How Much Is To Much Snow On My Roof

The chart below courtesy of paul schimnowski p e gives some examples of snow loads.

How much is to much snow on my roof.

The municipal official that issues building permits can tell you what the design snow load is in your area. Please remember that the numbers given by this calculator are just an approximation and are by no means 100 accurate. But as the chart below shows packed snow with ice can easily overload a roof once it reaches about 12 off depth. For the twin cities metro area the roof snow load equals 35 pounds per square foot or 7 x 50.

Packed snow however weighs more. Our snow load calculator helps you to make the decision when to remove the snow from your roof by comparing the weight of snow with the load carrying capacity of the roof. Ten inches of fresh snow equates to about five pounds per square foot which means your roof likely can support four feet of fresh snow. The 20 psf load is equivalent to 14 inches of snow at the design density while the 25 psf load is 17 inches.

I wish there were a simple answer but none exists. S 1 25 p where s is the number of inches of snow on your roof and p is the pounds per square foot of that snow. The building departments there say to use a 30 psf snow load. On average two feet of snow can equal up to 19 tons of weight on your roof which can significantly weaken the structure.

The code says to see local conditions in these special zones. There is a special zone in the northeast corner of the state where they get lake effect snow. How much snow is too much for a roof to handle. How much snow can pile on top of my 24 arctic fox fifth wheel before it starts to present a hazard to my rig two feet the helpful tech answered.

As everyone knows cold fluffy snow is very light while wet snow can be extremely heavy. You can look for signs of an overloaded roof though. Whenever neurotic people like me think to ask this question northwood will tell them that 2 is an acceptable load for the roof of any rv including theirs. Most roof designs can handle snow loads of 20 40 lbs per square foot.

In snow country that number might be anywhere from 30 or 35 pounds per square foot psf to more than 70 psf. Consider removing accumulated snow from your roof to avoid collapse. Two feet or more of old.