I have always been terrified of going up on my roof. Today I decided that
was silly; people spend all day on them, how dangerous could it be. It was
something I had to get over.
Walking up the roof is actually pretty easy, but walking down it is not.
Walking forward I feel like I might fall, and walking backwards is really
clumsy. I think it is just harder to keep your weight over your feet going
down than up.
How is it best done?

"Wade Lippman" wrote in message
...
I have always been terrified of going up on my roof. Today I decided that
was silly; people spend all day on them, how dangerous could it be. It was
something I had to get over.
Walking up the roof is actually pretty easy, but walking down it is not.
Walking forward I feel like I might fall, and walking backwards is really
clumsy. I think it is just harder to keep your weight over your feet
going down than up.
How is it best done?

For those with acrophobia, walk somewhere else.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrophobia

"Wade Lippman" wrote in message
...
I have always been terrified of going up on my roof. Today I decided that
was silly; people spend all day on them, how dangerous could it be. It was
something I had to get over.
Walking up the roof is actually pretty easy, but walking down it is not.
Walking forward I feel like I might fall, and walking backwards is really
clumsy. I think it is just harder to keep your weight over your feet
going down than up.
How is it best done?
Diagonally. No, seriously. When you are going downhill on anything over
about a 5/12 pitch, zig-zag down like a skier- it will be less scary. And if
you slip, you will fall on your side and butt, not forward.

What is your roof pitch? At my age, anything over about 8/12, I leave to
the pros. I also don't scoot along on my butt on the roof edge to clean
gutters anymore- I use a leaf blower from several feet back, or do it from a
ladder. The old inner ear told me there was just too much chance of tumbling
sideways now.

12/12, like on a cape cod, should always be left to the pros, both due to
the chance of injury, and how easy it is to trash the roof with the jacks
and safety gear.

aem sends....

On Sat, 07 Jul 2007 22:00:34 GMT, "Wade Lippman"
wrote:

I have always been terrified of going up on my roof. Today I decided that
was silly; people spend all day on them, how dangerous could it be. It was
something I had to get over.
Walking up the roof is actually pretty easy, but walking down it is not.
Walking forward I feel like I might fall, and walking backwards is really
clumsy. I think it is just harder to keep your weight over your feet going
down than up.
How is it best done?

It is harder. Also hiking on hills it's harder to go down than up. I
think you can practice in the hills or mountains near you. Safer than
a roof. It's also cooler there in the summer time. I'm serious.

On the roof, wear rubber soled shoes, ankle high, laced firmly. Gives
much greater stability, or the feeling of it.

Also, learn to tie a knot correctly. It turns out there are two ways
to tie ones shoes, and one way is wrong. The second overhand knot
should be tied in the opposite direction as the first overhand knot,
so that the resulting knot (below the bow) is a square not and not a
granny.

If you do that, your shoes won't come loose or untied.

I still can't tell if my second knot is opposite to my first or the
same, but I've reversed the direction of my second knot and it works a
lot better.

Wade Lippman wrote:
I have always been terrified of going up on my roof. Today I decided
that was silly; people spend all day on them, how dangerous could it
be. It was something I had to get over.
Walking up the roof is actually pretty easy, but walking down it is not.
Walking forward I feel like I might fall, and walking backwards is
really clumsy. I think it is just harder to keep your weight over your
feet going down than up.
How is it best done?
You tie a long rope to the bumper of the car, and then throw it over
the roof to use as a safety line.

"Moe" wrote in message
...
Wade Lippman wrote:
I have always been terrified of going up on my roof. Today I decided
that was silly; people spend all day on them, how dangerous could it be.
It was something I had to get over.
Walking up the roof is actually pretty easy, but walking down it is not.
Walking forward I feel like I might fall, and walking backwards is really
clumsy. I think it is just harder to keep your weight over your feet
going down than up.
How is it best done?
You tie a long rope to the bumper of the car, and then throw it over the
roof to use as a safety line.

Keep the car keys in your pocket.

"Wade Lippman" wrote in message
...
I have always been terrified of going up on my roof. Today I decided that
was silly; people spend all day on them, how dangerous could it be. It was
something I had to get over.
Walking up the roof is actually pretty easy, but walking down it is not.
Walking forward I feel like I might fall, and walking backwards is really
clumsy. I think it is just harder to keep your weight over your feet
going down than up.
How is it best done?

