Don’t you just love the snow?
The way that it coats the trees and our homes, leaving us living in a winter wonderland… Except of course once you notice that all that snow has now taken up shop on your roof.
What does it mean for your roof to have the winter conditions take up residency on the most important part of your home?
The snow and ice living on your roof throughout the winter months can be equated to the in-laws that overstay their welcome…
All jokes aside, the snow and ice on your roof can cause some serious damage.
Let’s think about how our gutters work for a moment…
The gutter consists of piping that runs along right below the roof level of the home as a way to flush the water away from the building so as to protect the foundation of your house.
That being said, once the snow and cold weather comes, your gutters are left with nothing but frozen ice dams clogging their pipes.
How exactly do clogged gutters affect your roof though?
Well once you get these ice dams, that means that the snow on top of your roof that is melting from the sun beating down on it, has nowhere to go…
That means that your roof is left to bear the grunt of the melting snow, meaning that even though it’s the wintertime – your roof is swimming.
What can you do to remove this looming snow from your roof?
You know how every fall you rake the leaves on your lawn? It could be simple as that.
Buy yourself a roof rake and be sure to keep on top of your snow removal after a snowfall. It is suggested to keep on top of your snow removal at about 6 inches of snow, but if you have never run into ice dams and are not worried about your roof collapsing it is possible to hold off until about a foot of accumulation.
How can your roof collapse?
Let’s go back to the thinking board for a minute here… Think about how heavy a gallon of water weighs. Now imagine having hundreds of gallons of frozen water on top of your roof… that’s a lot of a weight to carry. Your roofs are built strong, especially when built by Flynn Roofing company, but they aren’t exactly indestructible…
That’s why it’s important to work with a snow removal specialist if you have any concerns about your roof’s health during these winter months.
We at Flynn Roofing are experts in this field and believe it or not, it’s actually advised not to rake your roof too often regardless of the snow it may be encountering. The risk here is that you may scrape the shingles on your roof, which leaves your roof more prone to UV exposure and, just as it’s important to save our skin from those tricky rays, it’s important to protect your roof too.
For this reason, the roof rake you buy is able to have rollers or bumpers helping to protect the scraping concerns.
Keep in mind too, that when raking your roof it is extremely important to take high precaution of overhead wires… The last thing you want is to tear down a line and create a much bigger problem than the snow on your roof!
Once your roof is free of snow and gutters clear of ice dams, you are safely back to your roof’s best comfort!
Luckily for us here in New England, the winter only lasts for so long. Even though the groundhog said we have another 6 more weeks of winter this year, the snow can’t last forever.
Be sure to use these tips for the next upcoming 6 weeks of winter to try and keep your roof in the best shape for spring.
Feel free to contact us here at Flynn Roofing to assist you with your winter snow removal needs!