Who rakes snow off the roof?

44trxfun · Jan 31, 2004

We recently bought a home in western NY, where lake-effect snows are common. I've got 1-2.5 feet of snow on my roof right now and the prediction is for much warmer temps (it's been in the single digits for several days and is heading up to nearly 40F in a couple days!).

We've had some sun/warm over the last few days and my roof shows no sign of major--or even minor--ice build-up (though gutters are full/frozen). The attic is well insulated & ventilated and there's no sign of previous ice-damming inside or out.

I grew up in the Finger Lakes area south of Canandaigua and we never touched the snow on the roof. I raked snow from my former Idaho home, but it was mostly because of a slope break in the roof and concern for weight. This home was very well built (Chautauqua County NY) about 7 years ago.

Any thoughts?

Junkman · Jan 31, 2004

G-d put it there....... Let G-d take it away...... /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

DocHeb · Jan 31, 2004

If you get ice dams (evidenced by growing icicles) you may end up with water intrusion above the ice dam. This indicates a warm attic. In that instance, the more snow you get off the roof, the less water may collect above the dam, and the less chance of water leaking.

If you don't have ice dams, don't worry about keeping the snow off the roof.

Robert_in_NY · Jan 31, 2004

Where abouts in Chaut county? I am in Cherry Creek and the snow there is about 30" on the roof where the wind doesn't blow. The reason you see so many people clearing snow off around here is because a lot of them have trailers and they are build so cheaply they have to worry about them breaking. The other reason is that the people don't have proper insulation and venting so they get a lot of ice build up. By clearing the snow you let the sun heat the roof up faster which helps melt the ice. If your house is built strong enough to hold the weight I wouldn't worry about it. We have never cleared the snow off any of our rentals or our own houses and barns. But we have cleared the snow off of roofs that have fallen in if there gets to be too much (not any of ours thankfully but on jobs where we have to repair the damage). Take care and enjoy the weather.

44trxfun · Jan 31, 2004

Robert, I'm outside of Ellington, not too far from you. I've been watching what folks are doing with their roofs the last few days. Most that are clearing are doing so b/c of ice buildup (dams) at the gutters. We get a good west wind here which keeps much of the snow moving right on by (still enough for me to blow out a couple times a day though), but the downwind side of the roof has about 2 feet on it.

Doc, thanks for the link. Useful info...glad I don't have that going on!

JJT · Jan 31, 2004

If the house is relatively new and you don't have ice on the eaves, leave it be, it's cheap insulation.

I'm in central NY, live on a hill, so 1 side of the house has 30" of snow and the other side is blown clean. It's a post and beam house built for a 100# snow/wind load, so I don't have to worry or shovel the roof...

Robert_in_NY · Feb 1, 2004

Ok, we just did quite a bit of work in Ellington. We sided the old church behind the corner restaurant right in town. It is the big blue building that is a part time art gallery. Also did work on the house on the left and the right of that building. I live right up on Pickup Hill road.

raynman · Feb 1, 2004

44trxfun,

It's all about the ice dams, or at least for me it is.

I have a cabin (Mobil home) in mid MI, I clear my roof just because of the ice dams. I just did it this weekend. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Clearing the roof is the easy part, after it hits the ground and packs down is when the work begins /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif.

Watch you step if you go up there /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif