Snow and metal roofs

[Sumboodie]

What's the best way to handle snow on a metal roof?

4/12 pitch (i think) 30x42 building, roof slopes on the 30ft side, single slope.

Snow slides off when it gets warm, but damages anything within 15ft of the roof edge. Often it's 2-3ft deep of snow.
Also turns rock hard so it's hard to move, even with heavy equipment.

Also sometimes curls back over the edge and hits the building, which threatens to break stuff off like boiler vents, gas meter, water bib.

I know snow stops exist, though I'd rather the snow come off the roof. It's too high and too steep for me to safely shovel. (Yeah I'm sure you can walk a 12/12 80ft up or whatever, but I've fallen from a roof and broken my back once, rather not again. Took me years to not get sweats just using a step ladder after that.

Also considering putting a lean to there and pretty sure a metric shitload of snow letting go would collapse that.

Is there anything that allows the snow to not slide off in huge sheets?

Looked into snow melt systems, but most would install under the metal, and I think they're $$$ (don't even show prices... call for quote). Plus several hundred a month in power I'd imagine.

 

[wfopete]

A 4/12 pitch roof in Alaska?!

I would rip it off put in a second floor and add a gambrel truss system engineered for Wisconsin snow loads.

Oh! I did but it is in Arkansas.

 

[Farmall450]

A 4/12 pitch roof in Alaska?!

I would rip it off put in a second floor and add a gambrel truss system engineered for Wisconsin snow loads.

Oh! I did but it is in Arkansas.

Wow, that's quite the build. Probably cost more than the original building

 

[LopezBart]

What's the best way to handle snow on a metal roof?

Don't park anything next to the building and clearing the snow when it slides off rather than waiting until you need it gone is likely the simplest solution. From the sound of it there's no overhang to speak off, so I'd make some guards over the fragile bits.

We learned not to park our Tesla next to the house here on Lopez; heavy snow slides off the metal roof and just buries the car.

 

[finn]

Ono of our local businesses ripped off the meta roof and replaced it with new sheathing and a shingle roof. Told me that the snow shed from his metal roof so violent he was concerned about customers safety and lawsuits.

My brother lost his windshield at another business when the roof snow let go. They paid out of pocket to avoid another insurance claim.

I asked a couple of local contractors about the roof tabs. Both said they are a waste of time, as they get ripped off with our winters. 300” of snow isn uncommon (this year is an exception, as it just started accumulating this week). I did notice that a few places are trying the tabs now.

General rule is no roof piercings with a steel roof, and any wall piercings go on the gable ends. Even waste vents go on the gable end. Also, no valleys on a metal roof. The late winter sun melts the snow along the Ridgeline, and the water refreezes in the valley, gravity pulls the ice down and the ice rips open the thin steel like a can opener

 

[wfopete]

Wow, that's quite the build. Probably cost more than the original building

I guarantee it did!

 

[Jagmandave]

Are the tabs those V shaped things down near the edge of the roof, I guess to cause the snow to sort of break up as it goes over the edge?

 

[Sumboodie]

A 4/12 pitch roof in Alaska?!

I would rip it off put in a second floor and add a gambrel truss system engineered for Wisconsin snow loads.

Oh! I did but it is in Arkansas.

Uh, ok?

Id have a 30+ ft tall building if I did that.
Not to mention how is that fixing my issue?

 

[Sumboodie]

Don't park anything next to the building and clearing the snow when it slides off rather than waiting until you need it gone is likely the simplest solution. From the sound of it there's no overhang to speak off, so I'd make some guards over the fragile bits.

We learned not to park our Tesla next to the house here on Lopez; heavy snow slides off the metal roof and just buries the car.

~ 1.5ft overhang

 

[Youngandfree]

You need to add "snow guards" to your roof.

 

[readhead]

Look into snow bars. I’ve installed quite a few at the local ski area. They are kind of the heavy duty, commercial version of snow brakes. I presume the building is designed for your local snow loads.
Short of that keep everything you don’t want ruined out of the line of fire.

You do need to stay after the removal because the snow will start piling up against the wall and destroy the sheeting.

 

[Nutria]

 

[TurnipTruck]

I am extending the eave on my building this summer so this doesn’t happen again. I want the 80 tons of weight off the roof and just don’t park within 35 feet of the side of the building.

I laid some heat tape next to the fender and door to melt the berm off the TurnipTruck.

 

[Sumboodie]

You need to add "snow guards" to your roof.

They chop the snow up?

 

[Sumboodie]

Look into snow bars. I’ve installed quite a few at the local ski area. They are kind of the heavy duty, commercial version of snow brakes. I presume the building is designed for your local snow loads.
Short of that keep everything you don’t want ruined out of the line of fire.

You do need to stay after the removal because the snow will start piling up against the wall and destroy the sheeting.

I want the snow to come off though. Just not 30 yards all at once.

 

[TurnipTruck]

Snow Stops keep the snow on the roof until it melts off. They are sheet metal and look like a buttress thread profile.

Can you protect the vents and let it slide off? Or do you have to drive or walk through the landing zone?

 

[Youngandfree]

I want the snow to come off though. Just not 30 yards all at once.

That's what they do.

 

[Youngandfree]

They chop the snow up?

