Roofer madness...

[Gareth Hughes]

Pictures taken earlier today in south London of a chap from a roofing firm mending a friend's gutter
Step one, without telling the householder, use the scaffolding on a house eight doors down to access the roof, and stroll along the ridge
View attachment 2
Step two, slide down to the job. There's no need to be attached to anything
View attachment 1
Step three, wonder how you get back

And who says builders are lazy and lacking in resourcefulness and common sense?

 

[JohnB]

Did he get back, or is he still up there?

 

[MdB]

:shock: :shock: :shock:

 

[ilona73]

omg crazy!!!!!!!!

 

[Feltwell]

That is monumentally stupid. Repairing a gutter? How much work is it to put a ladder against a wall?

And on that picture of him sliding down the snow-covered roof, does it look to you like he's also on a mobile? Who says men can't multi-task then eh??? :lol:

Could well be an example of natural selection in action if he's not careful.....

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh, but he's MARVELLOUS! Such playfulness! Is he free? My roof needs a lot of attention.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

I've a feeling that he may be available for re-employment soon, especially as the owner of the scaffolding - not knowing he was merely a neighbour's roofer - called the police, while my gutter-owning friend (an architect) had very stiff words with him, and then with his boss over the phone when that provoked a less than charming response...

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol:

Poor builder. I know how it feels to have a less than conventional, but highly effective, approach to work utterly rejected.

 

[biffvernon]

And he wasn't even doing anything important, like saving whales.

 

[Feltwell]

:lol:

Poor builder. I know how it feels to have a less than conventional, but highly effective, approach to work utterly rejected.

But think of the mess you'd have to clear up if he fell off the roof. You could also have a "builder's bum" imprint permanently in your front path - not what any self-respecting home owner wants at all....

Gareth, without being too rude to your friend, is there an element of "the cobbler's children are always the worst shod" here? An architect living in a very bland looking 1970's tile hung terrace, complete with UPVC? Mind you I'm sure an estate agent wouldn't call it a terrace - a "partially attached house" perhaps!

 

[Gareth Hughes]

They're Modern architects...
(actually it's a rather nice house for its period, inspired by - ripped off from - the very successful Eric Lyons-designed SPAN private estates at nearby Blackheath. Pity about the windows but they didn't do it. At the top of a knackeringly steep hill, though close to a well-known Edwardian Arts and Crafts / Free Style museum of anthropology)

 

[Flyfisher]

Could well be an example of natural selection in action if he's not careful.....

That was precisely my first thought. Incredible.

I also can't really understand how he could have fixed any guttering from up there anyway. Even sitting on the edge of the roof, I can't see how he could have leant down to reach the gutter. He'd have to lay flat and even then it would be a nigh-on impossible job. The whole thing is ludicrous.

As for saving the whales, I'd seen that video clip elsewhere. I'd be surprised if the whaler Captain doesn't face legal action when they are back in port; I presume there is a 'law of the sea' for such incidents. I'd certainly give up eating sushi in protest, if I could stand the stuff in the first place.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Gareth, without being too rude to your friend, is there an element of "the cobbler's children are always the worst shod" here? An architect living in a very bland looking 1970's tile hung terrace, complete with UPVC? Mind you I'm sure an estate agent wouldn't call it a terrace - a "partially attached house" perhaps!

Feltwell! That building is an honest representation of our time! And the terrace presents the architect with a suffiently large construction to achieve impressive and dignified effects!

Indeed, it could be argued that the detached house is highly overrated, Osbert Lancaster remarking in Pillar to Post that the modern architect is lamentably "forced to manipulate a row of detached houses, for clients clamouring for something different , in a pathetic effort to assert an individuality they do not in fact possess". !!!

 

[Gareth Hughes]

That is monumentally stupid. Repairing a gutter? How much work is it to put a ladder against a wall?

And on that picture of him sliding down the snow-covered roof, does it look to you like he's also on a mobile? Who says men can't multi-task then eh??? :lol:

Could well be an example of natural selection in action if he's not careful.....

http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=3155645

 

[Flyfisher]

You should submit your photo to that magazine Gareth. I reckon it's more dangerous than their examples, with the possible exception of the chap fixing the TV aerial or the one who appears to have all the right equipment to work at heights and then steps out of his cherry-picker. :shock:

But I assume these are all experienced people; I can't imagine them making more than one mistake. :?

 

[Flyfisher]

Indeed, it could be argued that the detached house is highly overrated,

We once lived in a 1970's detached house on a small estate on the edge of a village. Being detached certainly wasn't overrated by our neighbours when I was learning to play the drums. :wink:

 

[Feltwell]

Feltwell! That building is an honest representation of our time! And the terrace presents the architect with a suffiently large construction to achieve impressive and dignified effects!

Why Joce, you'll be wanting to move to Milton Keynes next!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Why Joce, you'll be wanting to move to Milton Keynes next!

Don't tempt me! Feet have cracked with cold.

 

[Juju]

Nowt wrong with Milton Keynes (speaking as a former resident). Mind you, I did choose to live in a Victorian terrace rather than on a new estate. I think where I live now in Witney is starting to look like MK with all the new estates - the difference is that the planners now insist that most of the houses are pastiche of the 17th and 18th century ones. I suppose they're more attractive than your basic Barrett boxes. Just heard today that a proposal has been put forward for yet another large estate and just up the road from us - some of which is on a flood plain and the main access is up a road that floods. Great thinking!

Also, I grew up in a 1970s 3 storey townhouse much like Gareth's friend (not quite as nice though) and it had big rooms and open-plan living. My Dad put the house on the market last year and it sold within a week so obviously people like them (although it was cheap for a 4 bedroom house in Surrey...)

 

[AMc]

My roofer, an excellent and thoroughly decent bloke had a very similar attitude to risk. While I did my very best to get him (and all the other workmen) to use safety gear he would simply venture out onto the vinery roof using glass lifters for support.
Last time I saw him he had just done some lead work on a glazed pyramid on top of a tiled roof. Rather than rebuild the scaffold on the 'other side' of the roof he clambered around, lost his footing and ended up hanging by a 3mm drill bit in his words "It was alright, Andy. The bit only snapped when I got a foothold and took my weight off it".

My aerial installer also just wandered around on the roof in trainers. At one point he dropped two clamps 3 storeys down. It was OK though, he only needed one of them. He wanted me to throw that back up for him to catch, I refused and met him at the top of the scaffold on the other side of the house.

I think many people working at height simply become blind to the risk. Certainly when I was up the scaffold I had to keep reminding myself not to walk backwards etc.