I think most of what you feel is psychological than anything, but it really
depends on the roof pitch. I had the same basic concerns last year, did it
and found that on a shallow roof walking is no big deal. Think about it, do
you get that vertigo feeling when walking down a hill? of course not,
because there is land all around you, its only when there isn't anything
around you that you get all twitchy. I mountain climb religously, it took a
few months to get used to the lack of solid ground around you, but now free
climbing ledges isn't a big deal anymore - well I take that back, it IS a
big deal it just isn't phobic to me anymore.

For me the biggest problem I had was stepping off the ladder onto the roof,
I still have that problem and that same problem has prevented me from taking
difficult routes when mountain climbing.

Don't walk backwards, you will trip and fall.

Charles wrote:
"Moe" wrote in message
...

Wade Lippman wrote:

I have always been terrified of going up on my roof. Today I decided
that was silly; people spend all day on them, how dangerous could it be.
It was something I had to get over.
Walking up the roof is actually pretty easy, but walking down it is not.
Walking forward I feel like I might fall, and walking backwards is really
clumsy. I think it is just harder to keep your weight over your feet
going down than up.
How is it best done?

You tie a long rope to the bumper of the car, and then throw it over the
roof to use as a safety line.


Keep the car keys in your pocket.




And make sure that your wife doesn't have her own set of keys. G

Poisonally, if I tried that trick I'd raise the hood and disconnect the
negative battery cable.

Come to think of it, the stupid 2004 Lincoln LS I'm driving now has its
battery in back, under the trunk floor next to the spare. I suppose
there's less heat there, so maybe the battery life will be better, but
the battery has a venting nipple coming out of it which connects to a
hose dumping the battery's fumes outside the trunk. That probably means
when I do need a new battery I'll have to buy it from a Ford/Lincoln
dealer, likely at twice the price of a Die Hard.

Jeff (Who remembers his dad's cars with their batteries under the right
front seat, with no special venting hose either.)

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.98*10^14 fathoms per fortnight.

aemeijers wrote:

"Wade Lippman" wrote in message
...

I have always been terrified of going up on my roof. Today I decided that
was silly; people spend all day on them, how dangerous could it be. It was
something I had to get over.
Walking up the roof is actually pretty easy, but walking down it is not.
Walking forward I feel like I might fall, and walking backwards is really
clumsy. I think it is just harder to keep your weight over your feet
going down than up.
How is it best done?

Diagonally. No, seriously. When you are going downhill on anything over
about a 5/12 pitch, zig-zag down like a skier- it will be less scary. And if
you slip, you will fall on your side and butt, not forward.

What is your roof pitch? At my age, anything over about 8/12, I leave to
the pros. I also don't scoot along on my butt on the roof edge to clean
gutters anymore- I use a leaf blower from several feet back, or do it from a
ladder. The old inner ear told me there was just too much chance of tumbling
sideways now.

That, and I heard from a Occupational Therapist that the nerves coming
from your feet and ankles don't transmit signals as well as they did 50
years back, giving you less feedback to help you balance.

I've started seeing how long I can stand on one foot while moving the
other foot around in a sort of circular pattern. When I first tried it
I'd have to put the raised foot down in a few seconds or fall on my ass.
After doing it for a couple of weeks I'm up to over 30 seconds now,
which the OT told me is about average for someone 30 years old.

I think that walking upstairs or up a slope is "easier" because you
realize that if you do fall forward it'll be a much "shorter" fall than
if you fell forward while facing down the stairs or slope.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.98*10^14 fathoms per fortnight.

"Wade Lippman" wrote in message
...
I have always been terrified of going up on my roof. Today I decided that
was silly; people spend all day on them, how dangerous could it be. It was
something I had to get over.
Walking up the roof is actually pretty easy, but walking down it is not.
Walking forward I feel like I might fall, and walking backwards is really
clumsy. I think it is just harder to keep your weight over your feet
going down than up.
How is it best done?

I used to go up on my roof often, Today, I find it easier to write a check
to someone else. I've not been on mine since 2000 or so. If you have a
steep pitch, don't be afraid to just say you don't want to go up there and
stick to your word.

On Sat, 7 Jul 2007 16:18:57 -0700, "Eigenvector"
wrote:



For me the biggest problem I had was stepping off the ladder onto the roof,
I still have that problem and that same problem has prevented me from taking
difficult routes when mountain climbing.

Get a ladder that goes 3 or 4 feet above the edge of the roof. Or get
knees that bend in both directions. Either will make it much easier.

Don't walk backwards, you will trip and fall.

