Metal Roof Snow Issues

[craigibc]

I just built a shop on the end of my garage and I got a new metal roof on right before the weather went sideways. We are getting buried with now right now and when the snow is falling off the metal roof it is pilling up in front of the man door. Both roofs slide the snow right to the door opening.

Is there any way to prevent this besides a shovel of a snowblower?

 

[zkdiesel]

They have strips that get screwed to roof in select sections to stop it

 

[Grimm_the_Grey]

for snow retention, your choices are the cleat-type and rail-type. Search for "snow guard" or "metal roof snow fence" or maybe metal roof snow retention for a broad overview of the different options. other than snow retention, the only other option I can think of is designing a roof around your entrance and exit areas and walkways so that snow is shed away from these areas.

 

[ybnormal]

-put some 4" high flashing on the metal roof so it will slide to the right
-put an awning above the door

 

[Nosferatu]

You just learned why exterior doors are supposed to swing inwards!

 

[Chilliwack Murray]

Much harder to kick a door in that swings out though.

 

[JunkBonds]

You need snow guards installed.

Your roof installers should have known this.

 

[Von Psycho]

For security reasons your door should swing inwards (pretty easy to knock out hinge pins),
I like ybnormal's ideas and get a roof rake so you can bring down snow before it builds too high.

 

[yeldogt]

That's is a ------ Why did I not see that. We have all had them if you build enough. What's the roof we can not see?

The problem with the industrial type that screw down --- they can leak when you back the snow up w/ guards

Cane you move the door?

 

[Showkey]

Let come down and plow or blow it away.
Some believe not holding snow and ice is a benefit of a metal roof.

Careful not to let come down on you, the dog or your car. Neighbor totaled their new car with a large snow and ice slide. They slammed the door and heard a BIG a crash noise.


Snow guards are the other choice as mentioned:

Choose the Correct Snow Guard System for your Project - Metal Construction News

Twenty five-plus years ago, you could have counted the number of major snow guard manufacturers/suppliers on one hand. Fast forward to today and there are 20-plus major manufacturers/suppliers. The products offered range in various sizes, shapes, attachment methods, materials, designs and color...

www.metalconstructionnews.com

 

[rburke65]

Snow guards. I went through 2 winters without them and hat a blessing are they. Google them.

 

[Bad Habit]

Feel your pain...

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SNOW GUARDS - Protecting People and Property

Roof Snow Guard, Snow Fence, and Snow Bar manufacturer. Let our professionals design your roofing system to the highest standards in the industry. Made in USA.

www.rockymountainsnowguards.com

 

[u2slow]

For security reasons your door should swing inwards (pretty easy to knock out hinge pins),
I like ybnormal's ideas and get a roof rake so you can bring down snow before it builds too high.

When hinges face out, you use special hinge security screws with raised heads.

Amazon.ca

The pitch, and being steel... it may come rocketing off there at the slightest accumulation; as it does with mine.

 

[nadogail]

That is why the doors are on the ends of houses and the roofs pitch to the sides

 

[yatg]

For security reasons your door should swing inwards (pretty easy to knock out hinge pins),

unless you use the proper hinges with non-removeable pins

Amazon.com

 

[craigibc]

Wow I never knew what I was getting into when I installed that man door. We might want to change it in the spring. Thanks for all the great advice!

 

[DenisG]

Add a portico.

 

[slowtwitch73]

New door and some kind of covering.

Metal roofs are the pits with snow. I would hesitate to put on cleats, as the snow then accumulate so much it all lets go ina massive avalanche ripping the cleats out with it. And they leak.

You will probably also get soaked walls from rain splash, and wont be able to run gutters because the snow will rip them off.

 

[H2R]

Careful not to let come down on you, the dog or your car. Neighbor totaled their new car with a large snow and ice slide. They slammed the door and heard a BIG a crash noise.

Saw that once too. It never occurs to you that snow on a metal roof could be dangerous until you see it flatten a couple of cars like a pancake.

 

[ace10]

The rain's gonna be a real treat, too.

