Flat Roof Heavy Snow

The very notion of shelter is linked to the image of a roof above.

Flat roof heavy snow.

Another is that they cannot handle as much snow weight as pitched roofs because the snow sits directly on the roof. Even in these arid regions so called flat roofs are still installed with a slight pitch to keep water from pooling on top of the structure. In this video i dispel 5 common myths surrounding the use of flat roofs in snowy climates. The snow settles on it evenly rather than being blown into large drifts which can cause a roof to fail.

One of them is that flat roofs leak more easily than pitched ones. This is especially critical if you have a flat roof that requires shoveling or heavy snowfall that needs a snowblower. Flat roofs are common with industrial buildings boasting wide roof spans and are also popular in dry climates for houses where there is no need for the roof to help disperse rain and snow. The chief reason for having a roof pitch is to redirect water and snow away from the roof and avoid any percolation that might result from stagnation of water on the roof.

Yet for historic modern style buildings like this old house s cambridge tv project flat roofs are at the core of the architecture meant to reflect the broad horizontal lines of the natural landscape. There are a few common misconceptions regarding flat roofs that are stubbornly persistent. Of course you don t need to live in a modern house to deal with a flat roof. If your roof is flat it is more likely to have snow load problems than if it is pitched.

First figure out how deep the snow is piled up there. Call in the professionals to remove snow from your roof. For safety reasons we recommend letting a professional remove snow from your roof for cases when a rake won t cut it. Certainly the weight of snow can add up but your home must support a variety of loads.

It also helps if the roof is in a sheltered area. As standard practice places with heavy rainfall or snow storms will have higher roof pitches compared to places that experience less rain and snow. Excessive rain heavy snow and built up ice all pose extra challenges for flat roofed homes. Snow is actually one of the easiest to design for and all.

The easiest way is to push a yardstick into the snow on the roof selecting an area that looks typical of the overall snow depth. Flat roofs can t possibly support all the extra weight a totally valid concern but rest assured your architect and engineer have this in mind when designing the roof structure. Wind seismic building weight furniture occupants etc. Flat roofs aren t architecturally logical as rain and snow will shed much more quickly off a sloped roof.