Isn't "trip and fall" one of the categories of lawsuit they mention on
daytime tv ads? ")

In article ,
mm wrote:

On Sat, 7 Jul 2007 16:18:57 -0700, "Eigenvector"
wrote:



For me the biggest problem I had was stepping off the ladder onto the roof,
I still have that problem and that same problem has prevented me from taking
difficult routes when mountain climbing.

Get a ladder that goes 3 or 4 feet above the edge of the roof. Or get
knees that bend in both directions. Either will make it much easier.

Don't walk backwards, you will trip and fall.

Isn't "trip and fall" one of the categories of lawsuit they mention on
daytime tv ads? ")

Yes. If someone did fall, and, for example, F. Lee Bailey were a
liability attorney instead of a defense attorney, I'm sure he could
successfully sue the architect of any house for designing it with a
sloped roof, and then putting things up there that require maintenance.

On Sat, 07 Jul 2007 22:27:22 GMT, "aemeijers"
wrote:


"Wade Lippman" wrote in message
...
I have always been terrified of going up on my roof. Today I decided that
was silly; people spend all day on them, how dangerous could it be. It was
something I had to get over.
Walking up the roof is actually pretty easy, but walking down it is not.
Walking forward I feel like I might fall, and walking backwards is really
clumsy. I think it is just harder to keep your weight over your feet
going down than up.
How is it best done?
Diagonally. No, seriously. When you are going downhill on anything over
about a 5/12 pitch, zig-zag down like a skier- it will be less scary. And if
you slip, you will fall on your side and butt, not forward.

What is your roof pitch? At my age, anything over about 8/12, I leave to
the pros. I also don't scoot along on my butt on the roof edge to clean
gutters anymore- I use a leaf blower from several feet back, or do it from a
ladder. The old inner ear told me there was just too much chance of tumbling
sideways now.

12/12, like on a cape cod, should always be left to the pros, both due to
the chance of injury, and how easy it is to trash the roof with the jacks
and safety gear.

aem sends....

My wife will not stand up on a roof. But she scoots on her butt and
can drag a 40 pound load with her. It does get expensive with her
buying new jeans after a couple of days because she wears the seat
out.

So scoot on your butt.

On Sat, 07 Jul 2007 20:06:38 -0400, Jeff Wisnia
wrote:


I think that walking upstairs or up a slope is "easier" because you
realize that if you do fall forward it'll be a much "shorter" fall than
if you fell forward while facing down the stairs or slope.

And you have your hands to stop you and hold on.

When I'm really having trouble getting down a hill without slipping, I
turn and face the hill and get down on my hands and feet and walk
backwards down the hill on all fours.

On Sun, 08 Jul 2007 00:25:20 -0500, ValveJob wrote:



My wife will not stand up on a roof. But she scoots on her butt and
can drag a 40 pound load with her.

Does she hire out?

It does get expensive with her
buying new jeans after a couple of days because she wears the seat
out.

I'll pay for that too if it's necessary.

So scoot on your butt.

"Eigenvector" wrote in
news

"Wade Lippman" wrote in message
...
I have always been terrified of going up on my roof. Today I decided
that was silly; people spend all day on them, how dangerous could it
be. It was something I had to get over.
Walking up the roof is actually pretty easy, but walking down it is
not. Walking forward I feel like I might fall, and walking backwards
is really clumsy. I think it is just harder to keep your weight over
your feet going down than up.
How is it best done?

I think most of what you feel is psychological than anything, but it
really depends on the roof pitch. I had the same basic concerns last
year, did it and found that on a shallow roof walking is no big deal.
Think about it, do you get that vertigo feeling when walking down a
hill? of course not, because there is land all around you, its only
when there isn't anything around you that you get all twitchy. I
mountain climb religously, it took a few months to get used to the
lack of solid ground around you, but now free climbing ledges isn't a
big deal anymore - well I take that back, it IS a big deal it just
isn't phobic to me anymore.

For me the biggest problem I had was stepping off the ladder onto the
roof,

Getting off the roof back on ladder is my Mr Yuk. Working on reroofing a
house now. Fortunately there is a one story roof below the 2nd floor
roof. Made ladder out of 2x4's. Used siderails that were 2-3ft higher
than eave and put no rungs above eave. Always go up and down between
siderails. Awesome.

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I still have that problem and that same problem has prevented me
from taking difficult routes when mountain climbing.

Don't walk backwards, you will trip and fall.

"Honey, I'll be back from the store in five minutes!"

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Moe" wrote in message
...
: You tie a long rope to the bumper of the car, and then throw
it over
: the roof to use as a safety line.