So you’ve had a metal roof installed in your house and you want to know “If I have to go up there to perhaps wash a dormer window, how do I do it?” First of all, I would advise as much as possible if you can stay off your roof…stay off your roof, because that’s for your own best interest from a safety standpoint.
If you do have to walk on the metal roof,or if you’re hiring someone to go out and walk on your metal roof, a couple points of wisdom here:
- Make sure that when you’re metal roof was installed you talk to the contractor ask them for advice on how to walk properly on the metal roof that’s on your house. Always are going to tell you to use a soft-sole shoe to grip on the roof and to not cause any damage. They may also talk to you a little bit about if you’ve chosen a metal roof that consists of formed panels like a shake or tile profile, they will tell you specifically where to walk on those panels. Normally it’s going to be on what we call the low spots of the panels where the panel’s rest closest to the roof deck.
- The other thing is some of the metal roofs available today that are formed to look like cedar shake or tile, they may have the option of foam backers behind the panels. If you got roof areas where you know you may walk with some frequency, or have workers up there walking, you may want to talk to your installer when the roof is installed about using foam backers with those panels to give extra rigidity and walkability to the roof in those areas.
- Now, if you have to have some substantial work done on your roof… lets say someone has to go up there to tuckpoint a chimney, chances are the best way to do that is going to be to lay down lumber or walk-boards on top of your roof, and then have the workers walk on top of those walk boards. The walk boards will distribute the weight across the roof rather than have it be concentrated in specific areas, and that’s going to be one of the best ways that you can walk that roof safely without damaging it.
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