From: gary@cdthq.UUCP (Gary Heston)
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 92 20:06:27 CDT
Organization: Garys' Home for Obsolete Computers

wayne@ultra.com (Wayne Hathaway) writes:

> I have recently acquired a three-story house with a shake roof
> underneath pine trees.  A very nice place, but the roof is COVERED
> with pine needles (not to mention the gutters).
> 
> Is it feasible to consider sweeping it and cleaning the gutters
> myself?  If so, can anybody offer advice on what to do for a safety
> harness?  What kind of broom/brush to use?  What's the best way to
> walk on shingles without busting them loose?  Anything else (other
> than to buy more life insurance)?

Go to an outdoor shop that sells rock climbing/rappelling gear
(or vertical caving gear; same stuff). What you want is called
a "seat harness", and comes in various versions from about $30
and up. The more expensive ones are adjustable for more comfort
when you're fully suspended in them; I have a non-adjustable one
from Blue Water that I paid about $28 for a few years ago. I use
it for working on my radio tower, and it's more than adequate for
climbing that, or the work you're going to be doing.

You'll need a carabiner or two (or more, depending on how you
want to rig this), and some real rope. You should get Blue Water,
Gold Line, or PMI (Pigeon Mountain Industries) static mountaineering
line, 7/16" in diameter. (Yeah, you *could* do this with the cheap
stuff from Home Depot. Make me beneficiary on your life insurance
first, though.) How to rig it is difficult to suggest without
knowing what the roof looks like; generally, you can rig a "static"
line along the ridge, and use a shorter piece to clip onto that;
you can use a single long piece, and either have someone belay you
from the other side of the house, or tie it onto a solid point and 
tie into your belt, leaving a long tail to get underfoot; or rig
a loose loop along the ridge that has enough slack to let you get
down to the edges, and clip onto that so you slide along the rope.

In any case, three important things:

  1) Don't go up when you're the only person around. You could end
        up hanging over the back edge of the roof, injured, and unable
        to get back up or down safely.

  2) Make damn sure you have solid rigging points. I'd use at least
        1/2" eyebolts at each end of the ridge, screwed into rafters.
        TEST YOUR RIGGING POINTS BEFORE DEPENDING ON THEM. 

  3) Whatever scheme you come up with, try it out *first* close to
        the ground. A 3' drop onto grass might bruise your ego a 
        little. A 3 story drop to a driveway could be fatal. Make 
        *sure* the rope/harness setup works the way you think it will.

It would also be a good idea to find a friend into climbing or 
rappelling that could look at the roof and help with setting up
all this.

To avoid breaking shingles, wear soft-soled shoes and step gently.
Almost any broom should work fine. If you have a few years 
accumulation in the gutters, you'll have to scoop it out with a
small shovel or a tin can. (Makes a good soil additive, though. :-) )

Gary Heston, at home....
gary@cdthq.uucp
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: suggested weapons (was: Killing burglars.)