Tuesday, November 26, 2019

How Much Roof Snow Is Too Much?


Snowfall built up on the roof can quickly transform an industrial landscape into a peaceful winter wonderland. Though the presence of snow on the roof is beautiful in its own right, there’s a limit to how much snow a roof can support. Accumulated snow can get extremely heavy and can lead to significant structural issues, including roof leaks, interior water damage, ice dams, and even total roof collapse. Fortunately, the experts at Safe Roof Systems have put together some helpful roof snow load measurement tips to help you understand how much snow your roof can handle before danger ensues.

Roof snow load code requirements follow local ground snow load data.   Refer to your builder or engineer for your Live Load requirements.  To Illustrate how much snow can weigh consider the following examples:

  • Fresh Snow - 1 foot of freshly fallen snow equals 8-10 pounds per square foot.
  • Accumulating layers of Snow - 1 foot of old, packed-down snow is equivalent to 22-25 pounds per square foot.
  • A Mixture of Old and wet snow - 1 foot of water-soaked and compressed snow can weigh as much as 35-45 pounds per square foot.
    roof snow load measurement

Closely monitoring the amount of snow building up on your roof is essential if you wish to avoid structural issues. Your building will be safer if you’re aware of when to mitigate the problem safely with effective snow removal services.

Rely on Safe Roof Systems to determine the load capacity of your roof with roof snow-load measurement tips. Keep these in mind to prevent structural issues.





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