Snow removal
from rooftops can be a very risky job. Yes, we do snow removal on certain pitched (how steep the roof is) homes. Nothing over 6/12 pitch! The question we will ask you is do you really feel it is necessary?
If you feel it is necessary to remove the snow from your roof and wish to do it yourself, be very careful. You may wish to read my blog about having the right tools and safety equipment or hire a professional!
Snow buildup on rooftops can be a concern. There is that fine-line of being concerned about the snow load on your roof.
Most of the time snow removal is not necessary but that ultimately is your decision. Please read my snow removal blog here. Please remember that by getting up on your roof and removing snow could potentially cause damage to roof and others parts of your home.
- The roof eaves (the eave overhang) can crack at the wall simply by having additional weight out over the edge of your roof when it already has a snow load on it.
- People cause damage to roofing material by placing a snow shovel (or whatever they are using to remove the snow) a little too close to the actual roofing material. When they go to shovel the snow, they scrape down at the level of the roofing shingles and remove some roofing while they’re at it!
- Gutters can become dislodged from the fascia boards and fall down while snow is being removed if a snow shovel happens to catch the inside of the gutter as someone is attempting to heave a shovel full of snow over the edge.
- Next in line for potential damage could be the aluminum fascia getting ripped off as the gutter falls to the ground.
- When the fascia goes, sometimes the under-eave soffit goes next as there is no fascia to hold up the soffit.
To repeat, “generally, snow removal is not necessary in Spokane-local.” Now saying that, there are always exceptions to most everything! It will, of course, always be the home owners decision to request the removal of snow from their roof or aluminum patio cover. Please remember, there are some risks of removing snow as well as leaving the snow on some areas. Houses are built with some sort of “snow load” minimum factored in to the rafter weight, roof sheeting weight, and the average roofing material weight of your home.
Call your City Department of Building & Planning to find out the maximum snow load in your area. Click here for Spokane’s local information about snow loads. You might want to get their opinion about whether you should have snow removed from your roof or not! When we do remove snow from roofs, please keep this in mind that we try and leave several inches of snow on the roofing deck (on top of the roofing material) so we do minimal damage to the existing shingles (if any). Most of the time, it is best to remove only the first 6 feet from the eave edge going up towards the ridge and do this completely around the perimeter is all a home typically needs. It’s not that there is too much weight of snow on your roof, but more that you don’t want “ice dam backup of water” to start forming. This is where homes end up with water running down the inside walls of their home.
There are a few tools that a homeowner should have if they are going to attempt to remove snow by themselves. You can click on our Blog “how to remove snow off your roof with correct equipment” and throughout the information in that blog, there are some hyperlinks you can click on to getting the right snow removal equipment for yourself.
Call us 509-535-1566 or use our contact form to have one of our professional staff contact you.
