subject: Tips On Working On A Metal Roof [print this page] Earlier, the metal roofs used to call for frequent repairs and replacement jobs. The high maintenance cost of the metal roofs made life tough for the owners of such roofs. In addition, the homeowners or the roofers were forced to walk on the metal roofs for a number of times before fixing the concerned problem. Since then, things have improved considerably as far as the metal roofs are concerned. Now, the metal roofs are generally preferred over the other types of roofs due to their high efficiency.
Whatever be the nature of the roof, it may ask the homeowners to walk on the roof. Hence, the homeowners must follow the basic safety precautions while carrying out a repair job on the roof of the home.
Test the health of all the components of the roof that are installed at the base of the roof. The components such as lumbers, trusses and rafters must be in sound condition as they form the foundation of your metal roof. If you notice something wrong with any of these components then make immediate arrangement to replace the faulty unit with a new one. The examination of the whole roof architecture becomes more important when the concerned metal roof happens to be the main roof of the home. You can afford to skip the step if the roof happens to be a part of an affiliated home space such as porch, garage, shed etc.
The installation of the ladder must be done in such a way that a minimum of force is applied on the edges of the roof. The ladder must extend above the roof edge by at least 3 inches.
In addition, use shoes with light soles and avoid wearing the heavy shoes. Try to exert as little pressure as you can in order to avoid an accident.
Whole moving on the roof, stick to the alignment of the rafters. You would feel a steady support under your feet while moving along the roof rafters. Also, prefer walking sideways rather than walking normally. Sideways movement of the feet exerts lesser force on the roof than walking straight.
Besides the safety precautions, you can make way for certain safety gears or equipments. The commonly employed roofing equipments such as tree-climbing gears, scaffolding, roof brackets, roof-harness etc. can be used to serve the required purpose.
Some homeowners go ahead with the repair work even if the roof looks weary and saturated without consulting an expert. Such a practice must be avoided.
