Walking on roof

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
The best answer is it depends on the condition of the roof and the condition of the walker. 400 pounds on an old spongy roof may not be the best idea. Moderate weight on a good roof should be no problem.
 
Your not going to hurt it... try to do it on a cooler day or early morning before things heat up. Once things get hot its easy to tear or scuff a shingle and cause problems latter
 
Yep, get up there when the shingles are cold and the edges are coiled up from exposure over the years. That way you can press the edges back down. Of course the edges will break off.

Again, it depends on the condition of the roof, and what pressure you are putting on the shingles. You need to look at the roof and make a determination depending on condition. Maybe even post a picture on here. If the roof is in good condition, no problem. The assumption the roof is in good condition could end up being expensive.
 
As said above, if temps are low, it's not too bad on asphalt shingles. But any granules knocked off obviously shortens their life.
 
That is why I and a lot commercial roofers advocate full coverage ice and water shield under shingles. The shingle just become UV protection for the underlying waterproof membrane.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sloeffle
The best answer is it depends on the condition of the roof and the condition of the walker. 400 pounds on an old spongy roof may not be the best idea. Moderate weight on a good roof should be no problem.

What! Are you body shaming and calling a 400 pound person fat! How 1900’s of you... Just kidding. I just had a conversation with a doctor about how they avoid calling people fat now because the patient can cause so much trouble (sue, file complaint if not independent, leave terrible reviews...).

The shingles should be fine as most have said. If you are a heavy person (because you are muscular or fat) it never hurts to ask someone for help.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vinny11950
That is why I and a lot commercial roofers advocate full coverage ice and water shield under shingles. The shingle just become UV protection for the underlying waterproof membrane.

until you punch 1000000 holes through the membrane nailing the shingles.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vinny11950
My personal experience is that the roof membrane self seals remarkably well around the nails and hardware. The only issue i have heard of is that metal roof systems in hot climates need to use a higher temperature butyl product.

I helped do a 24 hour dormer once where we had to remove half the roof off a cape cod and install a dormer and roof it two days. The old cape roof had two rows of the regular stuff that had been on it for about 10 years. We lifted the roof with shingles atached on the inside and cut it loose from the ridge. It slid down in one piece and went down a steep slope behind the house. The sections with plywood mostly broke at the seams but the sheets with the rubber on tended to break the underlying plywood. We salvaged most of the plywood with just shingles but getting the nails out of the sheets with ice and water shield we hoped to salvage was darn close to impossible as the nails were effectively "glued" into the roof.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sloeffle
I would not do it if the roof is too cold or too hot. Cold and you can crack the shingles ,hot and they will just pull apart under your weight.
 
I remember the older IKO contractor grade shingles, despite the 20 year guarantees, they got pretty brittle around 15 years. They sure stripped pretty easy. Barely needed a shingle shovel.
 
Dealing with a lot of real estate iv found the new architectural shingles seem to last a long time. Also iv found black shingles last the longest, white the shortest. Flat roofs, double coverage can be shot in as little as 6 yrs and rubber last much longer. I have a black standard shingle roof for almost 30 yrs and a rubber roof about the same.
 
I remember the older IKO contractor grade shingles, despite the 20 year guarantees, they got pretty brittle around 15 years. They sure stripped pretty easy. Barely needed a shingle shovel.
I got news for ya. The 35 year architectural shingles from 2005-6 were a POS as well. I have them on my house and I'm now looking at a formed on site standing seam. I expected it to be the only roof I put on the building in my lifetime.
The offer from IKO in a settlement was a complete joke.
 
  • Like
Reactions: thewoodlands
I havent heard many great things about IKOs over the years except they are cheap. I have Certainteed architectural shingles on the house. They are basically double thickness.

I was getting my infrequent fix of Hot and Cold radio when heading over to an event yesterday and Tom mentioned the concept of painting asphalt shingles to extend their life. He has success stretching even deteriorated shingles. The logic make sense.

BTW if you are not familiar with Hot and Cold, Toms been doing it on Maine radio for 30 years. He is fellow Hearth.com member. Its in theory about Energy and Heating but definitely ranges over a lot of topics. Its a call in show but he starts out with misc rambling at the beginning of the show. His podcasts tend to lag the actual show dates. I am normally outside the range of broadcast in NH but when I head over to Maine on a Saturday AM I tune it in.

https://www.wvomfm.com/hot-cold-podcasts/
 
I havent heard many great things about IKOs over the years except they are cheap. I have Certainteed architectural shingles on the house. They are basically double thickness.

I was getting my infrequent fix of Hot and Cold radio when heading over to an event yesterday and Tom mentioned the concept of painting asphalt shingles to extend their life. He has success stretching even deteriorated shingles. The logic make sense.

BTW if you are not familiar with Hot and Cold, Toms been doing it on Maine radio for 30 years. He is fellow Hearth.com member. Its in theory about Energy and Heating but definitely ranges over a lot of topics. Its a call in show but he starts out with misc rambling at the beginning of the show. His podcasts tend to lag the actual show dates. I am normally outside the range of broadcast in NH but when I head over to Maine on a Saturday AM I tune it in.

https://www.wvomfm.com/hot-cold-podcasts/
I do hear him on VOM once in a while.