Roof ladder hook kit

[WrekinCrew]

I need to replace a broken roof tile (bungalow, with 30 degree pitch so relatively low risk!).
I have a standard two-piece extension ladder and have ordered a roof hook attachment kit.

But it occurs to me that if one ladder may not be quite long enough to reach from the eaves to the ridge, and I can't use the other one as a downwards extension because the rung hooks will be the wrong way round. Is there an obvious solution to this or am I not visualising it right?

(I also have a tripod ladder to get me to eaves level).

[wolfracesonic]

How sketchy are you prepared to be? I doubt a regular extension ladder can be made to work, even if you tied the two halves together they wouldn’t sit on the roof very comfortably, dedicated extending roof ladders have rung hooks facing the ‘other’ way and also have bearers to spread the weight evenly. I’ve always made my own roof ladders using slate batten, not hard to do if you envisage going on the roof in the future.

[J6542]

Is it worth the cost and the risk if your unsure instead of paying a roofer £50, who will walk up and change it in 10 mins?

[WrekinCrew]

J6542 said:

Is it worth the cost and the risk if your unsure instead of paying a roofer £50, who will walk up and change it in 10 mins?

It may well come to that, but there are a few other things I could do with safe roof access. Maybe I need a proper roof ladder.

[Wibblewobble42]

I have done this by extending the ladder to an appropriate length and then tying them together with rope/ratchet strap

In the long run a dedicated roof ladder is a lot nicer, but it will do.

[Aluminati]

You can buy ladder hooks to attach to a normal ladder, but 30 degrees is walking territory.

[WrekinCrew]

Aluminati said:

You can buy ladder hooks to attach to a normal ladder, but 30 degrees is walking territory.

I included the link to one on order. But a ladder also spreads the load and avoids breaking tiles if you don't tread carefully.

[J6542]

WrekinCrew said:

J6542 said:

Is it worth the cost and the risk if your unsure instead of paying a roofer £50, who will walk up and change it in 10 mins?

It may well come to that, but there are a few other things I could do with safe roof access. Maybe I need a proper roof ladder.

You can get a proper decent roof ladder for about £250 depending on size. Don’t underestimate how hard it is to pull one and get it hooked on if your not used to doing it.

[mart 63]

Got to your local hire shop and hire a roof ladder.

[WrekinCrew]

J6542 said:

.Don’t underestimate how hard it is to pull one and get it hooked on if your not used to doing it.

It's a shallow-pitch bungalow. I can just roll it up the roof pushing from the ground.

[Chumley.mouse]

Just make a crawler out of some tile battens. Mines not heavy to lift up on my own. I have the same hooks that you have linked but just modified them a bit so they bolt on the long lathes not the rungs. (i remove them when not in use to hang on garage wall ) It lays flatter on the tiles and is wider and much more comfortable to work on than a normal aluminium crawler.

Unfortunately i dont need it anymore on current house , but my brother uses it from time to time

Its glued and screwed together so rock solid and also made sure there are no weak pieces with any knots in.

I rest the crawler up against the wall , then from the top of the ladder you can grab the hooks and just lift it up and then roll it up the tiles and flip it over. It helps to have a bit of arm strength but you don’t have to be arnie its more about technique and taking it steady.

Its got a few foam pads stuck to the underside to help spread the weight and also i just used to put a bit of foam at the bottom to protect the end tiles when stepping on.

[boyse7en]

Wibblewobble42 said:

I have done this by extending the ladder to an appropriate length and then tying them together with rope/ratchet strap

In the long run a dedicated roof ladder is a lot nicer, but it will do.

This is what i did when i needed to put a flue down my chimney. Extended my 2-piece ladder and lashed it with strap in two places so that when you lift the end it doesn't "bend" at join.

[dhutch]

J6542 said:

Is it worth the cost and the risk if your unsure instead of paying a roofer £50, who will walk up and change it in 10 mins?

Whats the saying.

Don't cling to mistakes just because you have spent time an energy on making them!


Return the roof hooks....

[ColinM50]

Got to your local hire shop and hire a roof ladder.

As others have said. This

[ColinM50]

Got to your local hire shop and hire a roof ladder.

As others have said. This

[ColinM50]

Got to your local hire shop and hire a roof ladder.

As others have said. This

[dhutch]

ColinM50 said:

Got to your local hire shop and hire a roof ladder.

As others have said. This

So good he said it thrice!

[WrekinCrew]

Aluminati said:

You can buy ladder hooks to attach to a normal ladder, but 30 degrees is walking territory.

Job done - and you were quite right. Easily walkable with grippy walking shoes, I "traversed" diagonally from the porch flat roof which made the transition easy.
But I still found my "roof ladder" (extension + hook) useful for extra support. The broken tile was two below the ridge so the row above couldn't be slid up and it was quite a struggle getting the new one in. Not sure I would have done that without the ladder.

Before:


After: