(2nd try) How do you climb down from a roof?

[MikeD74T]

...I didn't want to use a slip knot so I used the old - rabbit out the hole and around the tree and back down the hole knot. So with the safety rope I was able to paint the wall even walking along the edge of the roof I felt completely comfortable. Then when I finished I went to untie the rope and as I started to untie the knot, the knot completely came apart on it's own. I had tied the knot wrong and the entire time I was working on the roof the rope was doing nothing but giving me confidence... quote]

I learned knots in the boy scouts, used knots in the Navy, and continue to use them in heights & confined space rescue as a firefighter. A couple of years ago our lead instructor came back from conference & announced that a bowline ( the rabbit/hole knot) was no longer acceptble for use in rescue by the fire service. I reminded him & continue to remind him that this advice comes from people that tie their shoes with velcro or zippers. Learn good knots, they can save your life.
Hitekcountry, It's funny that lack of comfort is what usually causes the fall.

As for the original question, I have a couple folding 4 section ladders, both 12' long. http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&num=10&q=%22folding+ladder%22&safe=on&cid=13232200262161698468&sa=title#p
They're great for your application. Use one to get on the lower roof then pull it up & walk to the ridge. Set it up straddling the ridge & have a secure climb onto the upper roof. They are just heavy enough & short enough that they're unlikely to get blown over stranding you on the roof. MikeD74T

 

[mrcaptainbob]

Every chance I get, I run the ladder 'till I get a good four rungs past the roof edge. Then I place the tractor FEL against the bottom of the ladder. Before the days of the FEL I staked a 2x4 across the bottom so it doesn't kick out. Kicking out is my biggest fear. Once I have confidence in the ladder's stability, on and off is soooo much easier on my mind!

 

[Ken45101]

As a firefighter, we were taught to step UP onto a ladder from the roof. IOW, step onto a rung above the roofline. Of course, that means that a properly sized ladder is at least 5' above the roof. Your ladder is too short.

(Just for fun, don't try this at home, we were also trained how to slide down the rails of a ladder for an emergency decent.)

Ken

 

[dave1949]

Every chance I get, I run the ladder 'till I get a good four rungs past the roof edge. Then I place the tractor FEL against the bottom of the ladder. Before the days of the FEL I staked a 2x4 across the bottom so it doesn't kick out. Kicking out is my biggest fear. Once I have confidence in the ladder's stability, on and off is soooo much easier on my mind!

I would stick with the 2x4. If you would fall, god forbid, it would be better to land on something flat, not a FEL bucket or the like.
Dave.

 

[JB4310]

I would stick with the 2x4. If you would fall, god forbid, it would be better to land on something flat, not a FEL bucket or the like.
Dave.

I agree, As morbid as it sounds when you work up high your always thinking about what you'll land on heaven forbid the worst happens.

It doesn't take much to secure the feet from sliding back. I bundle of shingles at the feet or a pail of sand under the inside of the ladder with a rope tied to it.
It's been mentioned but a rope tied at the top of the ladder to a gutter hanger helps to keep the ladder from side movement if a stabilizer is not available.

Back to the question, what I do on hairy roofs like a three family with a steep pitch, 40 footer fully extended over a driveway, is scooch butt down on all fours feet first like a crab, moving very carefully directly over the ladder, bring your arm around and grab a rung firmly not pulling back but pushing down, then swing a leg around and get a foot on a rung no higher than the roof, then your other hand and bring the rest of your body around.

When moving on the ladder high up I always tell who ever is working with me to firmly grab the rungs with fingers and thumb wrapped around, not holding the side rails and also when way up high to have a firm grip with both hands before moving feet to next step, it's a little slower but much safer cause even if you loose your feet by slipping you will be holding yourself with 2 hands and could recover your footing quickly.

JB.

 

[jaquetarr]

"firmly grab the rungs with fingers and thumb wrapped around, not holding the side rails "

When I started out climbing ladders in oil tanker tanks, the rule was to never trust the rungs. A broken weld or rusted rung could put you on the stringers. We were told to hold onto the side rails.
Rgds,
tim

 

[dave1949]

"firmly grab the rungs with fingers and thumb wrapped around, not holding the side rails "

When I started out climbing ladders in oil tanker tanks, the rule was to never trust the rungs. A broken weld or rusted rung could put you on the stringers. We were told to hold onto the side rails.
Rgds,
tim

Wouldn't you always start out at the top of a tank and go down? I mean, you would have to step on the rung before your hands got to it on the way down.
Dave.

 

[jaquetarr]

When you're in the top of the tank, there are plenty of other things to hold on, and you can press your back against the manhole to steady yourself as you decend the first few rungs. Now days, and depending on the company, you may have a harness & line attached.

Rgds,
tim

 

[JB4310]

"firmly grab the rungs with fingers and thumb wrapped around, not holding the side rails "

When I started out climbing ladders in oil tanker tanks, the rule was to never trust the rungs. A broken weld or rusted rung could put you on the stringers. We were told to hold onto the side rails.
Rgds,
tim

I see what your getting at, but if you have a bad rung your in trouble one way or another, if you step on a bad rung and you start to go I doubt you'd hold yourself with hands on the rails.
But if you grab a bad rung your trouble just the same.

Different set of circumstances I guess with fixed ladders like those on a tower or tank.

On some jobs we will run a safety rope next to the ladder and wear a harness or belt and use a sliding rope grab attached to the lanyard, definitely makes for a more comfortable climb.

JB.

 

[silverdollar6]

If you want to get off of a roof, just put a big pile of straw next to the ladder and jump into the straw, a fun way to get off a roof.

