Almost fell off the roof today!

[Von]

I was giving the roof of my antique shop a coat of the silver roof coating today, when I made the mistake of stepping where I just put a coat down! landed flat on my back and started to slide down the roof! Got lucky and was able to roll to where I haven't put any yet and stopped sliding. Its not that the roof is steep, maybe 2/12 but it is high. Maybe about 25 ft. I stood up and looked like the "tin man" from wizard of OZ! I was covered in silver! My wife got a good laugh when I came down the stairs from the attic. (had to go down and get the brush that fell off of the roof!) She said I need to tie a rope aound one of the chimneys and the other end around me! Maybe next time I'll do that, hopefully that won't be for 5 years!!

 

[pajoube]

I had a similar experience, was coating my mother in laws roof and also painting the house numbers in large block letters when I hit the painted area and took a slide. Mine was not as high as yours thank goodness. We sure learn fast after a slide like that.
PJ

 

[chim]

Our place has a 7:12 shingle roof that is almost too steep under good conditions. The master bedroom is over the garage, and the footprint is smaller than the garage, so there's a section of roof under the windows. One sunny day I was washing the windows - sprayer with soap, garden hose, etc. Fortunately, since the roof is so steep, I always park the tractor with the rear tire at the base of the ladder, which is set at a hard angle "just in case". The first move I made after getting the roof wet resulted in a ski trip to the (thankfully well-secured) ladder.

A boss I had years ago told me he and a bud moonlighted installing TV antennas (antennae?). They had a particularly nasty slate roof they needed to be on, and came up with a plan. They got a rope, and each one tied an end around his waist. They made out that if one were to start sliding down, the other would jump off the opposite side..................chim

 

[duanet]

Chim, I was reminded of this story especially by your reply to Von. (Glad you are OK, Von.)

Dear Boss, I write this note to you to tell you of my plight
And at the time of writing, I am not a pretty sight
My body is all black and blue, my face a deadly gray
And I hope you'll understand why Paddy's not at work today.

I was working on the Fourteenth floor, some bricks I had to clear
And throwing them down from such a height was not a good idea
The foreman was a awkward sort, he was an awful sod,
He said I'd have to take them down the ladder in my hod

Well clearing all these bricks by hand, it was so awful slow
So I hoisted up a barrel and secured a rope below
But in my haste to do the job, I was too blind to see
That a barrel full of building bricks was heavier than me.

So I went down to cut the rope, and the barrel fell like lead

And clinging tightly to the rope I started up instead
I shot up like a rocket, and to my surprise I found
That halfway up I met the bloody barrel comin' down

Well the barrel struck my shoulder as to the ground it sped
And when I reached the top I hit the pulley with my head
I spun around all stunned and shocked from this almighty blow
While the barrel spilled out half the bricks fourteen floors below

Now when these bricks had fallen from the barrel to the floor
I then outweighed the barrel, so I started down once more
Still clinging tightly to the rope, I headed for the ground
And fell upon the building bricks that were all scattered 'round

Now as soon as I had hit the ground, I thought I'd passed the worst
When the barrel hit the pulley, and then the bottom burst
A shower of bricks fell down on me, I hadn't got a hope
And as I was losing consciousness, I let go the bloody rope

Well the barrel being heavier, it started down once more
And struck across me smartly as I lie there on the floor
It broke some ribs and my left arm, and I can only say
That I hope you'll understand why Paddy's not at work today.

There's a couple more versions at <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.snopes.com/humor/letters/bricks.htm>http://www.snopes.com/humor/letters/bricks.htm</A> that are worth looking at if you chucked at this one.

 

[Thomas]

Hope you took a break in between that adventure..whew.

Tin roof on my shed in 2000 had 30" of snow so up I went,try to push the snow off.
The next thing I knew my boots were facing toward heaven,and my butt was push the snow..stop several feet from the edge.

Now when I remove snow I tie a ladder on the roof and work off the ladder..I ain't getting any younger for those kinda trills. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[looch]

I'm reminded of a rather tragic accident that happened around here during the 1998 ice storm. People were desperately trying to remove the built up ice from their rooves - despite the advice of the authorities to not risk it. One guy tied a rope to the bumper of his truck and the other to himself. He wasn't counting on his wife needing to make a trip...