Roof ladder fab. (pics)

Hey folks,

I have a roof and soffit on a two story building that I need to repair. It is a 12x12 pitch that I cannot climb.

I looked in vain for a section of aluminum ladder to use (needed to be at least 16' long) so I decided to build my own.

I started with an unsuspecting Warner type 3 12' extension ladder.

I removed most of the hardware from the sections and made some fishplates out of .080 5052 aluminum alloy which snugly fit into the channel of the ladder sections and riveted them in place, one on each side of the channels.

I then made L-brackets to contact the roof over the peak out of 1/4 in. 5052 plate and bolted them on.

I used the original feet with rubber soles to contact the roof and made them swivel to accommodate different angles.

The ladder worked as designed.

I appreciate all comments, pro and con.

Brad

HUMP! It'll NEVER work. Dang you did it anyway, can't argue with success.

looks first rate to me. I might have moved the leg about 6" from the end of the ladder and gusseted back to make sure it don't break off, but it's probly ok.

Looks like there's a reason, chimney, roof etc., looks like a giant rodent was gnawing on the block and clay flue tile LOL ! The only thing that would concern me is if you laid the ladder flat, and used it as a pick or its in the section,(as if it were a beam) where it could possibly buckle if placed at a wide angle with only the ends bearing on the ground and the structure, not sure what the splice will allow, but for the job specific purpose like often times is the case, mother necessity becomes creativity, would work for me. I see ladders often enough on CL, hit or miss on good prices etc. and listings but its a fairly common item often times very reasonable, but nothing was available, and it was badly needed seems to be a logical solution.

Like the safety railing, and technically there should be osha approved plank, pre-engineered pick or what have you, I still thought 2" spruce was always fine, as long as its cut for the purpose, not cracked or weathered too much. we used to sell units of it at the lumber yard. 2 together would load a small car on a flatbed. Toe boards are also something to consider, at home, small residential job, not such a big deal, just keep people away down below when working, it helps keep something from dropping off the edge, gives ones foot a reference point of the edge, and its a requirement on big jobs. Just the railing alone is a big help though, most importantly, that is something I don't like to skip.

Looks good and worked as intended, good fix!! Reminded me of neighbor in '50s who wanted to paint tin roof with severe pitch on his 2&1/2 story farm house. He tied a wood ladder to a long hay rope and the other end of the rope went to his car bumper. Threw the rope over the ridge of the house and had his wife move car as required to pull ladder from eaves to ridge, painting as he went. He then moved the ladder over a few feet, lowered it to eaves. and repeated. It took quite awhile, but he got her done.

I would take down that chimney before I fixed the roof.Concrete block never weathers well.Theres got to be a better place for the chimney.Building the staging for that monster had to be more work than coming up inside the house.

Hey SC.

I had a buddy that was painting a mobile home roof and 'secured' himself by tying an extension cord around his waist and dropped it to the deck on the other side.

Unfortunately he forgot to tie the cord off and he lost his balance, fell off the (low) roof and was hit in the head by the end of the cord. Not injured.. Except for his pride.

Brad

Hey Billy.

I designed the splice to be about 4 times stronger than the rest of the ladder. That being said I do not use this type of ladder for climbing. all my regular ladders are fiberglass 1A type.

As for the decking on the scaffold it is a mixture of osha planks, aluminum walkboards, and some #1 southern yellow pine planks that we tested to 800 lbs on each side.

I have never had railings on scaffold before but I like them now that they are up.

Brad

Thanks Jon.

I used this type of ladder mostly because of its light weight for moving around the roof.

Time will tell as to whether the legs are robust enough.

Brad

Thanks W.

Another example of Muppet Labs at work.

Brad

Hey 36.

This chimney is not used. I tried some blockbond on the lower section and was impressed by the performance.

We will probably just patch it and paint it.

Brad

We call them chicken ladders and yours look a lot nicer than mine. My old one at our place was 2x2 with 2x3 steps. It stayed after used for installation of the steel for chimney cleaning until the middle of winter when the snow on roof unloaded and broke it into 2 ft long pieces.

Next one was a 25 ft ladder with wheel added to the top so they could roll up without scratching steel. A bracket was added at the bottom to catch the bottom rung. Worked great albeit too short until I added a shed roof extension preventing my bracket from being mounted.

Next version has yet to come. I cleaned the chimney while there was a deep pack of snow to walk on last year.

I think above and beyond anything the safety railings are the most important thing, I have a lot of pipe scaffold and have worked without, but often times put another tier on for the same purpose, its just a much better feeling, to have that railing.

I use 6x6's, though heavy, then 3/4 plywood if I don't want to deal with planks, its way overkill and darned heavy but it does make a nice non deflecting deck, sometimes I really need that too, some of the pipe scaffold and plank I have been on and those plank bend, gives ya the creeps LOL !

It will come thru the roof sooner or later.

Would have been better to take some 3/16x4 steel and bend hooks in both ends.The 2 pieces could have a strap welded to form a letter H to join the 2 ladder sections together.Your spliced ladder is only good for roof work.