How Much Snow Is Too Much On A Roof

Remove excess snow and ice.

How much snow is too much on a roof. As everyone knows cold fluffy snow is very light while wet snow can be extremely heavy. The weight of snow depends on how much water it contains. Wet snow weighs considerably more than dry or fluffy snow because as you can probably guess water weighs more than air. How much snow is too much for a roof to handle.

Most residential roofs can support snow loads of up to 20 pounds per square foot. How to safely get the snow off your roof. Last winter we had snow on the ground that was up to our hips. These questions aren t quite so easy to answer because there are several variables.

How much snow a roof can hold depends on the type of snow roofline and material among other considerations. Of snow equals about 1 to 1 1 2 psf. But as the chart below shows packed snow with ice can easily overload a roof once it reaches about 12 off depth. This mainly occurs when the snow is concentrated in one area of the roof.

How much snow can my roof hold. Most roof designs can handle snow loads of 20 40 lbs per square foot. The drifts on the roof were 5 feet deep. If that sounds a little involved the national research council of canada estimates that 1 in.

Unfortunately that means a roof can collapse with as little as 18 inches of snow. A new house can typically hold around 100 pounds per square foot on the roof. You have probably heard of or seen the difference between wet snow and fluffy snow. The chart below courtesy of paul schimnowski p e gives some examples of snow loads.

So how much snow does this equal. For the twin cities metro area the roof snow load equals 35 pounds per square foot or 7 x 50. Melting down a cubic foot of snow tells you how much water it holds and consequently how much the snow weighs. One of the major determining factors for how much snow is too much for your roof is how heavy the snow fall is.

A snow rake with a long extension arm is recommended. Older homes however can only handle about 45 pounds per square foot. That means clearing amounts above 20 pounds per square foot. A kansas roof replacement is expensive so monitor the snow accumulation on your roof every time it snows.