Pole Barn Snow Stops

[jaw22w]

I am in the process of finishing my new pole barn. I walked out of the man door a little bit ago, and a pile of snow fell on my head off the roof. Didn't hurt, but kinda pissed me off. I never had a pole barn with metal roof before. The sun was shining today. I guess it just loosened up the snow on the roof and it slid off. In the next week or so there will be 6" gutters installed. I'm thinking a good load of snow sliding down the roof might just take out the gutters.
I have looked online and found some solutions, but they are pretty expensive. I noticed that the rat guard trim at the bottom of the exterior sheeting is about the right shape to use as snow stops. I need to check on pricing for the rat guard, but that could be an inexpensive solution. I need 42' of snow stop.
Anybody got any good suggestions for snow stops? What have you guys done?

 

[NUTTSGT]

Talk to your local pole building supplier and ask them what type you should use for your area and/or your size of bldg.

 

[b-boy]

I had them added to my 30'x40'. I think I paid about $250 for the job. Definitely worth doing.

 

[u2slow]

I have lean-to's from both sides, so my man doors have roof over them. Gutters have guards on top. Snow has been flying off that roof 10 years now, no issues.

 

[finn]

They aren’t very popular in the lake effect snow belt of Lake Superior. I have seen a few lately, though.

When I asked a couple of roofing contractors about them maybe four years ago, they discouraged me from trying the Snow guards. Said our 300 inches of LES just rips them off of a large roof.

Talked to our local garage door dealer while I was picking up door reinforcements to repair an OH door damaged by snow sliding off my 20’ eaves. He told me he gave up and tore the metal roof off his store and redecked it with asphalt shingles. Said it was expensive, but cheaper than settling a lawsuit caused by sliding snow

 

[jack stand]

There is a formula for how many individual "snow birds" are required to perform properly (in your location) and not rip out. It's more than you'd think and may require several rows at the eave and another set at the midpoint.
Not enough and they'll fold over or worse, rip out.

 

[kj_mustang]

Snow sheets off my 6/12 pitch roof overtop my gutters, never had an issue.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

https://images.midmichiganmetalsales.com/images/2022/01/SnowDefender4500Instructions.pdf

 

[jaw22w]

This is a 3/12 pitch. So not like trying to stop snow sliding down a 6/12 pitch. I hadn't thought about ripping them out. May take a couple of rows though. I'm thinking rows at the bottom purlin and 2' or 4' up at a purlin. I called Carter Lumber and they had a product called SnowGuard. $12/10'. So, a couple hundred bucks should fix me right up.
Thanks for the help.

I'll bet the snow comes a hellin' off that roof!

 

[BruceMc]

This is a 3/12 pitch. So not like trying to stop snow sliding down a 6/12 pitch. I hadn't thought about ripping them out. May take a couple of rows though.

I have a 3/12 with a 16' run. When I had the gutters installed, they required the snow stops to warranty the installation of the gutters. They ran two rows, and that was enough. The thing is, stops are for anchoring the snow pack in place, before it moves at all. Once that snow starts sliding even a little, it takes a lot more to stop it from moving.

 

[jptbay]

If you have extreme lake effect, or high elevation mountain snow, I would avoid them probably, but for most others I think they are fine.

I put them on my metal roof garage. 4:12 pitch. We can get 5-6 feet over the winter and they are fine here. Snow stays on the roof all winter until it melts.

I hated the snow sliding off my roof. If the snow isn't plowed away in a few hours, it turns to concrete and is very difficult to remove.

I used the Snowguards. The have been very durable, and the snow stays put on the roof. There is a guide on their website for how many to apply to your roof.

I did not use the included screws or gaskets however. I was not interested in screwing more holes in my metal roof.

Instead I used Surebond SB-190. Super strong adhesive. It is commonly used for this application. Made install much quicker, and after 5 winters now, not one snow guard has come off.

 

[jkeyser14]

If you have extreme lake effect, or high elevation mountain snow, I would avoid them probably, but for most others I think they are fine.

I put them on my metal roof garage. 4:12 pitch. We can get 5-6 feet over the winter and they are fine here. Snow stays on the roof all winter until it melts.

I hated the snow sliding off my roof. If the snow isn't plowed away in a few hours, it turns to concrete and is very difficult to remove.

I used the Snowguards. The have been very durable, and the snow stays put on the roof. There is a guide on their website for how many to apply to your roof.

I did not use the included screws or gaskets however. I was not interested in screwing more holes in my metal roof.

Instead I used Surebond SB-190. Super strong adhesive. It is commonly used for this application. Made install much quicker, and after 5 winters now, not one snow guard has come off.

