The roof is an element of the house that needs periodic monitoring and repair. To do this, when it is installed, additional elements are provided, one of which is a roof ladder.
A zealous owner necessarily controls the condition of the roof of his house. Only in this case it is possible to notice damage in time and carry out timely minor repairs.
Roofing defects unnoticed in time will increase over time, as a result, instead of small repairs, large-scale roof replacement work will be required.
In addition, periodically it is necessary to monitor the health of the drainage system and chimneys. It may be necessary to install snow retainers or other elements on the roof.
To carry out any of the above works, it is necessary to somehow get on the roof, and even move along it without endangering your life.
Of course, if the roof in the house is flat, there are no special problems. You can also climb the roof using a ladder, and move along such a structure as flat roof, can be done without difficulty.
But if roof pitched, then performing any work on the roof turns into a difficult task.
Moving on such a roof is not only extremely inconvenient, but even dangerous. To reduce the risk and increase the convenience of working on the roof, an element such as a roof ladder is used.
There are several types of such stairs, namely:
- Wall ladder;
- Stairs located on the roof or pitched stairs;
- Emergency ladder.
Wall stairs
Wall ladders are called roofing ladders, which serve to enable a person to climb the roof from the ground.
These ladders can simultaneously serve as emergency ladders that will help save people's lives in the event of a fire or other emergency when it is impossible to leave the house in the usual way.
To position the wall ladder correctly, the following building code requirements must be met:
- The top step of the wall ladder should be at the level of the roof ledge or the edge of the roof eaves. The permissible deviation from this level in one direction or another is no more than 10 centimeters.
- The height of the bottom step of the wall ladder should be at the level of a meter from the ground (a deviation of 20 cm in one direction or another is allowed).
- The fastening of the upper legs of the stairs should be located at the level of the first step, that is, as close as possible to the roof eaves.
- If wall roof ladders are supplemented with support tubes whose length exceeds 60 cm, then the upper supports must be attached to the eaves with additional elements.
- The distance from the ladder to the wall can vary over a wide range. Permissible values from 20 to 130 centimeters.
- The distance between adjacent steps of the wall ladder should be about 10 cm.
- Places for installation of wall ladders must be determined before the construction of the house and recorded in the project documentation.
In some cases, instead of wall ladders, a ladder to the roof is used, leading from the attic room to the roof hatch.
pitched stairs
To get from the edge of the roof to the chimney or other objects that require maintenance, a pitched roof ladder is used. This design is attached to the roof ridge, and then, with the help of low brackets, it is fixed on the slope, reaching the cornice, where it goes into the wall staircase.
In addition, a small platform is installed along the slope, which is parallel to the ground level.
This element is called a bridge. Walkways and roof ladders make it much easier to move up the slope and reduce the risk of falling off the roof.
Roof stairs design
As a rule, roof ladders are made of aluminum profile. This material is durable and resistant to external influences.The rungs of the stairs are made corrugated to prevent slipping of the foot.
The design of the stairs allows you to shorten or lengthen them. In the first case, they simply saw off the excess, in the second, they use connecting strips.
On sale you can find stairs painted in a variety of colors. So picking up a copy that will successfully harmonize with the roofing is not difficult.
Advice! As an additional accessory to the stairs, you should purchase a mounting bracket. By using this part, which is equipped with a roller, the roof installation ladder can be temporarily fixed in position, making it possible to work on any area of the roof. Using the mounting bracket does not harm the roofing.
Ladder installation
Installation roof ladders done with brackets. These fasteners are put on the ladder racks and secured with bolts.
Then, using screws, the brackets are fixed to the roof, and the joints are sealed so that there is no risk of leakage.
Stairs are assembled in sections along the length of the slope, assembly is carried out on the ground, that is, a ready-made structure rises to the roof. The upper part of the ladder is fixed to the ridge beam using special brackets.
If the upper section is too long, then it is cut off by sawing off excess sections with a conventional hacksaw.
Advice! It is necessary to determine the length of the ladder in advance in order to cut it while the ladder is still disassembled.
Installation of wall stairs begins with the installation of handrails.Then wall brackets are put on the racks. They are bolted above the bottom and below the top steps.
Next, the brackets are attached to the wall, the anchors are selected depending on the material from which the walls are made. At the final stage, the handrails are put on the top racks of the stairs, and this design is bolted.
conclusions
Thus, stairs to the roof are a necessary element that must be present on the roof. With the help of these structures, the task of caring for roofing and servicing chimneys can be greatly facilitated.
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