How to Protect Your Home from Snow

Snowfall can be beautiful, but heavy snow can also be dangerous to houses. The principle risks are the burden of excess accumulation and trickling moisture that can saturate normal barriers. If a family lives in an area where heavy snowfall is common, they might want to invest in winter roof products to protect their property and persons.

Melting snow can create a risk for leaks and wood damage. When rising warmth from the house hits the roof, it melts snow. Since snow is an excellent insulator, most of the household heat end up being absorbed by snow. When water trickles towards the gutters, it becomes colder and refreezes. It builds up like stalactites and can trap water trying to reach the gutters.

Roofs were not made to support standing water. It gets between the tiles and seeps into the underlying wood. Homes in northern regions have high sloping roofs to deal with snowfall. Since it is expensive to change the shapes of a house’s roof, a much cheaper solution is to buy tools that can brush off snow and break away ice formations on the edge of roofs.

The risks pile when there is more than a foot of snow. Less snow should not stress most roofs, and there is not enough snow to build up significant ice formations. Whenever snow exceeds a foot, consider brushing it off with a snow rake. Heavy snowfall makes traveling to the hardware store difficult, so consider buying a snow rake in advance of winter storms.

Snow rakes have long handles that allow people to reach high on their roofs and to remove a good bit of snow. It might not be possible to reach the very top, but removing the bottom half will go a long way to protecting the house. A long spade is an excellent tool for breaking ice on the edge of the roof. Climbing a ladder in snowy weather is dangerous, so it is better to use tools with a long handle. Buy winter roof products, like those from Rocky Mountain Snow Guards, for a safer season. The investment is small and the benefits can be huge.