A lot of people believe that they can just jump right up and fix a leaky roof. Unfortunately, these people end up doing more damage than good and end up having to pay a roofing company to come and fix their costly mistakes. Now the repair is probably going to cost them twice as much than it normally would have.
However, if you have a fixed a roof before and you feel that having a roofing contractor is not needed then it wouldn’t hurt to go over a few safety tips before you begin such a dangerous job.
The first thing you need to do before you begin is check the weather. You obviously know that it is extremely dangerous to do any type of roof repair when the weather can make it difficult. Avoid roofing in the rain, snow, if the roof is wet, even if it’s windy. Roofing in these conditions can make a job that much harder to complete, plus you risk causing even more damage to your home if you are going to expose the inside of your home to the elements.
Roofing Apparel
After you have checked the weather, you need to wear some durable clothes. These clothes may, and probably will get ruined, so make sure whatever you’re going to wear it’s nothing you want to keep.
It’s not recommended, but it has been done, but roofing in a pair of shorts exposes your knees and you run the risk of injury. Wearing knee protectors can prevent your knees from injury, but most knee protectors are meant to be worn over pants.
Wear a Shirt
Always wear a shirt. Professional roofing contractors can’t stress this enough to their younger, less experienced roofers. A serious, professional roofing company will not let their employees work without a shirt on. For some insurance companies, a roofing contractor must make sure his employees work safely and in a safe environment. Roofing without a shirt increases your chance in getting some sort of skin cancer.
Work Gloves are Important
Roofing contractors usually don’t supply their employees with work gloves; this is because a good pair of work gloves (no matter how much you paid for them) will eventually wear down to the point to where your fingertips will be exposed. However, a good pair of gloves will go a longer way when working on a roof than a pair of cheap ones.
Shoes or Boots
Wear the right shoe. Just because you are working on a roof doesn’t mean that you’re going to need to wear a pair of work boots. In fact, a professional roofing company will often recommend that their roofing contractors wear running shoes when working on top of a shingled roof. Running shoes have rubber soles and grip the asphalt shingles better than the hard bottoms of a work boot. A roofing contractor runs the risk of slipping, even on the smallest of debris left on a roof from trees and the wind.
