Weather in the South

We all saw Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction today…6 more weeks of winter. Will it just be cold? Will there be more snow or ice? Unfortunately even the meteorologists don’t have all those answers. 

So the big question is: What does this mean for your roof? 

The good news is we have had a practice run with all of the winter weather from the past 2-3 weeks. 

The most important thing to remember is that snow and ice are heavy. If the accumulation on your roof is a light dusting you shouldn’t have any major issues unless there are ice dams (more on that later). 

However if there is significant snow fall it can add a tremendous amount of weight to your roofing system, and in some cases cause it to fail catastrophically. For the most part here in the south we don’t get snows that are that heavy enough to do that kind of damage. 

The pitch of your roof also plays a major roll in how well it can handle snow. Recently we worked with a customer who had a catastrophic failure many years ago where their Mansard Style roof completely collapsed inward under the heavy weight of a snow due to improper rafter installation.

While this is not the norm it can happen. When you look at roofs that are built for snow and ice they have much steeper pitches to them than the typical 4/12 pitch (falls 4 inches every 12 inches from the ridge to the eve) - 6/12 pitch (falls 6 inches every 12 inches from the ridge to the eve) that most southern built homes have. Homes built for the snow typically have at least a 12/12 pitch (falls 12 inches every 12 inches from the ridge to the eve). These roofs are built so steep so that as the snow falls it will slide off instead of accumulating. 

Stay tuned for info on Ice Dams in the South.