How Do I Walk On A Slate Roof

Ive always been told never to walk on a slate roof dangerous for someone to be on and could damage the slate.

How do i walk on a slate roof.

You can t walk on a slate roof no matter how shallow its pitch. If it s absolutely necessary to walk on the slates walk on the middle of the slate and use soft soled shoes. Often the damage is hidden under overlapping slate courses and becomes apparent only when the roof starts to leak. If you don t apply the right technique you can easily cause breaking and even the potential for you to seriously be hurt.

Also slate is slippery when wet. Before you can start walking you need to understand a little more about roofs in general. Clay and concrete tiles are a great roofing material since they re more durable than shingles but they can break or crack if you apply too much pressure while you re walking on them. Slate roofing tiles are very delicate and can easily crack and dislodge under your weight.

Once slate has a sprinkling of rain on it its slippy as hell. December 10 2015 9 33am 3. It s important not to introduce too much foot traffic on your roof and when you do a ladder safely hooked onto the roof edge is the best way to carry out a full and detailed inspection as this will help to spread your weight. Ive walked a few but usually regret doing it.

If its green its slippy even when its dry. Ideally you would only allow specially trained roofers to work on roofs covered in slate but for emergency repairs or the retrieval of the occasional frisbee it can t be avoided. Walking on a roof can be an unsettling affair doubly so for tile roofs. Slate shingles do not lie flat against each other and can easily snap under pressure.