Snow brakes for steel roofing

[Chilly807]

Going into the second winter for our barn, I'd like to add some "snow brakes" over the doorways to prevent snow from sliding off the roof and on our heads, or even worse, on the horses on their way through the doorway. Having a hundred pounds of wet snow land on them would be a sure way to sour a horse on doorways.

According to our building supply store, each 8 foot doorway would be about $300 to cover with a commercially available brake. I'm thinking that all they are is a triangle or "L" shaped bracket with holes drilled through them for steel tubing. I think three brackets per doorway, with 2 or three runs of 3/4" galvanized conduit would do the trick. The brackets bolt onto the roof deck with the pipes running through them parallel to the ground.



Any other thoughts?

Sean

 

[crbr]

Thanks for the pictures

 

[Zebrafive]

Our house has a steel roof. The contractor installed what he called "snow jacks" Two in each roof panel run over the doors in a staggered pattern. They are made of a clear plastic. The front of our house is two story (walkout basement) Wife did not like the sound of the snow when it slid of and hit the ground...... so we have "sno jacks" across the complete front of the house too.

 

[art]

Snow jacks could be the fancy name or term but here in central NY they are common. Some of the older barns or garages will use the pipe system that you are talking about but you could do the whole building for a lot less!

 

[jerryjks]

This site may give you some ideas... Sno Gem Snow Guards

 

[BeezFun]

I made mine out of angles I got in the joist hanger department at local big box. They're about 1-1/2" wide and 8" legs, the material is not very thick so they're easy to bend and they were only about a buck a piece. I screwed one leg down to my metal roof, making sure I hit a rafter when possible. Then I bent the top leg down at about a 45 deg angle. They've been on there now for about 3 years, work great to hold back snow slides. I think I posted a picture of them on a different thread about the same topic, but can't seem to find it.

 

[Chilly807]

I think I'll try making the braces myself.. how hard could it be? Once the holes are drilled, then slide the pipe through and fasten it in place.

 

[QRTRHRS]

I never saw snow guards made with horizontally run pipes, just the stand alone guards. They have also been called snow birds as some have been made in the shape of a bird.

Good if you have conditions where the sun will melt the snow off. Bad if you get enough snow that you need to get it off of the roof.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

I've never been a fan of keeping the snow on the roof. There's lots of places around that have the horizontal type guards and always have a ton of snow built up behind. Home Depot is the worst place. Need to account for the increased snow & ice load in the bldg design. To me, the individual guards are a much better option. They are designed to break up the snow as it slides off so there are no big chunks coming down.

To me, a better option (if it's possible) is to build a small gable roof over the door itself so that what snow does fall off will be split sideways.
Something like this: ? About Entry Roof - Carpentry - Contractor Talk

 

[PAGUY]

They installed the guards on my buddy's deer camp steel roof and the north side ended up having them break off I'm sure because of the weight of the snow/ice that build up during the winter.