 

[Renegade1LI]

What you need is to add a gable reverse that projects out about 3’. In snow country it’s always a good idea to have covered entry ways.

 

[zoepop]

My FIL's barn is 3 stories tall. So far he's lost 2 trailers and a truck. Always, " I'm only going to park here for a minute...."

 

[Walkers]

You could call a building mover and have them relocate the whole shebang about a thousand miles south.

 

[4 FN 27]

The Snow Stops work great. Just need top make sure your building can handle the load.

I don't want that kind of load on the roof with Snow Stops holding it back. The first couple of years the snow would slide every time it snowed. Since I believe the roof has weathered and will hold snow all on its own until the sun angle gets high enough or it warms up.

Then I get the massive slides, this one woke me up in the middle of the night. I heard it 400 feet away.





Need to park far away from the building in the spring if the snow is still up there. This was close too...

 

[kelpaso1]

And another problem with snow sliding off a roof is, if you don't get to it till the next day it sets almost like concrete so that a walk behind blower can not power through it. Same as at the end of my driveway. If I dont get at it within an hour of the plow going by I'm not getting through it. I'm done blowing my drive and just pay the local guy with a tractor/blower to do my drive now.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

You just learned why exterior doors are supposed to swing inwards!

Don't try it on a commercial application, though...

 

[FMB4]

Adding a 'strip' or dam will only make things worse. First, you won't be able to rake the snow off that section of the roof. Second, you'll be increasing the snow load on that section of the roof. Typically such buildings in snowy regions have a single pitch roof that slants towards the rear of the building (that has no doors.

 

[Autotalli]

Is there any way to prevent this besides a shovel of a snowblower?

Snow guards on top of the door, once theres too much snow for your liking drop em down. Been dealing with snow on my roofs for 40years

 

[TurnipTruck]

I want the weight off my buildings.

I don’t know if this pic fully demonstrates the volume of snow to you, but this side of my steel roof is 32x64’, and the lean-to posts are 12’ tall. This berm is probably 90 tons of snow.
If we assume 3’ of snow, this roof could have between 23 tons of fresh snowfall or 115 tons of rain-soaked snow on it.*
Minimum code around here is just 45 lb/ft2, so it should handle 86 tons, but I have to worry about the building surviving acceleration of that kind of mass back and forth 14’ up in the air in another 7.2 earthquake (like last month).

* 4lb/ft3 fresh snowfall to 20lb/ft3 for saturated.

 

[mikedodge]

-put some 4" high flashing on the metal roof so it will slide to the right
-put an awning above the door

Do this or build the roof back up on an angle over the door to funnel the snow down beyond the door. You don't want to put anything up there that prevents the snow from coming down or else it will pile up at the edge of the roof and cause other problems.

 

[PoorUB]

With the snow dams I would not put up the large, solid one, just he smaller likr 2x2x2 angles. They slow the snow down a bit and help it break up so it doesn't come off the roof on one solid mass.

We had a huge storm here a few years ago. There is a large trucking company and their building had a lower roof where the snow just drifted and piled on. I drove by it in the morning and it was maybe twenty feet deep. They sent a couple workers up on the roof to clear it away and while they were up there the whole works came down, buried them in the snow and killed them. So it isn't something to screw with.

 

[Showkey]

Once the snow in off the roof and on the ground near the building……..it still needs to be managed.
There 20 prior threads on snow melting causing building wall, stem wall leak, foundation issues.

 

[jollygreengiant]

As others have said, there isn't really a good option here other than to just accept it and deal with the snow once it's on the ground. I'm not a fan of snow dams as they keep the snow on the roof. Personally I'd rather have it on the ground, especially here since we tend to get a lot of wet heavy snow. It's a lot easier to deal with the snow on the ground vs on the roof.

If your concerned about the snow coming down on you, you could install an awning type structure over the man door.

 

[KEH]

Good info. I'm in warm SC and recently had a metal roof installed on the house. We had a couple of inches of sleet and snow combination and after a little sun and warmer temperatures the stuff on the roof started melting and the mix started sliding off the roof. No damage but it piled up on the shrubbery. Will have to watch out for it in the future.

KEH