How Do I Walk On A Slate Roof

If you don t apply the right technique you can easily cause breaking and even the potential for you to seriously be hurt.

How do i walk on a slate roof.

Walking on a roof can be an unsettling affair doubly so for tile roofs. While it s usually best to stay off your roof if possible you can still walk on the tiles if you need to make repairs. You can t walk on a slate roof no matter how shallow its pitch. Often the damage is hidden under overlapping slate courses and becomes apparent only when the roof starts to leak.

Once slate has a sprinkling of rain on it its slippy as hell. Slate roofing tiles are very delicate and can easily crack and dislodge under your weight. Before you can start walking you need to understand a little more about roofs in general. How to walk on a tile roof.

If its green its slippy even when its dry. Slate shingles do not lie flat against each other and can easily snap under pressure. Ideally you would only allow specially trained roofers to work on roofs covered in slate but for emergency repairs or the retrieval of the occasional frisbee it can t be avoided. It s important not to introduce too much foot traffic on your roof and when you do a ladder safely hooked onto the roof edge is the best way to carry out a full and detailed inspection as this will help to spread your weight.

Also slate is slippery when wet. Experienced slate installers never walk on a slate roof but instead erect scaffolding or prop hook ladders to the side of the building before beginning repairs. If it s absolutely necessary to walk on the slates walk on the middle of the slate and use soft soled shoes. Ive always been told never to walk on a slate roof dangerous for someone to be on and could damage the slate.