Up.on the roof...... safety.

Discussion in 'Other Trades Talk' started by Westforester, Mar 19, 2017.

  1. Westforester

    Westforester Member

    Hi.

    I'm hoping to do a simple (if not time consuming) clearing the Moss from our house roof.

    Obviously I do not want to be dangerous so I'm ensuring I am sufficiently protected by whatever harnesses/ equipment I might need.

    Can anyone point me in the right direction for safety requirements and what I need to buy.

    Thanks
    Rachel
     
  2. chippie244

    chippie244 Super Member

    Hi vis and a helmet apparently.
     
  3. Westforester

    Westforester Member

    Lol... I was kinda hoping for something a little sturdier than a high vis... I guess I fell off people would spot me falling.
     
    Rulland likes this.
  4. joinerjohn1

    joinerjohn1 Screwfix Select

    I reckon you're best bet is to ask Rod Hull about working on roofs,,,,, Oh hang on ,,,,,, :rolleyes:
     
  5. chippie244

    chippie244 Super Member

    The safest way is to get some other booger to do it, preferably young, stupid and cheap.
     
    KIAB and wiggy like this.
  6. wiggy

    wiggy Screwfix Select

    Other than scaffold around the house there isnt a lot you can do.
    Safest option would be to get a good moss killer or a chlorine bleach solution and spray the roof.

    As said above, best get the pros in.

    If you still want to tackle it, get yourself something like an extendable hoe and scrape it off from a well secured ladder, to get up the roof get yourself a roofing ladder which hooks over the ridge and work off that.
    But not for the faint hearted.

    Also depending on what tiles you have they are probably not nailed, so you can push them up and walk in the gaps to get up the roof.
    Slates and plain clay tiles would be nailed, pan tiles, double romans etc would only have the first course nailed.
     
  7. Joe95

    Joe95 Screwfix Select

    Decent extension ladder and roof ladder or a full scaffold.

    If you put scaffolding up you can also do other jobs, like cleaning windows and painting the house.

    If it were me I'd go down the scaffolding route.
     
  8. sospan

    sospan Screwfix Select

    Why do you want to clean the roof of your house ?

    Certainly don't jet wash it. Nothing more powerful than a hose pipe.

    Rather than risk breaking tiles / slates by walking on them it better to work off a roof ladder.

    But really for the benefits and risks involved it is best to leave it as it is
     
  9. Westforester

    Westforester Member

    Ooohhh.. I was literally buying a power washer this week to blast the Moss off from the Ridge down. Not good idea then?

    A builder suggested we get the Moss off, then a surveyor said the same thing! Sadly it was around £400 to have it jet washed off (and dangle a flexible flue liner down the chimney)... I'm sure this is a good price? But I have the WHOLE house to do including extending, so I need and want to do as absolute much as I can myself. I'm pretty capable and take all advice possible.

    I thought I could blast off the Moss and drop the liner ... =£400 to go towards the house or Windows.

    Am I deluded? I've located climbing harnesses and ropes (anchored to my car lol) I can buy roof ladder to hook on Ridge and pressure washer.

    Just thought I'd kill 2 birds with one stone/trip up the roof. (Drop liner and blast moss)

    Money is completely driving everything .... but I'm also finding huge satisfaction in renovating with my own hands wherever I can. Is this a jobit for the professionals?
     
  10. sospan

    sospan Screwfix Select

    The problems with a Jet wash is the power of the jet and the volume of water. The power of the jet was can lift the tiles and you could get water coming into the loft space. Plus if a tile is cracked, hitting it with a jet of water can finish off the tile. The other problem is that all the sludge you wash off the roof will collect in the gutter and you don't want the dirty water building up and overflowing down the walls.

    You are looking at getting a lot of weight up their - the jet wash itself, extension leads, hose pipe etc. a trip hazard at the best of times, let alone on a roof.

    Installing a flue liner without a working platform on the ridge, is something that shouldn't be entertained as they have a life of their own and wrestling a 30-40ft snake 30ft in the air is no fun.

    I would plan out all the works you want to do, flue liner, roof, windows, fascia, painting, guttering & down pipes, tv / satellite, even outside Christmas lights and get the whole lot done at the same time.
     
  11. That's the problem - he didn't.
     
  12. Rachel, if you really want to do this, then of course you can.

    But, £400 for cleaning your whole roof and dropping a liner sounds pretty darned good to me...

    Anyhoo, it's been outlined above - the cheapest whilst still relatively safe method is to use a secured extension ladder going on to a ditto roof ladder securely hooked over the ridge. Then buy yourself a simple step-through waist harness with TWO short straps and carabiners on them; always have one attached at all times. When descending the roof ladder, for example, first unclip one and place it on a rung further down and then ditto the other one - always have at least ONE attached at ALL times and you shouldn't die.

    If you fall, it'll hurt but you shouldn't be dead. And Chips' hi-vis and hat idea will make it extra likely to go viral.

    (Ever done Go-Ape? Jeepers, they chust let you loose with total responsibility on yer own shoulders. The only deaths they've had is when peeps haven't followed that basic rule above. So, if it's good enough for tree-hopping, then it's surely good enough for a much lower roof?)
     
  13. sospan

    sospan Screwfix Select

    Didn't even know he was dead ....
     
  14. sospan

    sospan Screwfix Select

    And you will probably get to meet some nice firemen as once you are dangling there it is virtually impossible to pull yourself up unless the ladder is nearby

    Never fix a fall arrest harness to a ladder unless the ladder is secured properly to a fixed structure. Typically harnesses are fixed to something like a chimney stack. W Roof ladders should be tied off on the opposite side.
     
  15. Phil the Paver

    Phil the Paver Screwfix Select



    If it all went wrong, you could certainly kill one. :(:(:(
     
  16. wiggy

    wiggy Screwfix Select

    I had one of my lads do my neighbours roof a few years back.

    Roofing ladder and a hoe, start from the bottom and work up, once at the top brush the moss down, work as far as your hoe will allow and then move the ladder along.
    Once clean spray it down with what i said earlier.
    We didn't use harness, they get in the way, but whatever makes you feel secure.

    Slow and steady wins the race on this one.
     
  17. Westforester

    Westforester Member

    I'm kinda feeling I ought to take the builders quote ....
    I think it's the 'wrestling with a 30ft snake' bit that got me.... lol.

    Perhaps my confidence was riding a little high from my very successful re-roofing of the garage.

    Hmmm. I'll ponder a while more I think
     
  18. Joe95

    Joe95 Screwfix Select

    It mainly comes down to what your comfortable with. A fall of a garage might mean a broken angle or two, but a fall off a house roof could be permanent loss of leg use.
     
  19. koolpc

    koolpc Super Member

    Also, would it not be a good idea to stop all that crud going down and blocking the drains? Imagine the pile up of the stuff going down the gutter pipes!!
     

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