I did the exact same thing after snow ripped off 20 feet of my 6" gutter. It has been 3 years and no issues with the snow birds. The SB-190 adhesive is still holding strong.

 

[finn]

If you have extreme lake effect, or high elevation mountain snow, I would avoid them probably, but for most others I think they are fine.

I put them on my metal roof garage. 4:12 pitch. We can get 5-6 feet over the winter and they are fine here. Snow stays on the roof all winter until it melts.

I hated the snow sliding off my roof. If the snow isn't plowed away in a few hours, it turns to concrete and is very difficult to remove.

I used the Snowguards. The have been very durable, and the snow stays put on the roof. There is a guide on their website for how many to apply to your roof.

I did not use the included screws or gaskets however. I was not interested in screwing more holes in my metal roof.

Instead I used Surebond SB-190. Super strong adhesive. It is commonly used for this application. Made install much quicker, and after 5 winters now, not one snow guard has come off.

Five feet is only 60”. That gets us to mid December many years. With that little snow, why bother?

 

[jives]

Neighbor put on metal rib roofing on his small garage a few years ago. Probably a 6/12 pitch max. Several of the metal snow guards are bent over, perhaps pulling up the hold-down screws. My large, 9/12 metal garage roof has the eave side over the garage doors and every year I ponder putting on guards. But, I will not put on screw down types. Posts #11,12 are what I would do, but in reality, removing the packed snow avalanche with a dirt shovel is a hassle but not that big a deal.

 

[jack stand]

This is a link to a trade magazine I get.

Metal Roofing Magazine

Serving the Metal Roofing Industry

readmetalroofing.com

You may have to dig a little but there's articles on snow retention that can be helpful.
Getting it wrong can be painful. I did one building with SS "birds" that was fine for 15 years.... until just the right conditions and snow ripped 50% of them out.

 

[like2wheel]

If you have extreme lake effect, or high elevation mountain snow, I would avoid them probably, but for most others I think they are fine.

I put them on my metal roof garage. 4:12 pitch. We can get 5-6 feet over the winter and they are fine here. Snow stays on the roof all winter until it melts.

I hated the snow sliding off my roof. If the snow isn't plowed away in a few hours, it turns to concrete and is very difficult to remove.

I used the Snowguards. The have been very durable, and the snow stays put on the roof. There is a guide on their website for how many to apply to your roof.

I did not use the included screws or gaskets however. I was not interested in screwing more holes in my metal roof.

Instead I used Surebond SB-190. Super strong adhesive. It is commonly used for this application. Made install much quicker, and after 5 winters now, not one snow guard has come off.

Is that picture current or from 5 years ago? Those snow guards are amazingly clear for 5 years.

 

[jptbay]

Is that picture current or from 5 years ago? Those snow guards are amazingly clear for 5 years.

After install.

I think they are still pretty clear, but you will have to wait a few months for the snow to melt before I can snap a new picture.

 

[WisJim]

I used the Snowguards. The have been very durable, and the snow stays put on the roof. There is a guide on their website for how many to apply to your roof.

I did not use the included screws or gaskets however. I was not interested in screwing more holes in my metal roof.

Instead I used Surebond SB-190. Super strong adhesive. It is commonly used for this application. Made install much quicker, and after 5 winters now, not one snow guard has come off.

I'm planning to install that same brand of Snowguards on my pole-barn style roofing on my shop and garage and I'm wondering how much adhesive you used for how many Snowguards? The SB-190 isn't cheap but if it works as well as reported I would feel better not having more penetrations in my roof. An report of how many Snowguards per tube of adhesive would be appreciated!

 

[jptbay]

I'm planning to install that same brand of Snowguards on my pole-barn style roofing on my shop and garage and I'm wondering how much adhesive you used for how many Snowguards? The SB-190 isn't cheap but if it works as well as reported I would feel better not having more penetrations in my roof. An report of how many Snowguards per tube of adhesive would be appreciated!

Can't remember how many guards, but 30x40 4:12 pitch, 3 rows.

I ordered 6 tubes of adhesive and had some left over.

 

[WisJim]

Can't remember how many guards, but 30x40 4:12 pitch, 3 rows.

I ordered 6 tubes of adhesive and had some left over.

Thanks! That info and your pictures of your installation should help me avoid buying too many tubes of SB-190. Did you find a cheaper source than buying it direct? Many places that I found were considerably more than the price listed on the company website.

 

[jptbay]

Thanks! That info and your pictures of your installation should help me avoid buying too many tubes of SB-190. Did you find a cheaper source than buying it direct? Many places that I found were considerably more than the price listed on the company website.

Best deal I could find was on eBay.