# Roof loads or ladders?



## Sks_Lex (Dec 27, 2009)

Hey guys, I just ran across this site and wanted to get your feedback. 

Do yall use roofloading boom trucks or just carry your bundles up ladders? I ask because I have been doing roofloads in the Austin area for the past year or so and was curious to how people around the country do it.


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## English Roofer (Dec 26, 2008)

Sks_Lex said:


> Hey guys, I just ran across this site and wanted to get your feedback.
> 
> Do yall use roofloading boom trucks or just carry your bundles up ladders? I ask because I have been doing roofloads in the Austin area for the past year or so and was curious to how people around the country do it.


Hi, when you say bundles im guessing you mean bundles of shingles, we use mainly concrete tiles or slate and depending on how many we need to get on the roof its by mechanical hoist (bumpa),up the ladder on oare shoulders or up on a pulley conected to the scaffold.
Cheers
Dave


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## Interloc (Apr 6, 2009)

On walkable roofs the suppliers Hi-ab loads anything more then 7/12 we use our ladder hoist.


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## OUTLAW (Feb 16, 2009)

95% of the time we have the supplier load everything before we even get there.


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

I am a strong advocate for having things safely and neatly loaded on the ground and then using ladder-vators to lift the material (on typical single family sloped roofs). On a large roofs or low slope roofs I usually get it loaded.

My complaint on a single family home, for example, is that materials end up getting moved and then moved again. They are in the way for the tear off, and that's alot of extra work moving shingle bundles not once, but no less than twice. 

When I am paying by the hour, I do it as described above. If you have a ladder-vator you los no time lifting the bundles to the roof as needed. Humping up the ladder is out of the question to be honest. It's hard to find guys willing to hump 25 squares of shingles up a ladder all day. Having said that if I am paying by the square I'll do it how ever the installers prefer.


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## NCroofer (Dec 15, 2009)

We have always tore off the house(if its less that 25sq) paper it, if more we tare off 6ft down on opposite side paper that enough for shingles so were never handling anything twice then have shingles delevered that evening or next morning, we use boom trucks extends up to 30ft for us to grab and unload on house. Just finished a 10/12 though humped 34sq up 32ft ladders(that was just greeeaat)


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## Johnk (Oct 30, 2008)

NCroofer said:


> We have always tore off the house(if its less that 25sq) paper it, if more we tare off 6ft down on opposite side paper that enough for shingles so were never handling anything twice then have shingles delevered that evening or next morning, we use boom trucks extends up to 30ft for us to grab and unload on house. Just finished a 10/12 though humped 34sq up 32ft ladders(that was just greeeaat)


Same way we do it..


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## Johnk (Oct 30, 2008)

It is against WCB rules to carry anything up a ladder besides your toolbelt....what a joke.Thats here in beautiful B.C


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

Pretty much same deal here too John, but that doesn't stop anyone. When I started in this biz we were humping everything. Very few suppliers roof loaded at that time, 13 years ago. 

In regards to papering one day and shingling the next. Well that's a whole other discussion, but I wouldn't ever day dream of leaving a roof exposed over night with just felt. We can discuss this again if you guys want, but it's probably not necessary. 

We tried at one point to get the roof torn off and scheduling the supplier to meet us at 10 am for the roof load. Problem. it's hard to count on anyone you don't have control over. Suppliers show up an hour early an hour late... Fug it. Invest in a ladder vator and get it up there ourselves. Another bonus is having everything delivered a day early so we know it'lll be there when we need it and we can inspect the delivery before we even start the job to make sure they sent the right color, sent enough, etc... If there are any mistakes we can correct it before it becomes a time sensative problem.


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## blageurt (Dec 15, 2009)

I have 2 ladder hoists and ussually pick up the material.... It all depends on the Job , access etc.


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

Ladder hoists are still manually operated,a nd time consuming and not very safe IMO. That's why I prefer ladder-vators which are available elctric or gas powered and make quick time of lifting bundles and rolls onto the roof.

However a ladder vator is useless on single ply, where the rolls often exceed the size and weight limits of the ladder vators. However that's only a problem on some jobs when cranes can't load the materials for us. On the jobs where we can't use a crane or a ladder vator, there are always a frame hoists that can be used on flat roofs. All this setup obviously needs to be priced into the job. 

Anything is possible if the customer's budget allows. Heck we'll chop 6' single ply rolls into 3' if that's what it takes to get the materials on the roof, but of coarse the labor goes up substantially. LOL It'd be a site to see a single ply roof with 3' seams. However thinking outside the box will sometimes get you the job when alot of others will walk way. 

