Question 1

Can I walk on my roof to check it?

Accepted Answer

Please don't. Walking on a roof breaks tiles and slates, and falls from height are the commonest cause of serious injury in this trade — worse on a wet or storm-damaged roof, which is exactly when people are tempted. Anything worth seeing can be photographed from the ground with a phone camera on zoom. Two separate reasons, and both matter. The first is the roof. Slates and plain tiles are not designed to be walked on, and standing on them breaks them almost without exception. Roofers spread their weight across boards and know where the load-bearing points are, and they still break things. A great many of the broken tiles found on roofs got there under the boot of an aerial fitter, a window cleaner or a homeowner having a look. The second is you, and it is the serious one. Falls from height account for a very large share of fatal and life-changing injuries in construction, which is why the Work at Height Regulations 2005 require proper planning and suitable access rather than a ladder leant against a gutter. A homeowner on a ladder in a gusting wind, reaching sideways, on a wet roof, after a storm, is the exact combination that hurts people. Storm damage makes it worse in a way that is not obvious. A roof that has lost fixings will not carry weight where it used to, so the very roof you most want to inspect is the one least safe to stand on. Nail-sick slates give way when leant on. This is why the advice after a gale is always to look from the ground. The practical alternative is genuinely good. A modern phone camera on zoom, from the pavement and from a neighbour's garden if they will let you, will show a slipped slate, a cracked ridge, a lifted flashing or a gap in the covering perfectly well. Photographs from two or three angles are what a roofer wants anyway, and they are exactly what an insurer asks for. The one exception is a genuinely low, easily accessible flat roof over a garage or a single-storey extension, with firm level ground for the ladder and somebody footing it. Even then, do not do it in the wet, and do not step on a flat roof that might have a rotten deck underneath.

Question 2

Is it safe to go on my roof?

Accepted Answer

Please don't. Walking on a roof breaks tiles and slates, and falls from height are the commonest cause of serious injury in this trade — worse on a wet or storm-damaged roof, which is exactly when people are tempted. Anything worth seeing can be photographed from the ground with a phone camera on zoom. Two separate reasons, and both matter. The first is the roof. Slates and plain tiles are not designed to be walked on, and standing on them breaks them almost without exception. Roofers spread their weight across boards and know where the load-bearing points are, and they still break things. A great many of the broken tiles found on roofs got there under the boot of an aerial fitter, a window cleaner or a homeowner having a look. The second is you, and it is the serious one. Falls from height account for a very large share of fatal and life-changing injuries in construction, which is why the Work at Height Regulations 2005 require proper planning and suitable access rather than a ladder leant against a gutter. A homeowner on a ladder in a gusting wind, reaching sideways, on a wet roof, after a storm, is the exact combination that hurts people. Storm damage makes it worse in a way that is not obvious. A roof that has lost fixings will not carry weight where it used to, so the very roof you most want to inspect is the one least safe to stand on. Nail-sick slates give way when leant on. This is why the advice after a gale is always to look from the ground. The practical alternative is genuinely good. A modern phone camera on zoom, from the pavement and from a neighbour's garden if they will let you, will show a slipped slate, a cracked ridge, a lifted flashing or a gap in the covering perfectly well. Photographs from two or three angles are what a roofer wants anyway, and they are exactly what an insurer asks for. The one exception is a genuinely low, easily accessible flat roof over a garage or a single-storey extension, with firm level ground for the ladder and somebody footing it. Even then, do not do it in the wet, and do not step on a flat roof that might have a rotten deck underneath.

Question 3

Can I go up and look at my roof?

Accepted Answer

Please don't. Walking on a roof breaks tiles and slates, and falls from height are the commonest cause of serious injury in this trade — worse on a wet or storm-damaged roof, which is exactly when people are tempted. Anything worth seeing can be photographed from the ground with a phone camera on zoom. Two separate reasons, and both matter. The first is the roof. Slates and plain tiles are not designed to be walked on, and standing on them breaks them almost without exception. Roofers spread their weight across boards and know where the load-bearing points are, and they still break things. A great many of the broken tiles found on roofs got there under the boot of an aerial fitter, a window cleaner or a homeowner having a look. The second is you, and it is the serious one. Falls from height account for a very large share of fatal and life-changing injuries in construction, which is why the Work at Height Regulations 2005 require proper planning and suitable access rather than a ladder leant against a gutter. A homeowner on a ladder in a gusting wind, reaching sideways, on a wet roof, after a storm, is the exact combination that hurts people. Storm damage makes it worse in a way that is not obvious. A roof that has lost fixings will not carry weight where it used to, so the very roof you most want to inspect is the one least safe to stand on. Nail-sick slates give way when leant on. This is why the advice after a gale is always to look from the ground. The practical alternative is genuinely good. A modern phone camera on zoom, from the pavement and from a neighbour's garden if they will let you, will show a slipped slate, a cracked ridge, a lifted flashing or a gap in the covering perfectly well. Photographs from two or three angles are what a roofer wants anyway, and they are exactly what an insurer asks for. The one exception is a genuinely low, easily accessible flat roof over a garage or a single-storey extension, with firm level ground for the ladder and somebody footing it. Even then, do not do it in the wet, and do not step on a flat roof that might have a rotten deck underneath.

Can I walk on my roof to check it?

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