enough to see over the top and check out the roof.
If you are actually climbing onto the roof from that position to walk the ridge, STOP IMMEDIATELY. No reason for it. Good luck and stay alive.

See the thread here:

http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_i...stand-off.html

Use binoculars.

Originally Posted by Markus Keller

I've 'hooked' ladders onto the ridge like that many times. Is it safe? Hell no. Is it safer than leaning the ladder against the face? Sure.

Thank you every one. Hi Markus, Do you mean you use a device to pin the ladder up on the roof, like stand off?

No, just sort of wedge the ridge between the top rung like you have it in the picture. I think MT uses a stand off on his ladder. I've never liked them and don't use them.

I'll be the first to admit that I've done some dumb things to get on roofs, including the pic that Peter posted. Luckily I am wiser now.

Originally Posted by Markus Keller

No, just sort of wedge the ridge between the top rung like you have it in the picture. I think MT uses a stand off on his ladder. I've never liked them and don't use them.

I do sometimes use a standoff - usually to protect an aluminum gutter - but what I often use are the step-through bars as shown in the link, and which make it easy to step onto the roof if the top rung is just above the eave (if fact, with the bars, that's its ideal position).

Here's an example of how I use the step-throughs: the only way to access this roof was over the rear parapet via a ladder on a 4th floor balcony and set up more vertically than I would prefer, with no way to tie off to the parapet and a 4.5' drop on the far side of the parapet wall.

Trying to go over the top and around that steep a ladder - and then getting back up over the parapet again - would have been a real nail-biter (for me, anyway).

With guy ropes, step through bars, and my "parapet ladder" it was a piece of cake - and I actually think that even given the set-up time it was faster than trying to inch my way over and back around an unsecured ladder.

Now that I can do this stuff safely, I can't believe that I did it the other way - for years.

That steep of roof, get out the binoculars.

Originally Posted by Philip

That steep of roof, get out the binoculars.

Can't afford the helicopter rental to bring flat roofs into sight.

I screw my HD video to a 28' window washer pole when needed.
The HD allows great still shots and some excellent cover shots.

Originally Posted by Michael Thomas

Now that I can do this stuff safely, I can't believe that I did it the other way - for years.

Over time, the statistics are against you if you allow yourself to ignore safety. Even a little bit. A 1% chance of falling, over 5000 climbs... well, let's just say you're bound to fall once or twice.

Smart of you to hook up with people who have already fallen (so that you don't have to). Always ask those questions. Especially the dumb ones. When I was a kid, my father learned ladder safety the hard way. Don't make your children watch you do the same.