How Much Is To Much Snow On My Roof

Most roof designs can handle snow loads of 20 40 lbs per square foot.

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 snow a roof can hold depends on the type of snow roofline and material among other considerations. Armed with that number a builder can frame the roof appropriately. 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.

The municipal official that issues building permits can tell you what the design snow load is in your area. As everyone knows cold fluffy snow is very light while wet snow can be extremely heavy. The code says to see local conditions in these special zones. How much snow is too much for a roof to handle.

Please remember that the numbers given by this calculator are just an approximation and are by no means 100 accurate. I wish there were a simple answer but none exists. There is a special zone in the northeast corner of the state where they get lake effect snow. But as the chart below shows packed snow with ice can easily overload a roof once it reaches about 12 off depth.

The state s building code requires homes in the southern half of minnesota. For the twin cities metro area the roof snow load equals 35 pounds per square foot or 7 x 50. You can look for signs of an overloaded roof though. In snow country that number might be anywhere from 30 or 35 pounds per square foot psf to more than 70 psf.

So how much snow does this equal.