A reminder to be careful

[Bain]

I saw this in my local newspaper this morning, and I realized the poor guy who suffered the fall was probably doing what he'd done a thousand times before. Yesterday, though, there was a misstep or some other miscue, and the guy paid for the mistake with his life.

Does anyone else share the experience I have every couple of weeks or so? Where you find yourself on a prickly roof and realize you're an idiot and a few hundred bucks isn't worth risking your life for?

http://www.kentucky.com/2010/05/22/1276 ... n-job.html

[Scottpat]

Does anyone else share the experience I have every couple of weeks or so? Where you find yourself on a prickly roof and realize you're an idiot and a few hundred bucks isn't worth risking your life for?

http://www.kentucky.com/2010/05/22/1276 ... n-job.html

I think about every single time I get my ladder out! Might also be the reason that I no longer try to scale every roof I see at a home. I'm so thankful that the vast majority of the homes in my area have roofs with pitches greater than 6/12 and are just too steep to safely get on.

If it looks steep and if I just don't fee good about getting up on the roof I don't! I pull out the trusty binoculars and survey from the ground.

[Inspectorjoe]

What a timely post. For some reason, I woke up at 5 am today. Not wanting to get up, I just stared at the ceiling, letting strange thoughts go through my head. One of the thoughts was how I'm going to do this job when I'm old. I turn 50 in August. Unless I want to live in the almshouse (they still have them, don't they?), I see myself working till I'm 70. Will I be able to climb roofs at 70? If not, will I know at what point to stop? If I stop, how can I continue to do inspections when I feel I'm shortchanging the buyer by doing a half-assed roof inspection from the ground or the edge of the ladder.

I certainly don't want the buyers watching me on a roof, while commenting to each other "that guy's too old to be up there'.

[John Kogel]

Does anyone else share the experience I have every couple of weeks or so? Where you find yourself on a prickly roof and realize you're an idiot and a few hundred bucks isn't worth risking your life for?

Yes, back in the 70's I would charge up and down ladders like there was no gravity. One day, the old carpenter came out and called me an idiot. []

One place I am very careful now is using the short ladder up on the vinyl deck. Will it stay put while I'm getting back on? Sometimes the long ladder on solid ground is a wiser choice.

You don't have to be a daredevil to impress your clients. I use reasonable caution and once in a blue moon, the camera on a long paint pole.

[charlieb]

What a timely post. For some reason, I woke up at 5 am today. Not wanting to get up, I just stared at the ceiling, letting strange thoughts go through my head. One of the thoughts was how I'm going to do this job when I'm old. I turn 50 in August. Unless I want to live in the almshouse (they still have them, don't they?), I see myself working till I'm 70. Will I be able to climb roofs at 70? If not, will I know at what point to stop? If I stop, how can I continue to do inspections when I feel I'm shortchanging the buyer by doing a half-assed roof inspection from the ground or the edge of the ladder.

I certainly don't want the buyers watching me on a roof, while commenting to each other "that guy's too old to be up there'.

the very reason I chose to grow into a company not stay one inspector. I can make more cash working alone but that business model only provides a minimal retirement. I like to travel a lot!

[davidlord]

Well after 11 years of this gig Monday I set my ladder up as usual to get on a low sloped roof. Heavy rain during the day but not raining at the time of the inspection. Ladder (little giant) was set up on a wood deck at the approriate angle. Went up looked around and as soon as I stepped off the roof onto the ladder the feet of the ladder slid out and I went horizontal. landed on top of the ladder from about 8 feet, whacked my head on the wood deck. At first I was certain I was hurt bad. Laid there a few seconds and collected myself. No blood, and I was able to stand up. Walked it off and can say other than being very sore for a few days I'm ok. I'm in pretty good physical condition and I'm convinced that helped me survive the fall. I have been pretty timid though the rest of the week and have used the binoculars more than usual.

[Erby]

Just got back from camping with the grand kids all weekend to see this. It's less than two miles from where I live. Sure wakes you up and makes you think about what risks we take for what we make. Bet I'll hear more about it at he coffee shop in the morning.

I don't take so many risks since last June. I think a lot more about which roofs to climb and which ones not to climb.

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[gtblum]

Safety in your own home is just as important. Getting out of your own shower can be just as dangerous as climbing a roof.

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