Please watch this video of my ladder sliding out on the first pitch of a two story house. Setting up a ladder on a pitched metal roof is risky, even if the pitch is minimal. Yes, it was a bad idea!
My knee got tweaked pretty bad and I had possible cartilage damage. It’s all healed up now.
Adam,
Man, that could have been worse. I’m glad you are ok, if bruised a little bit. Thanks for sharing. I’m sure a lot of us, myself included, have done that set-up before. This is a good reminder to make sure your ladder has good traction before mounting it.
Glad there was no long-lasting damage.
Did the ladder slip, or did a few of the rungs collapse? About halfway through the video it looks like the rungs have collapsed at the middle point of ladder.
Throw that ladder away!!! The round feet slipping as well as rung collapse are well documented.
Happy you came of of this slightly bruised and hopefully wiser.
Good lesson for new inspectors and owners of these hazardous ladders.
I could see that happening before I started the video. I hope all is well.
Yep, glad you’re relatively okay, Adam. And, thanks for sharing that for sure!
Very good reminder.
That is one scary video that all home inspectors should watch.
I’m glad to hear you’re okay, Adam.
Your video shows 1. just how fast an accident can happen and 2. how important ladder safety really is.
I had a similar close call a number of years ago, but I was on asphalt, that was wet, and my ladder slipped out from underneath me, it was definitely a come to Jesus moment for me.
Thanks for posting so others can learn from previous mistakes. 
Thank God all you needed was ArniCare, rather than an ambulance. Glad you are doing well.
Wow Adam, glad you’re okay, stay safe out there!
The rungs did not collapse, it just slipped out at the bottom. The collapsed part you were seeing was just the lower part of the ladder since I had not extended it all the way to get up the 7 or 8 feet to the second pitch.
Thank you, Bert and to everyone for the the kind words. At the time of the accident I was trying to get to and from a gabled roof from a shed roof. If I had just accessed the gabled roof from the ridge at the rake edge with a taller ladder, I think that I would have been safer.
As someone who has had several dumb ladder moments, all I can say is welcome to the club of hard knocks…and glad it was not major injury.
My similar mistake was on a wet deck that was slick as a wet bar of soap. Nine feet down to the deck.
Since then, I’ve used door mats or an old pair of sneakers under the feet of the ladder on questionable surfaces.
Yeah, yeah, yeah… glad you’re ok, and absolutely could have been worse!
Now with the niceties out of the way… the only reminder necessary to others is…
READ and FOLLOW the friggin Users Manual, and NO shortcuts!!
Technically this wouldn’t have happened if you had followed RULE #1,
(OK, it’s actually #2 after removing the strap to be able to open it).
Seriously, I’m glad you weren’t seriously injured, but this was a preventable accident that shouldn’t have happened.
Glad you’re OK. From what I saw its an extendable. If you only wanted to go 7 feet then you start extending from say 4 rungs down from the top so You’d have those 4 collapsed rungs at the top. You’ve extended from the top rung so you have to go all the way to lock it in place. Thats how I was showed how to use it by the Telesteps people at one convention. Only some devilry stopped it collapsing as you climbed up I think
Extendables are fine.
Is that a metal roof?
That’s what he said… and ‘pitched’ to boot!!
He knew it was wrong, and he did it anyway!
I remember doing some crazy sh*t on ladders when I was younger, 20s and 30s, framing houses and being 30’ up in the gable of the house, having one foot on the ladder and the other foot daggling in the air, reaching over to each side to finish nailing pieces of plywood up, instead of climbing down, moving the ladder over and then climbing back up. It scares me now looking back on how stupid that was and how easily the ladder could have slid over on any one of those occasions.
The silly things we are willing to do when we are younger.
So true. And the older I get, the further away the ground is.
…and, the faster it comes up to kiss you. 
We all have taken risks or got in a hurry and cut corners including slips, trips and falls. IMO getting off a roof is the most dangerous thing a home inspector does. As you learned the hard way never set a ladder on a slick or slippery surface. Never prop up a ladder on a slope with rocks, boards or other objects you find. My tallest 24’ ladder has a level bubble built in and has adjustable leg extensions on both sides. Be careful with setting a ladder on rugs, unless they have a rubber back. Friction between the rubber feet on the ladder and the surface depends on the friction factor between the two surfaces and the weight pushing down, ie your body weight. The danger zone is when you transfer your weight getting on the roof and getting off the roof onto the ladder. On taller climbs I try to bungee cord the ladder to the gutter. If you’re not comfortable getting on and off the roof don’t do it. I am 67 and still get a little pucker factor getting off a roof.
Great point Randy. I stopped walking my own roof about 2 years ago and it’s a low slope and easy to walk, but I’ve always had allergies that affect my sinuses and ears. It’s gotten worse over past few years to the extent I have felt vertigo in higher areas. Also have a bad knee that likes to give out at anytime and mostly when unexpected. I don’t walk roofs anymore for those reason. I do my best to inspect any other way I can and disclose my inspection methods in my reports.