 

[gonegreen]

I have done my share of roof jobs and don't normally mind being up there. However, the steeper and higher the roof is (and the older I get) the more cautious I am. The last roof job I was on, the two twenty year olds asked me if I was afraid of heights. I told them "no I'm not afraid of heights - I'm afraid of falling"!

 

[deepNdirt]

I have done my share of roof jobs and don't normally mind being up there. However, the steeper and higher the roof is (and the older I get) the more cautious I am. The last roof job I was on, the two twenty year olds asked me if I was afraid of heights. I told them "no I'm not afraid of heights - I'm afraid of falling"!

Yeah! and its not really the fall that worry me...its that sudden stop
and another thing----> the best tool to have in your hand when falling is a extention cord.......-> why? because its sure to hang up on something

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Yeah! and its not really the fall that worry me...its that sudden stop

Well, sadly I can tell you the fall is what worried me the most. The sudden stop was the only certain thing, falling I had no control over what I was going to hit or how. I slid into the ladder and ended up following the back side of the ladder straight down to the ground. I missed the service line coming to the house by inches and luckily didn't get tied up in the rungs of the ladder when I slid into it. Once I was on the ground and was still conscious I was relieved even though I could barely move and thought I broke my legs. But the falling part was definitely a worse feeling then the sudden stop (well for me anyways and hopefully no one else has to ever experience it). It actually wasn't too painful either. The pain came when I was being moved and loaded into the helicopter (which is very bouncy I learned).

 

[deepNdirt]

Well, sadly I can tell you the fall is what worried me the most. The sudden stop was the only certain thing, falling I had no control over what I was going to hit or how. I slid into the ladder and ended up following the back side of the ladder straight down to the ground. I missed the service line coming to the house by inches and luckily didn't get tied up in the rungs of the ladder when I slid into it. Once I was on the ground and was still conscious I was relieved even though I could barely move and thought I broke my legs.

I wasn't going to admit this, But it can happen to anyone even with someone with life long experiance as I have on ladders,..... 4 years ago inside a new home, I was triming out a upstair window in a 18 x 22 den with 20ft ceilings it was the largest room in the house so I had set up my miter saw in there and had made a lot of dust on the floor from cutting for the rest of the house trim, this window was the last to be finished the job and the closest to my saw work station, I had to move the saw over a few feet to get the ladder stood, I knew the dust was on the floor and simply kicked it away with my shoes the best I could,
I went ahead up the ladder and worked on 3 sides of the window and had to stretch to get to the far 4th side, and this is when the ladder started sliding down the wall because the ladders feet lost the grip to the floor do to the sawdust, the fall was not problem I knew what to do I rode it down for half the way until the top of the ladder came to the large 8 ft. tall case opening in the wall when the ladder went thru this opening I lost my ballance fell backwards my right foot fell thru the rung and when I slam to the floor all my 220 lbs on top of the ladder and ladder on top of my ankle,It was a situation that one person could not get themselve out of, it was a good thing someone else in the house heard the noise and came to help, its hard to figure out how to get up off a ladder when your legs is stretched out under the thing with a broken ankle ,
well I found out how fast a foot can swell when I remove my boot, and can also turn many colors you never seen before.............. but as I said ..it is the sudden stop I fear, everyone was amazed that i didn't break anything else at my age of 46 at the time, I do still walk with a limp to remind me of that day

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I wasn't going to admit this, But it can happen to anyone even with someone with life long experiance as I have on ladders,..... 4 years ago inside a new home, I was triming out a upstair window in a 18 x 22 den with 20ft ceilings it was the largest room in the house so I had set up my miter saw in there and had made a lot of dust on the floor from cutting for the rest of the house trim, this window was the last to be finished the job and the closest to my saw work station, I had to move the saw over a few feet to get the ladder stood, I knew the dust was on the floor and simply kicked it away with my shoes the best I could,
I went ahead up the ladder and worked on 3 sides of the window and had to stretch to get to the far 4th side, and this is when the ladder started sliding down the wall because the ladders feet lost the grip to the floor do to the sawdust, the fall was not problem I knew what to do I rode it down for half the way until the top of the ladder came to the large 8 ft. tall case opening in the wall when the ladder went thru this opening I lost my ballance fell backwards my right foot fell thru the rung and when I slam to the floor all my 220 lbs on top of the ladder and ladder on top of my ankle,It was a situation that one person could not get themselve out of, it was a good thing someone else in the house heard the noise and came to help, its hard to figure out how to get up off a ladder when your legs is stretched out under the thing with a broken ankle ,
well I found out how fast a foot can swell when I remove my boot, and can also turn many colors you never seen before.............. but as I said ..it is the sudden stop I fear, everyone was amazed that i didn't break anything else at my age of 46 at the time, I do still walk with a limp to remind me of that day

It is just a simple mistake that usually costs us. We all get cocky when we do this type of work long enough and that is when we pay the price.

I found when free falling you have no control and no certainty as to what will happen. The sudden stop while possibly painful is the only certainty (and thus kind of reassuring). When I slipped over the peak of the roof I pictured every scenerio and one of which was landing on my head and breaking my neck and leaving Ava without a father. So when all I broke was a vertebre in my back I was relieved. 15 days in the hospital and then I got to spend a lot of time with Ava which was a blessing since she was 3 at the time. She would sit with me in my chair and we would color and read books. It was a positive out of the situation and one I was thankful to have

Ava would come visit me in the hospital every couple days but it was a long drive so I felt bad for her having to ride that long so often. But she was happy as she got to ride the elevator and escalators every time which I think she enjoyed more then seeing me

I was in a similar situation to where your accident happened. I did not trust the floor with that light coating of dust and when I had to stand a ladder up to the peak of the wall to finish some painting I made sure someone was holding the base of the ladder. I do not like falling and I definitely don't want to have to fix the damage I cause if I do fall. I hope your ankle is feeling better now.