Imagine you look up and see a shingle dangling from your roof. You imagine it will be a simple fix so you hastily grab a ladder and climb up. It’s the obvious choice if you’re inclined to do-it-yourself work but it can be a costly mistake. The roof that seemed so low from the ground might seem a lot higher once you reach the top and you realize that one false move could leave you crashing to the cold, hard ground.
Before you do any work on your home you need to consider how to do it safely, and this is especially important when it comes to working on top of your roof because it’s a surface you probably don’t walk on often. If you’re serious about safe roofing you need to think about safety equipment, proper assistance, weather conditions and the advantages of calling in the professionals.
Wear Safety Equipment
There’s a reason that you’ll see signs saying that hardhats are required on construction sites, something as simple as the right hat could save your skull in an emergency situation. But headgear isn’t the only thing you should be concerned with, every item of clothing you wear should be suited for the job.
Make sure you’re wearing shoes that are ready for the work. Shoes with soft soles offer the best traction, if you’re really serious you can find work boots designed specifically for use on roofs. Just make sure that you don’t use shoes that are so worn down that they’ve lost their traction.
If you are especially worried about falling off your roof then consider investing in a safety harness, which is an essential purchase if you’re working on a roof that’s especially steep or high up.
It might seem like doing “free” work on your house can get expensive but the reality is that sometimes you need to invest in a job if you want it done right. Buying the right equipment or hiring people who already have it may cost you more than you’d like to pay but it saves you from dealing with a loss of salary if you end up stuck in a hospital with an injured back after falling from your roof.
Don’t Work Alone
There’s a reason that even the most experienced professionals take at least one other person along when they work on a roof. Accidents can happen to even the most seasoned roofers and having someone nearby to lend a helping hand can turn an accident to a close-call. Just think about something as simple as climbing the ladder up to the roof, if you have someone holding the ladder you don’t have to worry about a little bit of wobbling but without someone to steady the ladder a little wobble could lead to you falling a full story to the ground before.
Just make sure that you’re working with someone you can trust, people who won’t be helpful should be kept away since they can be the cause of trouble rather than a solution.
Never Work In Bad Weather
You probably don’t have to be told that you shouldn’t try and climb up on your roof during a typhoon but things don’t have to be that bad to turn a regular roof into something potentially deadly. The best roof to work on is a completely dry roof, if it’s raining very lightly or even if it just rained the night before then the best thing to do is wait for the roof to dry off before heading up.
If your roof has been damaged by poor weather it can be tempting to go up and try to fix it before things can get worse but a damaged roof is better than a damaged spine and even low levels of wind or rain can be surprisingly dangerous. If you do feel that something needs to be done immediately contact local roofing professionals to see if they can get the job done with their experience and safety equipment.
Hire Professionals
While there are plenty of steps you can take to make it safer to go up on your roof in the end as an amateur you aren’t likely to have the sort of tools and skills that can match those that roofing professionals have. Even people who work on their roof every year of their adult life probably end up with 40 days worth of experience on top of a roof, while even beginning roofers rack up that sort of experience within their first two weeks on the job.
While it’s possible that you can save some money by working on your own roof you have to remember that people have ended up losing their lives trying to save a few dollars, or racking up hospital bills that massively outweigh the money they were looking to save.
Respect The Work
Whatever you decide to do one of the most important things you can do is simply approaching the job with the right mindset. People are often lackadaisical about DIY projects, but the roof is one area where this mindset can get you seriously hurt. Before you do anything you should consider safety, if you put safety first it might take more time or money to get the job done but in the end you’re going to prevent disasters that could cost you in unimaginable ways.
If you want to sit back and relax while the professionals handle the job for you don’t hesitate to call us at Quality Roofing LLC. We’d be happy to give you a free estimate so you can compare the costs of hiring us with the risks involved in doing the job yourself.
Give us a call 256-325-2277, or email us for a free roof inspection