I once read that roofing is the most
dangerous of all the building trades,
except for estimating. When I was
learning to build, I made many
mistakes –one of them could have been
my last. We were just about to start
work on the roof of an 1840s farmhouse
renovation. I decided I would put up a
few roof jacks to make it safer to begin
shingling the next day. Everyone else
had gone home, and I was alone at the
site. The nearest neighbor was _ mile
away. I put up a ladder and climbed to
the eaves with an armload of jacks. As
I stepped onto the roof the ladder shot
sideways. I