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If you don't care for the hair spray or the duct tape approach,..............

use the plastic loom used under the hood on nearly every car. There's a size to fit your needs.

Just make sure the insured isn't looking when you take it off his car.

Well folks, I've gone through several of my duct tape chalk holders and am getting ready to get what appears to be the real deal.  The ultimate in chalk writing bliss:  https://www.benmeadows.com/search/?...der. 

I ordered the 'Jumbo Crayon Holder' (photo above) in the hopes that it will hold my kiddie chalk that is usually supplied by your local Walmart.  I just hope that I don't have to purchase the 72 ct. box of railroad chalk this company has for sale.  Although, this chalk looks pretty functional as it appears to come with its own coat of patented hair spray material.  They have other holders that will accept the smaller sized crayons as well.

I'll let you know how it works when it comes.

The <<  72 ct. box of railroad chalk >> is available at any ACE hardware warehouse. The cost is around $ 18.00 for the box. It normally has to be ordered from one of their retail stores, but since their trucks run twice a week it only takes 2 or 3 days to arrive. One box will last 20 times as long as an equal amount of sidewalk chalk. The yellow coating is not much help. It is still messy. I have used 12 boxes in the last 20 years.

Regards,

Mike Stephenson

Duct tape and velcro, what would we do without these products?

Off to Ace I go to get me some railroad chalk. I just discovered that the fancy holder is too small for my left over sidewalk chalk.

"You could always shave the excess off so it fits in the holder," he said with tongue in cheek as the discussion of roof chalk continued.

Posted By Medulus on 04 Feb 2010 04:41 PM
I'm sure there's something more that can be said about chalk, but I cannot - for the life of me - figure out what it could possibly be.

Posted By WSTJ on 04 Feb 2010
The last couple of storms I have worked for SF they supplied yellow lumber markers. They last a lot longer than chalk. Is that the same thing as railroad chalk?

Posted By RandyC on 10 Feb 2010 02:49 PM
On occasion I have a steep roof with enough damage I can circle from the ridge, but reaching out to draw the corners of my test square would require me to throw a rope. Sometimes I spot damage to a gutter, downspout or 2nd story window that I can see, but doesn't show up in a photo very well in the lighting of the moment. I don't really want to lug a two story ladder around if I don't have to.

I bought a telescoping golf ball retriever with a black plastic ring at the end. It is too small to hold the large sidewalk chalk (different color each end), but if you hack saw the ring, it will expand to grip these two-colored chalks. A little electrical tape secures it!

Now I can reach out or up about 12 foot further than I could before. I don't use it much, but when I do, it is nice.

Sidewalk chalk..... painted with spray paint.  A roofer showed me this and it works great!

I carry chalk, soap stone (welders stone) and a lumber crayon.  Who knows what you will need when you finally reach the top of the monster roof!

My wife freaked out when she found out about my wood holder and the lack of an adequate sized chalk to go with it.  Thus, she went out the next day and bought me a pack of chalk with a holder.

If you go to Dollar General (yellow and black sign), they sell a $1 pack of chalk with a holder.  The holders are different colors.  If you are vain enough, they can be spray-painted.  The holder also holds any size of chalk you shove in it.  I was reminded of this post when I needed to buy some more chalk the other day.