No

 

[Copymutt]

There’s a reason you see 4’ eves on Scandinavian homes. I wish I went that route.

 

[bb29510]

move to a state where it doesnt snow

 

[BruceMc]

Also considering putting a lean to there and pretty sure a metric shitload of snow letting go would collapse that.

I've never seen anything passive that will break up a sheet of snow into small, controllable chunks like that. If your lean-to is attached high enough to the wall, you'll eliminate most of the vertical drop, which is what does the real damage. Done right (pitch equal or steeper than main roof) it will all slide as one big slab so it won't carry any more weight than before the slide.

 

[LopezBart]

Our porch roof has a lesser slant and snow tends to pile up there; we generally don't get this much.... this was the first winter in our new house back in 2021. The roof is plenty strong, but it does kind of land in a heap.

 

[wfopete]

Uh, ok?

Id have a 30+ ft tall building if I did that.
Not to mention how is that fixing my issue?

At least with the steeper pitch you wouldn't have all that snow weight on your roof and if you got a lot of snow you could just walk in/out of the second floor from the outside. Kind of like a summer/winter pole barn.

 

[WildBill]

I would use heat tape and something like these, they break the snow up, everybody around here uses them. https://www.amazon.com/Commercial-Guards-Perfect-Gaskets-Screws/dp/B084WM7Z2C?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[readhead]

You can’t have it both ways. If you put some kind of snow restraints on the roof it slows it down and gives it a chance to melt off. Why do you want it off? Is the roof not built to take the snow load. I took the metal off my roof and installed shingles because I was tired of the snow piled around my house until almost summer.

 

[Sumboodie]

Snow Stops keep the snow on the roof until it melts off. They are sheet metal and look like a buttress thread profile.

Can you protect the vents and let it slide off? Or do you have to drive or walk through the landing zone?

You can’t have it both ways. If you put some kind of snow restraints on the roof it slows it down and gives it a chance to melt off. Why do you want it off? Is the roof not built to take the snow load. I took the metal off my roof and installed shingles because I was tired of the snow piled around my house until almost summer.

Because 3 or 4ft of snow on a roof isn't good when it rains.

Assuming it can hold it, but no idea as I didn't build it. Given some of the other work I've fixed... yeah...

 

[Sumboodie]

Snow Stops keep the snow on the roof until it melts off. They are sheet metal and look like a buttress thread profile.

Can you protect the vents and let it slide off? Or do you have to drive or walk through the landing zone?

Just storage of stuff

 

[TurnipTruck]

Because 3 or 4ft of snow on a roof isn't good when it rains.

Or 7.2 earthquakes.

 

[Sumboodie]

I would use heat tape and something like these, they break the snow up, everybody around here uses them. https://www.amazon.com/Commercial-Guards-Perfect-Gaskets-Screws/dp/B084WM7Z2C?tag=atomicindus08-20

Heat tape wouldn't just get ripped off?

 

[Nutria]

If you are only going to be worried about snow load once or twice a year, one more option is to go lower pitch and get up on the roof and shovel some snow off when it gets to whatever depth is a concern or when a rain-on-snow event is predicted.

Our roof is only a one-in-twelve, so the snow creeps but doesn't slide. Sometimes that's good, sometimes that's bad. But if we have over two feet on the roof and a warm wet storm is coming in, I get on the roof and take off about a foot. Otherwise, the roof can handle the snow load. You might get too many wet storms in coastal AK though. FWIW.

 

[ATC]

Because 3 or 4ft of snow on a roof isn't good when it rains.

Assuming it can hold it, but no idea as I didn't build it. Given some of the other work I've fixed... yeah...

Time for a little manual labor a couple times a winter then...

 

[gba2331]

In my experience, it takes at least three people in Japan to do anything, so I’m not surprised that there were a few onlookers.

 

[Sumboodie]

Time for a little manual labor a couple times a winter then...

Roof edge is ~16ft from the ground.

 

[Sumboodie]

If you are only going to be worried about snow load once or twice a year, one more option is to go lower pitch and get up on the roof and shovel some snow off when it gets to whatever depth is a concern or when a rain-on-snow event is predicted.

Our roof is only a one-in-twelve, so the snow creeps but doesn't slide. Sometimes that's good, sometimes that's bad. But if we have over two feet on the roof and a warm wet storm is coming in, I get on the roof and take off about a foot. Otherwise, the roof can handle the snow load. You might get too many wet storms in coastal AK though. FWIW.

Oh yeah, cause I'm going rebuild a whole building!?? Come On guy!

 

[Nutria]

Yeah, rebuild it.

 

[Sumboodie]

Yeah, rebuild it.

GO AWAY SPAMMER!

 

[Nutria]

Done.

 

[joe_padavano]

People have been using snowbirds on metal roofs for centuries. Don't make this harder than it needs to be.

 

[finn]

People have been using snowbirds on metal roofs for centuries. Don't make this harder than it needs to be.

You would find those things on the ground after spring thaw. Might work in mild climates where the snow is all gone after a week, but not where it accumulates for three months.

 

[Sumboodie]

People have been using snowbirds on metal roofs for centuries. Don't make this harder than it needs to be.

You missed half the conversation it seems.