Snow Sliding on Metal Roof

[andrec999]

One downside of keeping the snow on a metal roof is that it will sweat inside like crazy, so much so that you will think it is raining.
This is not in all conditions, but trust me you'll find out soon.
Also I hope that the trusses are snow load rated as I have seen many collapse a couple of winters back in this area.

The reason for the sweat is not the snow on the roof , it is because there is too much humidity in the attic and not enough insulation , and the heat inside the house is going into the attic and melting the ice on the plywood, wich is cause by too much humidity.
A good ventilation in the attic and good insulation is the key here.

A metal roof is good for life ,compare to shingle wich has to be replace every 15 yrs or so.

 

[grsthegreat]

all i know is i have a metal roof, 4:12 pitch and the contractor placed the screwed on stops over the section that had 2 roll up doors. After the 2nd year up there, we had a heavy snowfall, then a melt off. when the snow shed, it tore off the metal stop ridge, damaging the roof.

Id personally never install one of those again....NEVER

 

[PerkCon]

On all of our commercial projects we use snow guards, the plastic type that glue down to the roofing as not to penetrate it with a screw and have a potential leak. They hold really well and install in a staggered pattern to break up the sliding snow into small chunks. This causes less stress on gutters and anything under the overhang.

 

[JB4310]

all i know is i have a metal roof, 4:12 pitch and the contractor placed the screwed on stops over the section that had 2 roll up doors. After the 2nd year up there, we had a heavy snowfall, then a melt off. when the snow shed, it tore off the metal stop ridge, damaging the roof.

Id personally never install one of those again....NEVER

Like I mentioned earlier, it is a toss up, which is the lesser of 2 evils.
We had a hard winter this year and have a bunch of customers with extensive slate roof damage caused by snow guards being ripped out by heavy snow loads.

JB.

 

[Rustyiron]

Do you have a wide enough fascia board to lower your gutter below the plane of the roof + an inch? This should let the snow pass and should catch most narmal rains, a real down pour may shoot past. With the snowfall you got last year you might think twice about snow birds and keeping all that weight on the roof. Hey I used to live down by Taylorsville about 18 years ago. I bought a JD skid steer from Finches.

 

[Redneck in training]

We have metal roof without snow guards. When the snow slides down it is usually very loud event. So far no gutter damage. Perhaps your problem is gutter installation. My gutters are attached about every two feet.

 

[Dogballs]

I'm a builder here in northern VT and we do a lot of metal roofs. Mostly standing seam but some corrugated like yours. We also get a lot of snow. The local ski area is claiming 320" so far this year.

We never install gutters under a metal roof. They wouldn't last through their first November. Your options are to install some type of snow guard, or remove the gutters.

You could try to lower the gutter an inch or two, but in a heavy rain the water may flow over the top. If you have plastic gutters you could upgrade to the heavy duty seamless gutters. They are more rugged and might last longer.