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DIY roof work in the winter
Atheraal
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Okay, so my Grandma has been wanting to put these foam inserts into her gutters for a while now, they supposedly keep the detritus out while allowing water though. To get them in, you have to really squeeze and stuff them into the gutter. She's finally decided to go out and get them tomorrow, and wants them put in the same day.
Now, we live in the Pacific Northwest, where it's cold and wet. It hasn't rained for a couple days, but the fog makes everything wet anyway, and the temperature's now below freezing for most of the day.
I have never gone up on a roof before. The only bit of 'safety equipment' I have is a length of climbing rope, no actual harness. The grade of the roof is fairly steep. This sounds to me like a recipe for disaster, even though I have a very good sense of balance. Am I being overly cautious in wanting to refuse to do it now, to wait until spring? If I do do it, how should I approach it to stay safe? Thanks for any replies!
Now, we live in the Pacific Northwest, where it's cold and wet. It hasn't rained for a couple days, but the fog makes everything wet anyway, and the temperature's now below freezing for most of the day.
I have never gone up on a roof before. The only bit of 'safety equipment' I have is a length of climbing rope, no actual harness. The grade of the roof is fairly steep. This sounds to me like a recipe for disaster, even though I have a very good sense of balance. Am I being overly cautious in wanting to refuse to do it now, to wait until spring? If I do do it, how should I approach it to stay safe? Thanks for any replies!
Atheraal on
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How much "detritus" is usually in your Granny's gutters? Unless she has a bunch of tall trees blowing leaves or needles onto her roof, this seems like a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
Better to wait until summer if you can manage it.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Also, walking on a roof that is freezing and/or wet can cause problems with the shingles and creating leaks. You are putting tension on the roofing nails and applying a sheer force to the shingle possibly dislodging it. Worse in the winter/freezing because now water can get into the space that wasn't supposed to be there and freeze to expand and further damage.
Do what you can from a ladder, if that's not possible, tell her she'll just have to wait.
edit: in addition to all this, I just realized I'd be using the power washer to clean out the gutters before putting in the foam. So it'd be even more wet.
edit: also, for any work where you are on a ladder make sure you have ladder holding person and that the ladder is always completely stable and on level footing.
If you do decide to go the ladder route , (which I suggest you do even once the weather is nicer, it's hard enough to get compensation for falling off a roof when you are 100% following regulation), I suggest also getting a Gutter Guard of some type, they are many kinds and they are very cheap ranging from 10-25$ usually.
They either attach to the end of the ladder, or drop into the gutter itself, and it just basically prevents denting/damaging the gutter itself from having a ladder on it. ( and it's much more stable than being directly on a gutter also)
Having a professional clean your gutters is going to be about 150-200 bucks, but it's generally worth it. Having a fellow from home depot with questionable citizenship and who may stab you, will likely cost you 50 bucks.
Now for the bad. The foam inserts are generally of poor quality and do not get things done. They keep stuff out of the downspouts and the gutters, but they also keep water out of them, so it just drops and puddles during anything more than a shower. Moderate to Heavy rain is bad. Gutter guard work pretty good, and look like a screen, but are significantly more expensive. 2-3 bucks a foot, 150 or 200 feet of roof so it's not super cheap, and they can be a bit of a bitch to get on.
Foam is less good than the grating/screen stuff, but still better than nothing. Most people think they're magic and they can ignore their gutters for 20 years and are surprised when debris chills out on the foam/guards.
They both keep the ladder from denting the gutters from leaning on them, and help stabilize the ladder itself