Placement Of Snow Guards On Metal Roof

As the weather begins to warm this accumulated snow can slide off the roof in large chucks causing possible damage to gutters and personnel.

Placement of snow guards on metal roof.

Pedestrian areas are the number one place to consider snow guards on a metal roof says jason nagaki vice president snobar castle rock colo. Snow guards are like corrals that mount on the edge of a roof. The snow can build up on your roof throughout the winter until there is 12 or more accumulated. Go up the roof 8 feet and repeat the staggered pattern of guards in the center of every valley.

They should always be attached on the lowest portion of the roofing panel where the frozen precipitation actually moves not on a high seam above the problem area. Starting at 6 inches from the bottom edge place a snow guard in the center of each valley in a staggered pattern across the entire roof area. If snow guards are installed they prevent the snow from sliding until it has a chance to melt. Best snow and ice guards for metal roofs.

Snow guards should always be placed at the lower half of the roof plane. Best snow guards for a metal roof. And depending on the system snow guards can be placed in a single line or in multiple rows. Not only do snow guards protect people from falling snow and ice but they also protect the owner from potential lawsuits.

For metal loop wire type snow hooks or snow guards photo at left you can see that to work at all since these devices have much less surface area than a flat or bar type snow guard they have to be installed in many staggered rows over half or more of the roof surface. It can also cause overload and failure of the snow guards you must consider snow load roof pitch panel rib or seam spacing and eave to ridge distance to properly determine snow guard number design spacing and placement. They hold frozen precipitation in place causing the snow or ice to melt or slide off a portion of roof in small pieces rather than dangerous chunks. Improper placement of a few snow guards can cause unpredictable roof snow melt as snow becomes unevenly distributed.

Do not exceed 8 feet vertically between rows of guards. Several important features to consider when selecting snow guards for metal roofing applications are the height width and shape of the particular system. This determines the snow guards ability to hold back layers of frozen precipitation to help eliminate unexpected slides.