Tips on putting up metal roof

[suburbancowboy]

I am building a 12 X 16 bunk house with 10 foot walls and a 12 - 12 pitch roof.  I have the roof up and the sheeting on.  This weekend I will put on the tar paper and the metal sheeting.  I am looking for some tips here on how to get the metal on the roof.  It will just be my wife who doesn't like heights and myself.  Currently I have a couple of 20 foot ladders and I am thinking of renting some scaffolding.  But any suggestions will be appreashated.

[Squirl]

This reminded me of a post last year.

http://offthegridcortland.blogspot.com/

Hope it helps.

[NM_Shooter]

Good link.

Note the rig with the ladders hinged at the ridge.  You can do the same thing with an aluminum extension ladder which has been separated, drilled, and joined with a piece of all-thread. 

If your roof is painted metal, wrap a portion of the ladder with some scrap carpeting to keep it off the paint.

Good luck.  Stay safe.

[MushCreek]

When I do my roof, I'm going to put firring strips parallel to the trusses over the sheathing, then purlins running at right angles to the trusses to attach the roofing to. This creates a drainage plane, so condensation doesn't get trapped under the tin, and the whole roof will be a ladder, at least until the last pieces are put on. The last pieces can be put on from the gable end from a scaffold. I like the hinged ladder idea, too. The scariest part for me will be putting the ridge cap on.

[rdzone]

My wife and I did our whole roof. We used a 32' extension ladder, a rope and two pairs of vise grips to pull the metal up.  I was on the roof.  My wife was on the ground.  She would attach the vise grips one on each side of the panel (connected by 550 cord with the rope in the middle), then gently bend the roofing to form around the ladder.  I would pull it up and use the 550 cord as a handle.  It made it pretty easy to get the metal up to the roof.  I predrilled all the holes to make fastening things down easier once the panel was on the roof.

look here.

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=1499.40

[Don_P]

We've been replacing metal on a 2 story 12/12 roof. I set up scaffold and walk boards at the lower edge. We used 1x4 purlins strapped horizontally across the roof over the tarpaper, code requires tarpaper to be run horizontally and lapped. We ran a double row of 1x4's at the bottom and around the edges and then rows every 16" up the roof. We screwed the metal to every other row. I did walk on it as a ladder at times but 3/4" is precious little to walk on. I then used 1 ladder with a ridge hook to screw from, advancing it ahead as we went. When we got to the chimney I tied 2 ladders together and flopped them over the peak. With the ridge hook ladder on one side and the straddling ladder on the other we put ladder jacks and a plank across that to do the detail work. At the final sheet I used the ridge hooked ladder on the sheet with foam boots on it and towels under it to screw off that sheet. Everything was drilled on the ground.

To lift sheets I find its easier to use rope or a belt to tie the sheet into a cylinder, color in, to help stiffen it. We then lift it with a rope to the top belt. Get it up and release the belts. The bottom person measures the overhang and holds the sheet in place while I put the top screw in and then scurry down the ladder and put in a few more to lock it in place. Then I climb the ladder screwing all the holes. Bottom person can reach the bottom 2 rows. I work my way back to the top screwing and then move the ladder over 39" climb down to the scaffold and repeat. Be safe, we rope off over the ridge before doing anything hairy and tie the ladders over the ridge so that if the hook lets go the ladder has a safety rope on it. You aren't going to stop if you cut loose so work slow and smart. I use the climbers rule, keep 3 points down and move one at a time, it ain't macho but I don't bounce anymore.

[MountainDon]

I don't have much to contribute other than you could do like we did. We found a hungry couple of guys who had installed metal roofing before. They did our 15.75 x 30 gable roof, 5:12 pitch, for $250 cash. I did the roofing paper and supplied all roofing and trim materials down including the screws. They supplied the drill bits and saw blade.

[JRR]

......To lift sheets I find its easier to use rope or a belt to tie the sheet into a cylinder, color in, to help stiffen it. .....

Brilliant!