Question About Heights/ 40ft Peak

prolinefinishes

Well, i started an exterior a few weeks ago. GOt everything done except the really high stuff. I bid it thinking (my 1st mistake) that a 32 footer would reach the peak. Not even close. So i just bought me a brand new 40 footer from Werner today. My problem is kinda sucky. at each side of the house the peak which i need to paint is 40ft roughly. No biggie, i can reach it with the new ladder.
My problem is that on the front of the house there are 2 windows which i also have to paint. The roof on this house is steep. Steep enough that it was just too scary to scale it on my stomach and reach over for fear of sliding back down.

I am no artist when it comes to using my mouse, so pardon the pic, but hopefully you get the idea.

The front is very steep to these windows, and is about 5 feet away from the gutters.

as the right drawing shows, i'm gonna have a problem getting to these windows with the ladder. So what i need to figure out is my options for what i can do to get on and stay safely on this roof. I sawsomeone had some sort of rig up there with 2 supports under a 2x8 across the front of one of the windows like u see in the bottom picture.
What is that? where can i get the supports they were useing and about what do they run. and more importantly, hjow safe are they and can i use without worrying about damaging the roof?

I can imagine the only way is to life the shingles and tuck the braces under and....drill screws into the roof? How safe would that be at an engle you cant even lay on without falling to support my 250lb ass?
Is there another way?

I considered just renting a 60ft boom for the day, but nations rent wanted like 500-750 a day. Thats alot of cash to take a hit on considering i bid this out pretty low just to land more work with this new builder.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

jproffer

What pictures? If you attached them then I'm the one having a problem, but I don't see them there.

Did you ask how much to rent a scissor lift or JLG for a day?

__________________
Jim P.

ElmForest

My house is similar, two story w/ dormers in attic. I used roof brackets and 2x8's for my own dormers. These brackets are nailed underneath the exposed shingle. I used galvanized truss nails in brackets. You just want to be carefull with shingles and try to nail into rafters. Then when done remove brackets and drive nails in completely. Always cover nail heads with BlackJack. NEVER drive a fastener into a roof then remove it. My roof is 12/12. Dormers are app. 6' W x 8' H. Some rental places have one-man lifts that are cheaper. If the peak isn't too high up you could use a over-the-peak bracket and a straight (half an extension) ladder.

Dale

Get a lift..you should be able to rent a small 40' pull behind for about $140./day. Well worth it if you can move it around. I'll almost always rent a lift..they're FUN..makes what you worried about and dreaded something to look forward to, and you're comfortable and SAFE enough to do a good job on the project. The amount of time that may be wasted in just setting up and moving around to access all areas might pay for the cost of the lift. Take the 40'er ladder back and use the money for the rental. My 2 cents

prolinefinishes

Well, i got the 40 footer on Pro Buy for under 300 out the door. So a good deal none the less and i know i'd use it again.
Now, the problem with lifts...
Scissor or JLG wont work. a 40' Boom wont work either. The house is about 15-20 ft away from the rd. a 40ft. boom would not get me to the dormers from the road, and i cannot park any heavy machinery on what is now a ready-for-seed lawn.
a 60ft boom would get me there, and one of the only places i know around here that will rent one, drop off and pickup, is nations rent. The cost my partner was quoted for a daily rental was over 500 a day, with 75 delivery and 75 pickup.
if it was summertime, i could get there early and put in 12hrs to make sure i only needed it for a day. Cept i am in Cleveland (weather) and with daylight savings time and the temperature in the mornings, even if i did rent a 60' boom, there is a very good chance that the ammount of work i need to get done would not be competed in 1 working day. Thus requireing the use of the boom for another day, thus negateing my profit pretty much.

Just had a friend come over and he just so happens to have some roof jacks! He is going to pick em up now and drop em off for me. So i guess for now my only real option (withought making no money) would be to use the 40' ladder and roof jacks for the dormers and the underhangs on each sie of the house.
by the way, i also need to paint the 40 foot peaked underhangs on either side of the house. a 60' boom would not have gotten me to where i needed to be form the road anyways, so really the new ladder was a must have regardless.

And i do beleive the builder is happy with my work as well as my ambition (not many painters commiting to exterior work at the end of November at a discounted price! So with that said i am thinking i will get more work for him. And in this particular development, that 40' ladder is gonna be a godsend and it will pay for itself after i get this job done.

Thanks for the replies. It definately eases ones mind to know how other people would do it when weighing ones options.

Steve
Pro-Line Finishes LLC

AAPaint

This is me in a 40' boom for that same reason. The second peak up that you see was impossible to get to with a ladder. A 32' wouldn't even touch the wall above the first peak. The rest of the roof on the house has the same slope you see here. I tried going up from a low area on the garage and didn't take 3 steps till I slid down the old wore out shingles. I will not hesitate to rent one of these again.

Forgot to mention...Behind that front peak on the side of the house is a chimney stack that is probably 10' higher than the roof. I say get all the low stuff you can reach like we did. I only had about 6' of that upper peak to paint by the time we got the lift, and the back and sides of the chimney stack. Then we used it to re-install all of the shutters on the house....man did that go so easily in a lift!

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-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

ElmForest

Proline didn't say where he was from. I would call around to see if anyplace else has a lift. At least for the gable trim. I can understand how the dormers would be difficult with a lift. However a lift would make installation of the roof jacks much quicker.

AAPaint

Not only that, but you can set the bucket on the roof and use it just like a walkboard basically, by setting the basket in front of where you need to be and you can get out and work safely in front of it. That's how I got the backside of the chimney stack. The bucket wouldn't reach, so I set it on the roof right next to one side, climed out and stepped behind the stack. A few shots with the spray gun and I was back in the bucket. No problemo!

__________________
-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

prolinefinishes

Well, I got the dormers done today with roof jacks and a 40 fotter. Still have to get the sides but i told em he is pretty much SOL till the weather breaks in a few months+
And for the record, In my second post i said i was in Cleveland


Thanks again for the replies and advice. One things for sure, when i do get into this exterior stuff again likie this with the high pitch roofs and 40foot peeks, you can bet your ass i will be doing it way before they move in and get the lawn ready so i can sit that puppy where ever i want to get the job done.
a boom would have made our job today 100% easier, if the circumstances and the timeframe. and of course, the profit =)

Steve

Tom Rohland

Pro,

You might consider placing 4 x 8 sheets of plywood down on the "ready for seed" lawn. This will keep you from making ruts in the earth.

Just my two cents.

Tom
Ranger Painting & Pressure Cleaning, Inc.

prolinefinishes

Probably what i am going to have to do unless the ground is frozen when i get around to doing it.
Thanks