When Should You Remove the Snow on Your Roof?

During the winter season, you’re probably wondering how much snow your roof can hold while worrying about a possible cave-in. To prevent this from happening, you’ll need to determine how much weight your roof can actually support and how much snow you have on your roof.

How Much Weight Your Roof Can Hold

The amount of snow your roof can hold depends on a few factors, including the type of snow, material and roofline. Of course, most residential roofs typically support around 20 pounds per square inch of weight before becoming stressed. There are some that are designed to hold greater loads, but these are usually limited to mountainous regions and areas where heavy snow falls regularly.

Keep in mind that around 10 to 12 inches of new snow is equal to 1 inch of water or about 5 pounds per square inch. To prevent too much snow from piling up on your residential roofing system, we suggest clearing it for every six inches of snowfall. Doing this will also make it harder for ice dams to form and prevent roof cave-ins as well.

How to Properly Remove the Excess Snow

You can use a shovel or roof rake. The latter is also probably a task that you’ll be doing throughout the winter season to keep the snow off your roof. For most of the heavy lifting work, a shovel works best when removing the snow. Your roof will more likely need shoveling if either the storm drops too much snow or if the snow is too heavy or hardened for your roof rake. 

If you’re looking for an excellent roofer, you can count on the services offered by Ben’s Construction Inc. Call us today at (508) 962-2417, or fill out our convenient online contact form.