Taking a fall

[artme]

We all know KW fell of the roof.

How many others has this happened to?

My good self for one. Was putting an air conditioner on the roof of the house I built on the farm. Mate said "Better to take your sandals off, You might slip." All was well until I hit a patch of sweat, Went down feet first and, like an idiot, grabbed the gutter in the vain hope that it would stop my fall.

Pigs ear!! Every finger and thumb had the tops sliced so a trip the hospital for stitches with hands wrapped in tea towels.

To rub salt int the wounds the wife was away and during the 2nd night of useless hands Some bastard or two entered the house ( I was doped on pain killers) and stole my TV, ate my fruit, took the washing off the line and off.

[Ad de Crom]

Arthur, that was bad luck, but a good advice,use the next time a baseball bat to scare them off. I have one in the hall, and for sure use that thing if neccesary.
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[wheelinround]

During preping and pianting bus and coach roof's a couple of times wet sanding nothing to grab slow slip thank goodness we had trestles along the side still a body bounce. Another time no trestle slow slide offf again, some bastwurd had moved the ladder I was trying to step onto. I was hanging onto the little drip rail and then the window bellowing out for assistance dangling just 5ft off the ground but like all workshop floors shyte everywhere. One of the fellows came to my rescue just as the window rubber was giving out phsing himself at my prediciment.

Mind you when a company I worked for we were building a 40ft apex extention I slid down the steel girder frame gloves on hands just so I didn't miss out on lunch.

[munruben]

As you guys know, working on roofs was what I did for a living. I fell only once but managaed to stay on the roof but broke my wrist in the process. My brother in law who did the same work as me, fell from a roof about 10 years ago and unfortunatley didn't survive the fall, he died in hospital a week later. He was 57 years old.
Liz, my wife, also fell from a roof while helping me and suffered sever injuries and was in hospital for 3 weeks and n a wheelchair for months after. She was lucky, she fracutered her back in 2 places and broke her shoulder and hips and rutpured her Spleen which had to be removed. She has recoverd well but has limited use of her shoulder even after a recent operation to try and correct the problem.

If you have to work on a roof, all I can say is, be extra careful. It only takes one slip to change the rest of your life.

[tea lady]

Jeez! Might stay on the ground. But my mum managed to break her ankle falling over a tiny bump in the path.

And someone eate your fruit Artme? Better look for a burglar without scurvy.

[Mr Brush]

Our current (architect designed....hmm) house has a colorbond roof with 30 degree pitch. That's just too steep for me to climb on, so we have to get the professional roof cleaners in every few years to clean off the black mould that seems to accumulate along ridgelines, etc.

I reckon I've got one more new house in me before I get too old to care what I live in.....the next one will have a skillion roof at as shallow an angle as I can get away with, precisely for ease of access and cleaning. I'm thinking a 10 degree pitch would be enough, giving sufficient building width without the 'high side' wall becoming too high.

Any suggestions as to minimum pitch for a skillion roof, and why?

[RETIRED]

Never fallen off a roof.

In a past life I used to stage manage for a couple of theatre companies and managed to walk (fall) off stages when walking backwards to check sets and lights.

It may be a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll but it's a bloody short way to the bottom of the orchestra pit.

Fortunately most damage was to the pride.

[Master Splinter]

Haven't fallen off a roof, but I've fallen through one.

Descent was stopped by a tile batten between the legs. I swear the pitch of my voice was a few octaves higher for several weeks after that!

All the safety stat sites show that working at height (including on a ladder) is the most dangerous sort of work you can undertake.

[Enfield Guy]

Our current (architect designed....hmm) house has a colorbond roof with 30 degree pitch. That's just too steep for me to climb on, so we have to get the professional roof cleaners in every few years to clean off the black mould that seems to accumulate along ridgelines, etc.

I reckon I've got one more new house in me before I get too old to care what I live in.....the next one will have a skillion roof at as shallow an angle as I can get away with, precisely for ease of access and cleaning. I'm thinking a 10 degree pitch would be enough, giving sufficient building width without the 'high side' wall becoming too high.

Any suggestions as to minimum pitch for a skillion roof, and why?

Trimdeck or monoclad can be 3 deg or more. Kliplock 1 deg, but I dont recommend it. I reckon 4 deg is about as low as you need to go. IMHO.

[Mr Brush]

Just doing the sums for my roof triangle.......errr.....tan x = opposite/adjacent.....it's all coming back to me !

For even a 6 degree pitch skillion roof, and a building 10m wide, that makes the high side of the roof about 1m higher than the low side. Since it would mainly be a window panel on the north facing side that sounds manageable. Still have to work out the overhang at the front based on sun angles and all that jazz.

I just didn't know if there were any other practical considerations that dictate minimum roof angle for drainage, etc.

The other appeal of a skillion roof is that the guttering is greatly simplified - only need an oversize gutter running along the bottom edge of the roof, therefore much cheaper plumbing !

[artme]

Just doing the sums for my roof triangle.......errr.....tan x = opposite/adjacent.....it's all coming back to me !

For even a 6 degree pitch skillion roof, and a building 10m wide, that makes the high side of the roof about 1m higher than the low side. Since it would mainly be a window panel on the north facing side that sounds manageable. Still have to work out the overhang at the front based on sun angles and all that jazz.

I just didn't know if there were any other practical considerations that dictate minimum roof angle for drainage, etc.

The other appeal of a skillion roof is that the guttering is greatly simplified - only need an oversize gutter running along the bottom edge of the roof, therefore much cheaper plumbing !

Would need to pay attention to very good insulation on a Skillion roof.

Don't believe the bumph about cheap plumbing!! Try getting a large section gutter and see how you go!!

[Enfield Guy]

In commercial applications, say a 10 metre skillion roof, it is possible to just use the off the shelf larger gutter profile rather than having a custom gutter folded. Downpipes at 6 metre intervals. 100 x 75 downpipes. This can look a bit chunky in a domestic application. There is also a need to ensure the the pipework in ground can handle the volume. Consult a hydraulic engineer.

Cheers

[Enfield Guy]

With regard to insulation. We use 50mm foil backed fibreglass wool over mesh. It really is only to stop condensation forming on the underside of the roof. Only has an R value of 1.5. There are better, and more expensive, products on the market. A mate of mine used a high aluminium content foil paper, 80% aly I think, and boy does that make a difference. The better the product you use under the roof, the less you will spend in heating or cooling your home. Don't scrimp here would be my strong advice.

Cheers

[hughie]

To rub salt int the wounds the wife was away and during the 2nd night of useless hands Some bastard or two entered the house ( I was doped on pain killers) and stole my TV, ate my fruit, took the washing off the line and off.

[/QUOTE]


Artme,

get a very big nasty dog, mine is a 46kg german shepherd

[Mr Brush]

Enfield Guy - many thanks for the info, more grist to the mill !

I've come up with a sneaky way of hiding large diameter (150mm) downpipes within an extension of the rear wall, fed by an oversize gutter hanging off the back edge of the skillion roof. I intend the roof to have a large overhang at the rear of the house, keeping all water/guttering well away from walls if it overflows. As an aside, many modern houses have a design of gutter which easily overflows into the eave space.....

Your comment about 'pipework in ground' raised a chuckle. Just about every house I have ever owned has had multiple 90mm downpipes feeding into...... a single 90mm pipe below ground. Who thought that one up? How can one 90mm pipe possibly handle the water from multiple pipes the same size? So.....in heavy rain, all the gutter downpipes back up and overflow. No.....in my brave new work of house design, I'd have a much bigger pipe below ground.

Thnaks again for the info re insulation - much appreciated