Rooftop Safety Tips for When You Decide to Put Up Your Own Roof

11 April 2017
Categories: Construction & Contractors, Blog

If you are a handy person who has experience with a wide variety of home improvement projects, you might be considering putting a new roof on your home after a series of leaks. While you are probably up to the challenge, it's important to understand basic safety procedures when putting on a new roof. You will need to have a safe way to get up on your roof, a secure way down, and at the minimum, you'll want to install roof brackets to allow you to move across your roof in a safe manner.

If you're going to be up on your roof for any length of time, you'll probably want to invest in a harness system to keep you from falling off the roof in the event that you slip.

Use a Sturdy Extension Ladder

If you don't own a sturdy extension ladder that reaches easily to your roof, you'll either need to buy one or rent one. Your first goal in setting up your roof to replace the roof safely is to have a safe way to get up onto your roof. One you can get up onto your roof without a problem, it's time to consider how you will be moving around your roof.

Get or Rent a Roof Harness System

A harness system that you wear while in precarious situations, such as a steeply sloped roof, is necessary to avoid serious injury in case you fall. If your roof is one story and not very steep, you may be able to use roof brackets instead. Brackets allow you to create safe places for your feet in order to brace yourself up on the roof while you are doing work high up.

Brackets nail into your roof securely, providing a base to slide a plank across that acts as a stair. Many people choose to use a harness system and roof brackets at the same time, especially those who are not used to working on roofing surfaces.

Use Your Common Sense

When you are going to put a roof on your own home, nothing is more valuable than common sense. You'll want to make sure you have all the right tools and supplies that you need. In addition, don't go work on your roof if the weather is poor. A wet roof is a slippery roof, and you don't want to get hurt because you weren't using your common sense.

To learn more about the materials you need for this project, contact a local roofing distributor.

About Me

The one challenge I always had with my house was the fact that there was no bathroom on the first floor. Once I reached a point where I had equity in the house, I decided it was time to do some renovations. After working with a local construction contractor to map out the plans for converting the mud room into a first-floor bathroom, I decided to chronicle the entire process. I created this site to do just that in the hopes that reading about my experiences and what I learned may help others decide to tackle that renovation project they've always wanted to do as well.