To those that wear tennis shoes for your inspections, which brand do you like?
I’m so frustrated with having to buy shoes every few months, because the front of the sole always separates. I’m thinking maybe it’s from walking on sloped roofs.
I typically buy sketchers, so this time I tried a brand I’ve never had before (Hi-Tec, cost about $85), and they only lasted one month.
You could get a tube of shoe-goo and glue them back on. I wear a pair of Doc Martin slip on boots which have been going strong for several years now on the inside of homes. Other guys on the team seem to like hey dude and vans shoes.
Yeah, done that before, but never seems to last long either.
Being in FL, I wear Cargo shorts everyday, so Boots may look funny. LOL.
I like Merrel Chameleons (with color choices).
I bought a pair a year.
I have been using these for a few years. Good roof grip. They last me about 9-12 months because the sole tread wears down a bit. But the shoe has never come apart. And they are not expensive. They have no water resistance so I wear a crock on wet days or wet grass.
I like the black ones. I am not sure if that effects the sole material. But I love the black ones on shingled roofs.
I like the North Face Ultra 112 shoes…Specifically as they have about the softest rubber sole for getting a good grip on steeper roofs. I usually get about 14 months or so, but not as hot as you in the South while on a shingled pitch.
I use Skateboard shoes ( both Nike and Vans) my neighbor is a roofer and he swears by them. They are designed to grip to board tape that is a lightweight version of asphalt shingles. They work great but they also have limited support so it takes a bit to get used to them. They also have a limited texture sole that reduces the chance you will damage the shingles
Hope to find you well, Daniel.
Due to my feet condition, I always purchased Clarks Summer weight and fall weight shoes. Rockport light weight 6 or 8 lace winter boots.
Charged mesh running shoes.
Shoe gloves inside the home for 15 years.
( Winter) Sorel Caribou winter snow boots with separate liners. No issues -30C.
X2 on Merrels… great quality and very comfortable. I think I’d go through about a pair a year when I was inspecting heavily. I’d always take my old pair and repurpose them to crawl space shoes so as to not mess up the new ones quickly. They are a bit expensive but worth it. IIRC they are around $120/pair.
I second Larry’s recommendation for Merrell hiking shoes. Good grip and quality. I get about a year or so of use out of them before they are damaged enough from me getting on the roofs and in the crawlspaces enough to have to switch to the next pair. It’s not that they aren’t usable anymore with the amount of damage, but that you don’t want to show off your beat up shoes to the client. Very sturdy among the nikes, sketchers, and other brands I’ve used. I’ve basically stayed with this brand for years now
I run hot and used to wear cargo shorts regularly for summer inspections here in MN. But then I stumbled upon these lightweight cargo pants from Carhartt. The rip-stop material is pretty thin but tough as h-e-double hockey sticks. And the fabric has some stretch, which is nice. Not to turn the thread into an all-out clothing discussion, but just in case you want to go back to wearing boots, these pants have worked awesome for me in hot weather. The boot/pant look and functionality suits the inspection role well, in my opinion.
https://www.carhartt.com/product/104200/carhartt-force-relaxed-fit-ripstop-cargo-work-pant
I wear these.
I also have a pair of Cougar paws for the 12/12s.
I think I’ve been on this recent “work” pair at least 2 years. I end up blowing out the heel, then I wear them for yard work. I have a good pair, a work pair and a yard pair. Cheap and they stick to roofs pretty well.
I also wore them at my prior job where I walked 10k-15k steps every day. They hold up very well specially since I have big duck feet.
Interesting. Whenever I’ve seen these, I figured they would be crap for walking roofs
I wear these boots, they stick to roofs well, but don’t track too much debris. It’s amazing what some mink oil can do after multiple brushes with trusses or crawlspace.
Just a heads up, boots with heels like that are typically not recommended for roof work, at least in my opinion. For one, the heel presents a possible hazard when climbing, dismounting, and mounting the roof. The heel can cause you to “catch your foot” on various objects like ladder rungs, gutters, drip edge, etc. Secondly, the heel introduces a more focused load on the roof, possibly causing damage, especially on hot asphalt shingles.
The best option is a flatter sole, like the ones I use…
I love ripstop cargo’s. Here is my recommendation.
I wear Keen shoes, the only ones that last for me.
The current pair has been on at least 150 roofs. The only time I had an issue was a few weeks ago. I was on a roof at 2pm and I started smelling something. It was the sole getting hot.
These things are soft, but wear isn’t too bad. I dunno, working for me. As I said, the only thing that happens is that the upper starts separating from the lower right at the heel after around 2 million steps.
Also if they do get caught on anything, your foot will come out. Happened once at a door jam that was up 2 inches or so at a friends house. I walked, shoe didn’t. heh.
I’m with Edward on the Keen train. I have lots of pairs of Keens—only one pair ever separated at the sole and I chalk that up to a bad production run. They are comfortable, durable, and waterproof (lots of mornings walking in dew covered grass and I never have wet feet). Keen Targhee 2 is my favorite.
