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The Essentials of Roofing Equipment

Because roof installation and repair is best performed in warm weather, having to move the roofing materials around can be even more cumbersome. So roofing equipment has evolved form the simple tape measures, hammers, and roofing nails of yesteryear to some more sophisticated equipment today.

Basic Roofing Equipment
Every certified roofer possesses a small utility blade which will allow him to precisely cut asphalt shingles, but roofers experienced in working with slate, metal, or tile roofing material have specialty cutters as part of their roofing equipment.. Most roofers have also replaced the traditional hammer with a nail gun, which can be run off an electric line, a battery, or an air compressor. But the hammer remains in every professional roofer's toolbox, to be used for removing any old roofing nails.

A ladder, of course, is one of the foundation pieces of roofing equipment for any roofer, because without it there would be no roofing jobs completed. But the roofing contractor of today often has an electrical lift attached to his ladder to do the work of hoisting those eighty-pound packs of asphalt roofing shingles up to the roof, rather than carrying them up on his shoulders.

Power Roofing Equipment
Those roofers whose roofing equipment does not include an electrical lift must rely on heavily reinforced ladders with the strength to handle the weight of the singles in addition to the weight of the roofer. But for really big roofing jobs, those roofers can rent electrical lifts by he hour, until they have transferred all their shingles to the rooftop.

The best certified roofing contractors will have as part of their roofing equipment air compressors to power their nail guns and whatever other electric tools they need. If they are installing a roof on a new building which has not yet been connected to the electrical grid, these contractors can power their air compressors with the building's generator. Those air compressors can come in very handy on hot days, when they are used to run small refrigerators and keep plenty of cold beverages on hand!

Safety Roofing Equipment
Every responsible roofing contractor, of course, considers safety to be the number one concern at a job site, and his roofing equipment will reflect that concern. His roofing crew will have safety goggles to use when either rewiring a roof or cutting wood, as well as when using any electrical roofing like a nail gun to attach shingles.

But the most important piece of safety roofing equipment is, without a doubt, the rope and harness, which enables workers to install Roofing materials on a steeply sloped roof. Many a roofer has been saved from severe injury or even death thanks to a harness supporting him above the ground instead of allowing him to crash into it after taking a misstep while working on a roof!