Help! My Ladder’s Fallen and I Can’t Get Down!

Has this ever happened to you? You're home alone, up on the roof, and the ladder falls down with you still on the roof.

Had you asked me that question two days ago, I would have had to say no. But, thanks to the past 24 hours, I now can say yes.

I was on the roof trying to pinpoint exactly where water was penetrating the roof and leaking inside the house. Using a hose to simulate rainfall, I inadvertently pulled the hose too far knocking the extension ladder over. A sinking feeling swept over me. "You're such a dork", I thought, as I looked over the edge of the house to the ladder lying below.

I immediately looked at the time to see just how long I was going to be stuck on the roof until my wife got home. 25 minutes! On to plan B.

Fortunately, just before ascending the ladder at the beginning of the project, I happened to find the spray gun attachment lying on the ground and attached it. Prior to that moment, I had planned to spray the water without an attachment. Of course, had I done that, I would have been completely hosed and  unable to retrieve the ladder. I might still be up there today.

Plan B was to use the spray gun nozzle to hook onto the ladder and hoist it up. Presto! As you can see from the video, it worked - and I did it without permanently injuring myself.

Thankfully, I didn't have to use Plan C, which was going to be jumping off the front of the house into the shrubs below. That may not have ended well and I might have ended up writing this from a hospital bed.

As it turns out, it did end well and, as they say,  all's well that ends well - except for the fact that I still haven't found the leak in my roof.