Ladder accessory to allow safely getting on and off house roof.

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pieceofmind

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My house is a mid-terrace with a strange roof design: instead of being one continuous roof, each house in the terrace has its own roof, like a shallow pyramid (way shallower than a regular pitched roof), with a flat, felted 'walkway' (for want of a better term) between each roof. I want to get up onto the 'walkway' and clean it as it's a trap for water and drone footage has shown I've got a botanical garden up there!

I have a ladder that is plenty long enough to exceed the height of the roof edge by a couple of metres. What it doesn't do is attach in any way. The best I can do is lean it on the guttering, which is good enough for me to climb up and clean the gutter for example, but no way on earth would I be happy to climb above the gutter line in order to get onto the roof.

There are loads of accessories/stabilisers available in various designs to attach a ladder to a roof, but I've no idea if they are any good or not. So before wasting any money on something that might kill me, I thought it better to check. What is the right bit of kit, and where can I get it?

Many thanks!
 
2x4 inside a window with the ladder lashed to it.
Rope over the roof and tied to car bumper, just make sure the Mrs ain't :LOL: going shopping
 
I'm not a ladder expert, but would imagine it's quite difficult to get off a ladder at height, even if you have an attachment device. What about getting scaffolding instead? Yes it's more cost, but it's also a lot safer.
 
pieceofmind said:
There are loads of accessories/stabilisers available in various designs to attach a ladder to a roof, but I've no idea if they are any good or not.
Click to expand...

You can buy, a ladder stand-off bracket, which pushes the top of the ladder, out from the wall, so it's not resting on the gutter. Some, will also allow the top of the ladder to be placed safely against the wall corner.

I'm usually fine on ladders, but always wary of getting on and off at the top - I like to have them firmly lashed into place. As above, either a rope over the roof, to an immovable solid object, or lashed through a window. I also like the base similarly roped into place, unless it penetrates into soil.
 
You need a Crawler* to work on the roof. You can (and should) lash the ladder to the crawler if you are inexperienced with using one.

* other suppliers exist.
 
Stand off bracket or piece of timber in the gutter to stop it bending. Push a couple of tiles back and tie the ladder to a tile batten.

Or, fit a scaffold eyelet bolt into the wall 1-2m up from the ground (you can get removable ones), attach a ratchet strap to this and thread the end through a rung via the holes in the stiles, and tighten.
 
^woody^ said:
Stand off bracket or piece of timber in the gutter to stop it bending. Push a couple of tiles back and tie the ladder to a tile batten.

Or, fit a scaffold eyelet bolt into the wall 1-2m up from the ground (you can get removable ones), attach a ratchet strap to this and thread the end through a rung via the holes in the stiles, and tighten.
Click to expand...
Do you mean one of these?


If not, could you post a link to what you do mean please?
 
Sky had to repair a dish and they drilled an eyelight into the wall - maybe at a couple of places and attached to the ladder
I have also used a standoff - when i was at a house , that because of the slope was effectively 3 stories at the back - and it was great for cleaning gutters

As to getting off onto a roof , no idea - i avoid that sort of thing
 

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