With the onset of winter and cold weather, homeowners are faced with the problem of snow accumulating on their roofs. Residents of apartments in this regard are a little easier - the snow is periodically cleared by utility workers. But those who live in their own home have to solve the problem on their own. With apparent simplicity, cleaning the roof of snow is a rather troublesome and serious matter, and not always safe.
Why is it dangerous
A slippery roof can bring a lot of trouble if safety precautions are not followed.
Note! Of particular danger are icicles that accumulate around the perimeter of the roof.Even falling from a fairly low height, they can cause severe injuries to a person passing at that moment.
The snow mass, pressing on the roof, can severely deform it, break the tightness of the joints, and move the fragments of the coating. In many regions, the thickness of snow can reach more than a meter, and this is a huge weight that not every roof can withstand.
Moreover, during the thaw, the snow, starting to melt rapidly, creates streams of water that will overload the drainage system. The gutters simply will not have time to take the amount of water, it will overflow, spoiling the walls and foundation.
What needs to be done in winter and how snow should be removed from the roof, we will tell you in more detail in this article.
Sequence of work
When you see that the snow and icicles on the roof have reached a critical amount, take some time to eliminate them, because a timely solution to the problem will save you from repairs in the future.
- First of all, it is desirable to get rid of the icicles hanging from the slopes. Take a long rail and try to knock them down gently. You should not stand directly under them at this time, therefore, the longer the rake, the safer for you.
- Don't hit the icicles too hard, as you can damage the gutters and flooring. What does not get off with a little effort is better to remove after already directly from the roof.
- Now it’s worth climbing onto the roof and, armed with a shovel, clean off the snow. Be extremely careful, use a safety belt or rope, because the surface will be very slippery. Even better, if the cleaning of the roof from snow will be done with an assistant.A shovel should be taken wooden or plastic, but not metal, so as not to damage the roofing.
- After the snow has been thrown off, try to carefully remove the remaining icicles that are heavily frozen to the edges of the roof and gutters. You can use a hacksaw to cut them down.
- Choose daylight hours for work, postpone the operation if precipitation occurs, they will not only greatly complicate the process, but also increase the risk.
- Wear comfortable, non-restrictive clothing. Shoes should be non-slippery, with strong treads on the soles.
- Be extremely careful to ensure that there are no people and animals, as well as vehicles near the roof. You can not only damage property, but also seriously injure a random person passing by.
- If you doubt your strengths and capabilities, ask someone to help you. Or contact specialists for whom cleaning the roof of snow is a professional duty. Equipped with skills and climbing equipment, they will do their job quickly and efficiently.
Ways to prevent the accumulation of snow on the roof
Not everyone is able to clear the snow from the roof, especially since with a large amount of precipitation, this will have to be done quite often.
Invite experts every time, you see, quite expensive, and not everyone can afford it.
What to do so that you do not have to waste time and money, so that the cleaning of the roof from snow occurs without your participation? There are such ways, because progress does not stand still.
One of the most effective can be called a special system for snowmelt. But it is advisable to take care of this when building a house and installing a roof.
The system is a set of special heating cables, thermostats, sensors and additional elements.
Before laying the top coat on the roof, roof heating cable are laid in places where a large accumulation of snow and icing is most likely.
In order for roof cleaning from snow to be extremely rare, or it did not exist at all, it is enough to purchase and install roof heating. Specialists lay the cable, connect the system to the power supply, then finally cover the roof.
After that, you only need to ensure that the system is connected to the mains. Thermoregulators work according to a given program, providing the desired heating temperature at the right time.
Note! Moreover, the system can work already before the accumulation of snow and ice, preventing rapid melting and overloading of drains. The sewers and gutters will also be heated and ice will no longer accumulate on them. The device turns on and off automatically without causing you any trouble or problems. Sensors that detect humidity and temperature will start heating at the right time.
Such systems are convenient to use not only on roofs, they are installed on stairs, under steps, under paths on the site, on lampposts. Snow and ice in such places will never accumulate, damaging everything around.
Snow retainers can be considered as mechanical protection against the descent of snow masses. Of course, with their presence, cleaning the roof of snow is still periodically necessary.
However, they will reliably protect you from snow that unexpectedly fell on your head.
installed in the right places, roof snow guards they will evenly distribute the fallen mass of precipitation over the roof, and also, they will not allow melted ice to float on the drains, damaging them.
Sufficiently effective roof protection from a large amount of snow can be considered an ideally smooth roof surface, and a large roof slope angle. The steeper the slope, the sooner the accumulated mass slides off it. But flat roofs and roofs with a slight slope accumulate snow and ice more than anyone else.
Roof preparation for winter
In order to reduce the number of your winter attacks on the roof, you need to prepare it in time.
- In advance, before the onset of cold weather and precipitation, clean it of debris, branches and leaves that clog drains.
- Close the funnels with plugs or special covers.
- Repair and touch up suspicious or damaged areas so that you do not have to do a major roof repair later.
- Check the fixing points of the coating, because poorly fixed elements can move and break the tightness.
- If possible, still install an anti-icing system, because today it can be considered the most reliable protection against troubles in cold weather.
Spending once, you will significantly save on periodic calls to climbers, because their services will cost a lot.
To ensure that cleaning the roof of snow does not scare you with its frequency and complexity, prepare your roof in advance, and then you will not be afraid of any weather surprises.
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