Out of the last three school days, my kids have gone to school one day. We’re buried in snow! I actually don’t mind it – until the snow starts melting and turning everything to mud.
Another problem we’re noticing when the snow melts is ice and snow build up along the gutters. It’s mainly a problem on the south {front} side of the house where the snow melts and slides to the gutters rather quickly. Melting snow slides off the metal roof crazy fast – sometimes in large sheets a la avalanche style. {The north side, or back, of the house has numerous vents and skylights in the roof that break up the melting snow so ice dams aren’t much of a problem there.} At night, the melted snow refreezes and we end up with an icy overhang in the morning. To avoid these small scale avalanches, last year HH installed individual snow guards above the garage and front doors.
The ones above the garage seem to be working properly but that side of the house is west-facing so it doesn’t receive as much sunlight as the front of the house and the snow melts less rapidly. The snow guards above the front door slid off the roof last year. Eeek! HH says it could be due to the fact that they didn’t cure thoroughly before our first big snow last year. He installed the garage cleats in the summer of 2012 but hurriedly threw on the cleats above the front door during colder weather when he realized that snow avalanches weren’t really the best way to greet guests. {In his defense, the front door wasn’t functional then so it didn’t really matter.}
At any rate, HH thinks a snow rail along the perimeter of the entire roof would be the best solution. A snow rail is exactly what it sounds like. You can google images if you aren’t familiar but basically it’s a metal rod system that lines the perimeter of a metal roof just above the gutters. It helps to break up melting snow and it’s a gutter saver. When our metal roof was installed, our roofer didn’t think a snow rail would be necessary since the slope of our roof isn’t that steep. However, we’d rather be safe than sorry. Damaged gutters are no bueno.
Seeing as how our roof is covered in snow and it’s not even officially winter yet, a snow rail might not happen until spring or even summer of next year. Until then, my stopgap solution is to go out in the morning and break up the ice dams with a shovel to prevent damage to the gutters. It’s not exactly low maintenance but if the snow keeps up my shoulders are going to look buff come spring.
Still, the snow is pretty, no?
images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
housekeeping, renovation