Scott Hannemann's Thoughts on 10/12 pitches

Replacing the shingles on an old two-story house with a steep pitch roof can seem pretty daunting. Or maybe it's just that roofing has a reputation as dangerous work. Numerous people have reacted with surprise when I've told them about doing this re-roofing project. They think it's terribly dangerous, that only special people can work on such high and steep roofs, that there is a constant risk of falling off.
I've worked on over 675 major roofing projects, some on steep roofs, some on low pitch roofs. In some ways I prefer working on a steep roof. For one, there is not as much bending over. And since roof jacks and scaffolding planks MUST be set up, there are designated places to walk and lots of places to grab onto. If you've ever worked on a low-pitch roof on a hot day, you know that by simply turning your foot on the shingles you can scrape bare a big patch of asphalt. WE calling this scaring. This is not a problem with a steep roof, because you never really walk on the shingles. We shingle from the top down. Our customers really appreciate this method.
However, the big drawback to steep roofs is the time needed to set up roof jacks and scaffold planks. There was probably one or two hours of scaffold setup for each quadrant of this roof.