"Eigenvector" wrote in message
. ..
I know the basic safety of ladder use. It's easy to get to the roof, but
here is where my fear of heights and mechanics get in the way.

How to step off the ladder onto the roof and then how to get back onto the
ladder without knocking it off the eaves?

First time I tried it the act of pushing off the ladder to put my other
foot onto the roof would have kicked the ladder down. So I'm sitting
there, swaying in the wind trying to picture the motion needed to do it.
It doesn't help that I'm mildly afraid of heights, and more realistically
afraid of falling down and hitting the pavement.

I was thinking that it would be easier to use a step ladder rather than an
extension ladder, at least with a step ladder you can step sideways off
the ladder and turn and sit down on the roof. It doesn't work that way
with an extension ladder.

Forget step ladders, as they send more folks to hospitals and wheelchairs
and early graves than do extension ladders.

With an extension ladder, the top of the extension should be well above the
roof edge, so that you can comfortably swing your foot onto the roof (your
hips should be well above the roof edge).

The ladder angle and the ladder footing are critical. A ladder near the
vertical is asking for a fall. A ladder with an uneven or unstable footing
is asking for an accident.

Ladders are dangerous. Are you sure you want to do this?