Installing metal pole barn roof

[dr_lee29]

Hi all,
I'm about half way through the construction of my small pole barn (24X27X8). I've built it completely by myself and now I'm ready for the roof. I guess the my question is, can I walk on the roof as I nail down the metal? I've been really careful so far not to trust the purlins with my body weight. So I'm really struggling with how to nail down the roof metal without walking the roof.

 

[boogerman2000]

Absolutely! Once you get some screws in a panel just step on the flat sections above the purlins.

 

[Duffster]

Hi all,
I'm about half way through the construction of my small pole barn (24X27X8). I've built it completely by myself and now I'm ready for the roof. I guess the my question is, can I walk on the roof as I nail down the metal? I've been really careful so far not to trust the purlins with my body weight. So I'm really struggling with how to nail down the roof metal without walking the roof.

What is the roof pitch?

 

[HCJ]

I found that I could screw each 3' width down from the side by simply reaching over from a ladder. This is a time when it would be nice to have a helper, one guy at the top and another towards the bottom, to help align each piece, and to screw it in. Believe me, if you screw it down according to specifications, it will go much faster with a helper. A good impact driver really helps rather than a drill-driver. I find it much lighter and easier to use for the 1000 or so screws that you will need. The only time I needed to get on the roof was to install the ridge cap. I too built my pole barn by myself, until I installed the metal.

 

[Oldmax]

I built a shead for my tractor and put the entire roof on from a ladder even the ridge .

 

[Carykong]

you can install most of your metal panels standing inside the rafters just by reaching over. Panels are 3' right? last panel on each run you will have to get ON the roof. pad your ladder to avoid scratching the panels if they are painted and extend the ladder onto the roof matching the slope. if your ladder is too short,I clamped my ladder to the forks on my FEL and extended the height of the ladder and lowered it gently onto the roof.good luck

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I built a 32x60 pole barn with 12' eave height and put on every sheet of tin by myself, the pitch on my barn is only a 4/12 but I have never heard of anybody building a barn and not getting on the roof, not saying there's anything wrong with that, if it works for you great. Is the pitch of the roof to steep? are the trusses spaced to far apart the reason you did'nt want to put any weight on your purlin's?

 

[flusher]

Hi all,
I'm about half way through the construction of my small pole barn (24X27X8). I've built it completely by myself and now I'm ready for the roof. I guess the my question is, can I walk on the roof as I nail down the metal? I've been really careful so far not to trust the purlins with my body weight. So I'm really struggling with how to nail down the roof metal without walking the roof.

Here's how I did it last year when I build my equipment shed (20x28 ft, 10ft high in front, 9ft high in rear). I slid 18" wide x 8ft long pieces of 1/2" plywood between the purlins to support my weight as I installed the 29 ga metal roof panels. I moved the plywood as the roofing progressed.

It turned out that the roof panels would support my 175 lb weight with no problem, but I figured better safe than sorry. And using the plywood made the job a lot safer for this old coot (67 years old when I built that shed).

 

[tommu56]

I usually take some old carpet duct tape strips to the rails of a ladder and lay it on purlins or on tin if at end of wall
You just have to be careful moving ladder.
You also have to rig up a bracket to catch the ridge to keep from sliding off.

tom

 

[Carykong]

hey Flusher, what kind of wood is did you use for your shed? reddish color,yes?

 

[flusher]

hey Flusher, what kind of wood is did you use for your shed? reddish color,yes?

The posts are 4x6 pressure treated. The rest of the frame is just ordinary framing lumber from Home Depot. I like to paint the frame pieces before assembly (hate to stand on a ladder with paint brush in hand). Used Behr exterior redwood wood stain (non-transparent type) also from HD.

 

[Dave5264]

Hi all,
I'm about half way through the construction of my small pole barn (24X27X8). I've built it completely by myself and now I'm ready for the roof. I guess the my question is, can I walk on the roof as I nail down the metal? I've been really careful so far not to trust the purlins with my body weight. So I'm really struggling with how to nail down the roof metal without walking the roof.

Just finished mine this weekend, i had the Rafters up already, put rough cut 1x4 (true 1x4) across every 16" for strapping.

even before the metal, the whole thing was plenty strong enough to walk on.

i did the whole thing by standing/knweeling on the roof.

found it easier to screw the metal on vs reaching over from a ladder

 

[Tex5String]

Like dr lee, I did not want to put much weight on the purlins of my 36x48' pole barn. My solution was to cut a sheet of 3/8" ply in half, then I leapfrogged from one of the 4x4' pieces to the next, moving the tools with me each time.

 

[jimmyj]

We walked on ours, just be sure to walk where the steel is on top of wood not between the strapping or you could "dent" the roof a bit.

Suggestion: Use screws if you can instead of nails (the ones with the rubber gaskets). They are not cheap but they're much easier to work with if you have to do anything later on.

When we did screws one time we stacked all of the roofing in a pile and pre drilled holes for the screws. That way every single screw is in a straight line and man does it look tidy. I've also used string lines for this as the screws don't need pre drilled holes really.

 

[PILOON]

Pre drilling sure makes for a nice look on the finished product. Real pretty to see all the screws perfectly lined up.
Naturally that requires accurate placement of the purlins.

If walking on the roof is necessary, always walk on a screw head as that way you are sure that your weight is over a purlin and not on unsupported metal. That is the easiest way to avoid dents in the metal.
Also wear soft soled shoes (sneekers or gumm rubber soled work boots) as that will lessen slippage and marking.