vojacek update

[vojacek]

hello friends....sorry it's been so long since our last post. matt has been working a shutdown for the past month, so things with the house have been on hold. but with shutdown now over, things are back on schedule. we bought 12 windows and a door =$1500. the windows on the southside are all low E.  now we just need to figure out how to put this metal roof on.  renting scaffold is sooo expensive, and a lift truck would cost more than the roof itself. matt is talking about building his own scaffold and then we could use the wood for the porch or a SKATEBORAD RAMP....  anyone ever roof a house with this pitch ? any advice or suggestions?

[Amanda_931]

Off-hand I'd think that scaffolding wouldn't substitute for either a decent harness system or a crane (pump jack?) of some sort  to raise the metal up that high.

but it's well known that I don't do heights.

(I would, before I bought the metal, have seen what some metal roofing specialists charged--I understand that they are almost always cheaper than letting a general carpenter do it, if not doing it yourself.  Because they are FAST--do in an hour what it takes normal humans a day to do.)

[Micky]

I will be tackling that myself next week.  Although I only have a 1-1/2 story.  I did get a harness.  I think that was the best money I could have spent.  My plan is to make some kind of hooks so that I can hook an aluminum ladder over the ridge.  Then someone on the ground could push the metal panel up to me.  They could then do the first couple of feet of screws from a ladder on the ground.  I could do the rest with the ladder on the roof.  This works because my roof is about 14' high and the metal is 17' long.

I guess you are going to have more fun with a full 2 story.  Maybe you could use the same approach, but the helper on the ground will have to push the metal up a ladder until you can grab it and pull it up the rest of the way.

I would love to hear how it works out.  Or, if someone else has any other suggestions?

They also make brackets that you can screw to the roof.  However, that doesn't solve the problem of getting the material up there.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/merritt000/album?.dir=a3d6&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/merritt000/my_photos

[rdzone]

A quick answer to getting your metal roofing up to the roof so long as you have a helper.  All you need is a quick clamp (ie vise grips with some padding/thin wooden blocks, or one of those woodworking clamps with rubber pads) to clamp to one end of the metal roof.  Tie a rope to the clamp and gently pull the metal up on the roof as your helper guides it.  Just remember to be careful as you pull the roofing up (don't bend it or get one of the edges caught on something) and make sure you protect the roofing from the clamp (you don't want to bend it or mar the finish).

[DBNS]

I was just about to suggest the exact same thing as rdzone. This is exactly what I did last fall on my 24x24 with 10:12 pitch. Sheets were 18 feet long. We clamped vice grips to the top of the sheet (which is covered by the ridge cap, so a little dent or scratch from the vice grips isn't a problem) and then tied a rope to the vice grips. One or two people on the ground guide the sheet up an extension ladder set up as close as possible to the pitch of the roof (our ladder wasnt long enough so it ended up at a 12:12 pitch, but close enough) resting against the fascia board. I (I drew the shortest straw :'( ) sat on the ridge and helped the sheet up by pulling on the rope. Helper walked the sheet all the way up the ladder so if the vice grips let go (and they did once) he had the sheet. Sheets are 3' wide so I was able to reach over to the edge of the sheet from the unfinished part of the roof to screw it down. However... I did have scaffolding for the last sheet on each side as I had nowhere to stand. I added a dormer, and I'm in the process of building a ladder like Mickey mentioned that will clip over the ridge and let me work on the dormer siding. If you built a ladder, you could set it on the second last sheet to install the last one, no need for scaffolding.

Something I did for my sheets was to measure and drill pilot holes in 5-6 sheets at a time on the ground. The screws are "self drilling" but when you're 30' in the air and reaching 3' over to the edge of the sheet, you will be happy you pre drilled. The other benefit is that all your screws are perfectly aligned up and down and across the entire side of the roof.

Sorry to ramble, but I hope this helps.

Good luck.

[Jimmy C.]

Looks Good!  Please post a few pics of the up stairs. I am trying to get a feel for that area.

[Laura21]

I am also interested in seeing your layout. If you have some pictures maybe you can post.

Laura

[vojacek]

thank you so much for that suggestion. it's the best idea i've heard yet. it seems safer than anything we've been able to come up with. the pre drilling is genius. our neighbors just paid $5500 for their new roof. ours will cost <2000. the picture posted here is with temporary scaffold built to help with window installtion. it is not intended for any other purpose. i will post interior pics when the babies go down for nap. thanks again to everyone for their help .....i love this forum.  

[glenn kangiser]

One other thing that works very well is pre- punching with a sharp heavy center punch and a small sledge hammer.  The marks will transfer through 6 sheets or so and sometimes will save from having a hole where you don't want it - only a dimple to deal with - however as mentioned above, the pre-drilling is probably the best on a steep roof.  Just remember to measure twice (or more) - drill once.

If you use either method make sure the stack of sheets is lined up very well.

On dial up again tonight so just got the picture - the place is looking great.

[glenn kangiser]

Monica, on scaffold check this out - I posted it in the links section a long time ago under scaffold the easy way.  They are pretty cheap - use your 2x4's for support and were used on a 2 story in Mariposa -it looked like they worked well.

http://www.qualcraft.com/PUMPJACK.html#pumpjack4