Okay, so how DO you get the damn snow off the roof?

[MikeHalloran]

I am of course in sunny South Florida, but my sister lives in the ancestral small tract house in upstate NY. The house has a typical sloped shingled roof, now covered with still increasing amounts of snow, and she asked how to get it off. Actually, she just asked for ways to get some salt up there.

So I proposed:
Just throw coarse rock salt on the roof.
Throw tissue bags of table salt.

I also proposed:
Throw a rope over the top and saw through the snow.
Buy one of those little plow on a pole things and pull the snow down.
Both of those would likely remove granules from the shingles, so I didn't recommend them.

Suggestions? Abuse? Anyone?


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[IRstuff]

I'm not certain, but I thought I saw some houses in Virginia that had heater strips installed over the shingles. Seems like a plausible approach; just a a few watts per square inch would keep the interface liquid, causing all the accumulation to slide right down.

If you have access to the attic, then a couple of space heaters turned on full blast might work??

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[JJPellin]

I live in Minnesota. A friend at work just bought one of these and it works great. Rather than dragging the snow off the roof with a traditional roof rake, this think cuts off sections of snow that slide off on the plastic slide attached. The video on the web site shows it very well.


Johnny Pellin

 

[ivymike]

back in Truckee some people used to take snowblowers onto the roofs of the bigger houses, if they were not appropriately sloped, or if the snowfall was too much. Some would also go onto the roofs with shovels to do it the old fashioned way.

here's a roof rake... never seen one of these before (except the SnoHoe for cars)

http://www.minnsnowta.com/testimonials.html

 

[zdas04]

Johnny,
That is about the best solution to this age-old problem I've ever seen--maybe that is why they're out of stock.

Mike,
The salt idea is just about the worst idea I've ever seen. People REALLY misunderstand the thermodynamics of salt. If a salt mixes with liquid water then it will lower the freezing point of the water. That is it. Salt at -20F (stored in your shed outside in upstate NY), will not cause anything to melt. Salt on solid water won't melt anything unless the salt has enough internal heat (from being stored inside for example) to melt some snow through warming it. Salt can't store very much heat for very long, so this effect is pretty marginal. And the tiny bit of resulting brine will freeze at the temperatures she's seeing in upstate NY.

Sprinkling a few thousand dollars worth of table salt on the roof would have the effect of putting salt in your living room when the roof collapses. It won't do much to the snow on the roof.

David

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I use a regular roof rake from the safety of the ground for the day to day light stuff.

http://reviews.canadiantire.ca/9045/0596961P/yardworks-yardworks-roof-rake-reviews/reviews.htm

And a regular snow shovel or electric power shovel up on the roof after a heavy snowfall or build-up.

http://www.toro.com/intl/ca_en/home/snowthrowers/electric/powershovel.html

 

[msquared48]

Pray for an earthquake?

Tarp the roof BEFORE it snows, lapping at the ridge so it can be pulled down to you as you are standing on a two story ladder, forgetting to install ropes so you could stand away and not get hit on the ladder causing you to fall and sustain manor bodily injury...

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask

 

[gearguru]

I live in NY State, in the "snow belt country". I own both the "Avalanche" roof and the old-fashion rake, just used the Avalanche again. I ordered it on-line years ago. It works excellent, not that hard work like with the regular rake, but only if there is no wind (otherwise the plastic band flies all over).

 

[MikeHalloran]

Just heard from Sis. Her real concern is ice dams on the North-facing slope, which produce water running down the windows, on the inside. The South-facing slope does not have the problem because the sun warms it nicely.

She has a roofer coming, but I'm not sure what he can do at this time of year. I think the house has had this problem for all of its 60 winters.





Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[patprimmer]

How would a well aimed flame thrower work. ;-)

Regards
Pat
See FAQ731-376 for tips on use of eng-tips by professional engineers &

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for site rules

 

[Eltron]

Yeah, it sounds like gutter or eaves heaters are going to be the way to go to prevent ice dams. Not too much else you can do other than get up there with an ice pick. Here in sunny Colorado the snow usually melts in a few days regardless of the amount we get unless the pitch is north facing.

Dan

http://www.eltronresearch.com

Dan's Blog

 

[MintJulep]

Good info about ice dams

http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/digests/bsd-135-ice-dams/?searchterm=ice dam

Unfortunately, of no help at all in removing them after they have formed.

 

[pmover]

here i type a response about ice dams and then i see MinJulep's response. Outstanding MintJulep - ya get a gold star!

frankly, snow is beneficial as it acts as an insulator from the extreme cold. the exception is the additional load it puts on the roof.

a cold roof design is best as long as it is constructed correctly! check the insulation in the ceiling too!

good luck!
-pmover

 

[IRstuff]

How about something like a pipe tied to a propane torch? You'd basically melt your way into the initial insertion, and then slowly melt your way across the roof. Sounds like something that would be perfect for

http://thereifixedit.failblog.org/

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[SomptingGuy]

Have a marijuana factory in your loft/attic.

- Steve

 

[waross]

Be sure that it is snow and not ice. One of the industrial plants that I frequently work at had an incident where a worker tried to remove some snow from a very small roof over a doorway. It was actually a 300 pound block of ice with a little snow on top. He died.

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

 

[Latexman]

You have to remove the snow promptly when it's fresh, before it goes through a thaw-freeze cycle. That's when the ice dam forms.

So early in the morning, when it's so, so cold (Brrrrrrr!), get out there and rake the roof with the tool of your choice.

Good luck,
Latexman

 

[VEBill]

Here's my solution:

My house has a 'low slope' roof (only 1:4 rise:run) using 28-inch deep parallel chord trusses, some with a span of 32 feet (!). I live in Canada, where it has been known to snow.

When the engineer at the truss company was designing the parallel chord trusses for my house, I leaned in over his shoulder [true story ] and asked, "What does that '99%' on your screen refer to?" He replied that it was the ratio of the "100-year" snow load as compares to the design strength of the trusses. In other words, every 100-years (sic) the roof would be at 99% of design strength (not including any other safety factors hidden in the total design).

I said to him, "Make it 70%."

He increased the number of 'bays' in the design, steepening the angle of the more-frequent diagonal braces. The change barely changed the price of the total order; maybe a hundred dollars (+/-) for the extra wood and plates.

So now I don't worry about it. Even with a meter of snow, I don't give it a second thought.

 

[VEBill]

For the ice dams, there should be an air gap above the insulation and that space should be well ventilated. The roof surface should be at ambient. The total design shouldn't encourage the formation of ponds of water.

Old houses can be a pain. Then again, new houses can also be a pain...

 

[TheBlacksmith]

Tough this time of year, but keeping the roof deck cold, i.e. proper insulation in the ceiling and ventilation is a big step. Otherwise the snow melts over the heated space and then freezes into a big ice dam at the overhangs, which of course are cold. Fixes before the fact include electric heaters on the overhang portion, metal sheeting on the overhang portion, water sheeting, i.e. Grace rubber membrane under the shingles and extending 2-3 feet up the roof past the outside walls. For now, hire someone with their own liability insurance to shovel the roof. I speak from experience, having hailed from the Oswego County/Tug Hill Plateau area of NY (300-360 inches of snow annually). Losing some shingle granules to shoveling is just part of the price of admission to live there. It beats having the roof cave in.