First winter need advice.

[miltonnhguy]

Howdy all. We just spent our first winter in a 30X60 double wide with a metal roof in NH that we bought in October.. After a pretty harsh winter I'm I need some advice. The problem we would have was snow would accumulate on the metal roof and ice up. When it would eventually let go it would come down really hard and blow out our skirting. The skirting on the back of the house was mangled to the point where I think I'd better just replace it. (And a stray cat has decided to make under my home his base.)How do I avoid this. Should I be removing all snow from my roof? I've seen guards for metal roofs that hold the snow in place but then I'm worried about weight. I notice people in my neighborhood with regular roofs do not have this problem. I want to be ready for this next year. When we get snow up here on the ridge we get dumped on. And it's not always possible to get right out there and fix the skirting. Also is there a way to reinforce the skirting. Any advice is appreciated.

John

[Rod]

John

You can install Sno-Jacks. If your home was built for northern zone snow load you should be OK regarding the weight.

If you have traditional vinyl skirting you can install windrods in the seams of the panels. This stiffens them up and helps to prevent them from collapsing. I think Mark (owner of this site) sells them.

The 2 combined should take care of your issues.

Good Luck

Rod

[Greg]

John, Hi & welcome. Many here use roof rakes to keep too much snow from accumulating. I pull the snow off when it reaches about 6". It is easier to spend a half hour pulling snow down rather than fixing damage from falling ice. Greg

[Yanita]

Hi,

Used to live up your way!

I seriously doubt the wind rods will be strong enough for your application, but worth a try I guess. Personally your better option would be metal skirting, go to the Articles link and scroll down till you see "A better skirting idea".

This will also eliminate the feral cat under your home.

Yanita

[Rod]

Miltonnhguy & Yanita,

Windrods on their own certainly will not work. But if you install the sno-jacks the Ice & snow will not abruptly fall off the roof in big chunks causing damage to the skirting. Therefore creating less stress on the skirting.

As my previous post said "the 2 combined should take care of your issues"

This is an extremely cheap & easy fix and unless the skirting is very tall it should do the trick. However a skirting upgrade is always good if its in the budget.

In reality, the sno-jacks on their own will probably be enough as they are very effective. The wind rods just give a little added stiffness to the panels.

We install 30-40 Metal Roofs every year and most with sno-jacks over the door & deck areas. I can tell you they do work!

Link Below has an illustration on how they work.

http://www.snojax.com/

There are some other companies who sell colored ones as well.

Good luck

Rod

[Yanita]

I did not say your suggestion would not work. For me personally I am opposed to making any roof penetrations. MH metal roofs just seem fairly light to me.

I do agree with using the roof rake as Greg suggested. Living in the North for 38 years and most of that in MH's my rule of thumb is to remove the snow as soon as possible, regardless of the snow load rating your home has.

As always the homeowner is free to pick and choose any ideas suggested in the post.

JMO,
Yanita

[Rod]

I 'm thinking he has a metal roof over since its a 30x60 double wide. If that's the case he already will have hundreds of penetrations from the fasteners. We use neoprene washer screws, they don't leak and they last. Same screws we use for sno jacks.

I also agree with Greg a snow rake is always a good idea. Especially with roofs prone to ice dam leaks.


Here is an interesting tid-bit regarding snow load on MHs.

When there is a roof collapse from snow on a Manufactured Home in the State of NY the Manufactured Housing Unit from the state investigates the reason. (been doing this since the mid 80's I believe)

According to John Peacock (Head of compliance for the Manufactured Housing unit) Every collapse had an underlying factor. Poor maintenance, unaddressed leaks, southern zone roof, addition tied to top of MH etc.

Not one properly maintained northern zone roof failure from snow load. I'm not saying its never happened but I found his statement interesting.

Its actually impressive when you consider the lake effect snow the western part of NY gets. Buffalo regularly measures snow in feet not inches

For some reason during our state certification class this was big topic.

Rod

[DigitalDreams]

Could do what I do have those roof heat tapes which keep snow to a min and keep ice dams from forming they work pretty good only drawback raises electric bill.
Or could do like I did on bottom and put up steel skirting with 4x4 posts to bottom of house perimeter and pearlins like a pole shed has for attachment my skirting is so well anchored the house will probably plow away before the skirting does.
And my skirting is actually buried 6 inchs into the ground at bottom , just dug a trench as I installed it and then backfilled with sand to allow it to shift somewhat with winter and summer heaving and side benefit animals have to dig down 6 inches to get under it.

[miltonnhguy]

Thanks for the advice folks. I'm thinking a combination of sno-jacks and metal skirting possibly reinforced with cinder blocks may be the answer. (I think I would bond the sno-jacks since I'm a little paranoid about drilling into my roof.) Possibly the sno-jacks alone would solve my problem but I'm having a hard time getting over my paranoia about the weight. (It is a 30x60 built in 87 with a "recently installed" roof.) With properly installed sno-jacks is it still possible to roof rake the snow off or do they get in the way of removal? I'm guessing I could remove snow once it was about the height of the sno-jacks for weight reasons and the jacks would hold the snow from avalanching of my roof. I appreciate all the advice and any other ideas would be appreciated. At least I'll go into next winter better prepared.

Now to research getting the smell of cat urine out from under my home...

[Yanita]

Hi,

Lets clarify the new roof...is this a roof over as in being installed on the existing roof or a roof over, meaning that it is built like a pole barn structure?

Yanita

[miltonnhguy]

It is not built like a pole barn.

[Rod]

John,

Good looking place you got there-congrats.

Yes you could sno-rake once the snow was higher than the jacks.
With a metal roof you will want to use a rake with a plastic blade. Less chance of scraping the finish.

As I thought you have a roof over, looks like an exposed fastener type. They are very popular here in the northeast. A properly installed metal roof has many advantages over shingle. The only real down fall is what you are experiencing-snow slide.

You could use some type of an epoxy to bond the sno-jacks. Not sure about the long term though. However I would use the same style screws your roof was installed with. Most likely a self tapping neoprene washered screw. No need to be paranoid, but do what you are most comfortable with.

As for the skirting. Are you on a slab? If so what about a block wall? Cheap & Strong.

If you do the metal you could get the same product as on the roof to match.

By the way thats a nice big deck - whens the party!!!

Rod

[Yanita]

Yup, I agree, very nice looking home...Love that deck!

Yanita