How Much Snow Is Too Much On A Roof

Most residential roofs can support snow loads of up to 20 pounds per square foot.

How much snow is too much on a roof.

The weight of snow depends on how much water it contains. Of snow equals about 1 to 1 1 2 psf. How to safely get the snow off your roof. But as the chart below shows packed snow with ice can easily overload a roof once it reaches about 12 off depth.

The chart below courtesy of paul schimnowski p e gives some examples of snow loads. For the twin cities metro area the roof snow load equals 35 pounds per square foot or 7 x 50. A snow rake with a long extension arm is recommended. So how much snow does this equal.

How much snow is too much for a roof to handle. Wet snow weighs considerably more than dry or fluffy snow because as you can probably guess water weighs more than air. You have probably heard of or seen the difference between wet snow and fluffy snow. That means clearing amounts above 20 pounds per square foot.

Remove excess snow and ice. If that sounds a little involved the national research council of canada estimates that 1 in. As everyone knows cold fluffy snow is very light while wet snow can be extremely heavy. A new house can typically hold around 100 pounds per square foot on the roof.

These questions aren t quite so easy to answer because there are several variables. A kansas roof replacement is expensive so monitor the snow accumulation on your roof every time it snows. Unfortunately that means a roof can collapse with as little as 18 inches of snow. Melting down a cubic foot of snow tells you how much water it holds and consequently how much the snow weighs.

Older homes however can only handle about 45 pounds per square foot. How much snow a roof can hold depends on the type of snow roofline and material among other considerations. According to the national research council of canada a roof should be able to withstand pressure of at least 21 pounds per square foot psf this number can fluctuate based on regional building regulations but any well built roof should be able to sustain this much weight before it gets too stressed. Light fluffy snow weighs less than heavy dense flakes do and packed snow weighs more than freshly fallen snow.

A cubic foot of water weighs about 62 pounds. How much snow can my roof hold. The drifts on the roof were 5 feet deep. This mainly occurs when the snow is concentrated in one area of the roof.