Scaffolding

English Roofer

Having discussed this in roofing talk i thought i would ask the question here, you guys dont tend to use much scaffolding?
I have just looked at the post about wether or not to replace the felt and saw there was not scaffolding in place, i understand we do things differently over here with steeper pitched roofs and using tiles and slates but safely is safely where ever you are in the world.
One slip and your off!
The law here is you have to put a scaffold or some kind up when you are working at height, i know how expensive it is(believe me) but what cost on life.
Would reguard your thoughts on the matter.
Cheers
Dave

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' I can resist anything but temptation' Oscar Wilde

www.drroofing.co.uk

Chris Johnson

We have the option of tying off with a harness...notice you never see pictures with guys in them, it gets omitted a lot, or left in the truck...until someone falls

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Chris

roof-lover

Everybody must be filthy rich in england!

cleveman

It's really no big deal if a roofer falls and can't get back up. There is always plenty more where that came from.

I like to have a piece of scaffolding if I need it to get materials up on anything higher than a ranch.

We also use toe holds, which you wouldn't be able to use with tile.

English Roofer

There has been a big push by 'Health and safety' in this country for scaffolding on anything higher than 2mtrs (6ft8") for the last 20yrs or so.
When i started in 79 my apprentiship was 'see them tiles there(ground) get them up ther(roof) no scaff just lots of clean underware!
You can still do jobs from ladders and cat ladders(think you call them chicken ladders) but if your doing a re-roof you need scaffold and its not cheap but as all contractors need to supply it everyone is in the same boat!
Roof-lover its the scaffolders that are rich not us poor roofers lol

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' I can resist anything but temptation' Oscar Wilde

www.drroofing.co.uk

jcalvin

Actually, if you will check his pants, there is probably a baby roofer there.

Sorry guys, couldn't resist that. Thank you for the wonderful job you do. If it wasn't for you, land lovers like me could never get a job finished.

Really I am sorry.

But it was funny.

Right?

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Cal


You hired WHO

J-Peffer

I dropped some money on scaffolding, and we use it on every re-roof. I use ladders for repairs only now.

Even ranch style 4:12's. 2 sets of scaffolding and good to go. You don't have to worry about denting drip edge, or a ladder tipping over, hitting rain gutters and what not.

On large roofs, or steeper roofs, I set it up, it goes pretty quick with a strong guy setting it up,and another handing pieces up. In the end, I think the job turns out better and it's safer. It's nice to be right in front of that drip edge when you are working it.

MJW

We use a telehandler with a basket on the forks.

I wish we made enough to scaffold every job! Haha, that's laughable up here to use scaffold on anything unless you are a union worker. I know it's not funny. I have fallen myself and paid plenty. If it was commercial work....maybe. Otherwise, we barely get by the way it is. We get undercut all summer by van full's of mexicans that will do a job in a day and do it for half price!

jcalvin

Half the time
Half the price
Twice the mexicans
Twice the leaks

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Cal


You hired WHO

tinner666

And just think, while soldering copper, 2 stories up today, I had one lag hanging over the edge. And, as I was on a corner, the safety issue did cross my mind.
But, being a fast learner, I figured I could learn to fly before I fell that far.

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Frank Slate Roof Repairs, Richmond, Va.

billderboots

since i was a kid learning roofing in 1975 we always used toe-holds only on 7/12 to 12/12, anything steeper we used roof jacks with 2x10 planks.
Im 47 now and have never fallen off any roof...ever. better knock on wood. we were working in the chesapeak bay area of maryland in 1995 shingling a 3 story condo. the roof was 8/12 we were just about finished when an inspector came in took one look and stopped the job and sent me to the nearest safety store to get harnesses, cost me about 800 dollars for the equipment yep all my guys had a hissy about wearing them and stumbling over each others line and such. after that job they got used exactly 0 times still in my shop gathering dust. I know someone in here is gonna give me a going over about that one chance in a thousand someone is gonna get hurt, but i doubt im the only one living risky.
Oh i lied we did use them one time since then, i sent them out to a city job i contracted and the guys fastened the ring at the peak and never hooked up to them! Oh well

loneframer

Yeah, framers are supposed to use harnesses too. It's a circus trying to flop sheets with all the hoses ,ropes and saw cords.

outlaw

When I learned to roof in the late 80's, we would do 2 story 9/12 with nothing at all. Now I like a board at the bottom of an 8/12 when I paper it. The board comes off the minute I start laying shingles. Of course it has gotten harder now that I'm 250 lbs.

Grumpy

I know we spoke about this in another forum. Scaffolding is not really necessary. We can use ladder scaffolds which are much easier to setup and accomplish basically the same thing. Toe boards are great for slipping. Chicken ladders, are useful in many occasions. I hate harnesses but sometimes you need those too.

MrRoofer

So it is true about scaffolds there!

We had some concrete tilers come over from England a couple years ago and they would pretty much **** their pants crawling to the bottom edge of the roof, even with ropes. I had to show them the toeboard method and eventually they sorta got it, but unless you start with nothing, you're never going to get used to nothing .

It would have been nice if the powers that be reckognized the profit value in mandatory scaffolding here, holy crap talk about job creation program! Unfortunately as business begins to taper off, there would appear no room to bargain for extras like scaffolding anymore, pretty much just trying to not get our throats slit on every estimate these days.

I started roofing here in '94, and never saw a rope until around 2000, where I was on a subflooring crew 4 or 5 stories up walking walls. Conractors used to threaten fines all the time for guys sloped roofing with no ropes, but to this day I have yet to experience a shutdown on a residential site, let alone see a safety guy of any kind.

Flat roofing this neck of the sticks is entirely the opposite however, for whatever reasons. Mostly I would surmise the dollar values on large commercial projects dictate a higher authoritative presence than low dollar residential.

Scaffolding does get used for some things roofing related here, but not very much.


The saying here goes, if you fall, you're fired halfway down .

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'I'm living on the edge!'

tinner666

"The saying here goes, if you fall, you're fired halfway down"

" Yes sir, I see that guy lying there. He used to work for us, but quit. He was in fine shape when he left. He is apparently trying to file a fake WC claim. He had NO injuries when he quit. If he is even injured at ll, it happened at a later time. But, i say again, not on our job."

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Frank Slate Roof Repairs, Richmond, Va.

PA woodbutcher

or as soon as you leave the roof!

I use ladder jacks and roof jacks for shingle roofs most of the time. 7/12 and steeper get roof jacks every time..saves on the wear and tear on the shingles. Steel roofing get scaffolding as it makes it a whole lot easier for the guy at the bottom to set the eaves.

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'The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.' - Ronald Reagan

Duane1982

I was always taught:

"you are fired when you fall and trespassing when you hit the ground!"

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tinner666

""you are fired when you fall and trespassing when you hit the ground!"

I wouldn't want the bum to collect Unemployment. "I quit" is much better.
Or " The last we heard, he had quit"

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Frank Slate Roof Repairs, Richmond, Va.