There are several jobs I have priced where the only way to get the materials onto the roof and the garbage off the roof is through an interior freight elevator. Priced into the job is the interior protection of the elevator and hallways on the top floor and bottom floor. The only other option was a crane, which cost more than the actual cost of the roofing work. So paying some unskilled laborers to ride 15 stories upa nd down an elevator all day was the most cost effective way to go. For the record we didn't get the job, but nobody did. After they got 3 prices they opted for patch work, which made sense anyways since the roof was only 11 years old.


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## NCroofer (Dec 15, 2009)

Still handling it twice with vator, moving off pallet, place on vator up to roof grab place it on roof. We have a very dependable supplier that delivers on time, boom trucks work great for us. Probably not neccessary to discuss leaving house with just felt on it. We do it all the time and have never had a problem, walk over the house, double check boots, chimneys, valleys, no holes in felt, flashing. Heck we got snowed on two weeks ago had the garage part of house with felt got back to it begining this week no leak at'll..although I only use 30wt warrior felt, or synthetic triflex(but here lately jobs hard to get having to drop prices and get other supplys.


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## blageurt (Dec 15, 2009)

I have 2 Rieman Georger hoists one 250 lb capacity and another 500 lb capacity. Both can lift to over 50 feet no problems and totally safe. I also have a telescopic support post for extra stability. You do need to maintain them however, but if you do not manitain small engines you should not be in Roofing as far as I'm concerned. That way I can load the roof any way I want , when I want and there is not alot of crap everywhere on the roof. As stated before Boom /Delivery / ladder vator / guys humping , etc. etc. are not reliable enough for me and since It takes me about 20 minutes to set it up with a helper thats how I roll...


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## BamBamm5144 (Jan 2, 2010)

Carrying bundles up a ladder should already be a thing of the past. Takes too much time and energy and you end up losing production.

We try to plan to have our shingles roof top delievered around noon the first day. This gives us time to tear off one whole side, and hopefully get the top three feet of the other ridges torn so that we can stack bundles.

As Grumpy mentioned, moving any bundle more than you have to is just kinda like kicking yourself in the butt.


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

NCroofer said:


> Still handling it twice with vator, moving off pallet, place on vator up to roof grab place it on roof. We have a very dependable supplier that delivers on time, boom trucks work great for us. Probably not neccessary to discuss leaving house with just felt on it. We do it all the time and have never had a problem, walk over the house, double check boots, chimneys, valleys, no holes in felt, flashing. Heck we got snowed on two weeks ago had the garage part of house with felt got back to it begining this week no leak at'll..although I only use 30wt warrior felt, or synthetic triflex(but here lately jobs hard to get having to drop prices and get other supplys.


 Yes NC roofer you are handling it twice but it's still safer on the ground and bringing it up to the roof as needed. Plus you're not moving it from the front and then to the back and then back to the front or visa versa. This way nothing is in your way when tearing off and you can get all the tear off at once and not have to tear off a few pieces as you roof up to them. Nothing more sloppy IMO than tearing off on a new roof. 

Further more, although our supplier is usually ontime, they are not always. There are forces outside of their control. What if there is an accident and they are late? What if the truck breaks down and they have to send another truck? What if two drivers call in sick on the same day? What if the driver is running late, speeds, then gets a ticket which delays him? *There are alot of variables and I have experienced them all.* I prefer to have the material there the day before ready and waiting for me and then the only thing I have to worry about is theft, but that has happened only once and they only took a couple squares. What if my guys are a day behind and I forget to call the supplier? What if I decide to let them roof load for me and a bundle slides off or an idiot bends the bundles over the ridge? Too many "what ifs" and I don't like what ifs.


Everyone has their own prefrence. Mine is to minimize risk in all aspects and phases of the work we are doing. Some people's prefrence is to make their life easier, and seemingly every time I try that I end up kicking my self because it ends up making my life harder. I find it easier to think ahead and plan for the worst. For example, when I get dumpster permits in the Chitty of Chicago I always get the 30 day instead of the 5 day. The 5 days is ahlf the price or less than that of the 30 day, but when ever I get the 5 day something unforseen happens to delay the job and I end up having to then not only purchase the 5 day but also the 30 day. Fug it, now I just get the 30 day and mark it into the job cost. 

I can not control everything, but I control what ever I can. Having the material there a day early adds tremendous control. Having it on the ground brings a safer and more organized jobsite IMO. I do tend to complicate things, but I always have good reasons.


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## blageurt (Dec 15, 2009)

Extremely well said. I also believe in Murphy's Law ....


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## robert (Oct 29, 2008)

I have 4 ladder vators and we can get roof top to,every job is different.


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## The Roofing God (Oct 31, 2008)

whichever is best for the particular home situation


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