Snow Guards Valuable Protection for Your Roof and Property

Metal roofs are well-known to rebuff sun, heat and weather better than any other roof system. Yet they may work too well in regard to dispersing ice and snow. Unlike an asphalt or flat roof, the smooth surface of a sloped metal roof may create a dangerous risk to people and property, should a large ice flow break loose and slide off the building. For this reason, snow guards were created.

These ingenious little angle brackets act as "fingers" to keep ice and snow in place until it melts and disperses in a controlled way. Available in many styles, sizes and colors, snow guards blend in with any roof, and are hardly noticeable from the street. Many are high-strength, weather-resistant polycarbonate compounds that are bonded in place. In more severe climates, snow bars or barricades are installed across the roof to safely retain larger flows. Metal snow guards are designed from aluminum, stainless steel or copper, and can be used on other roof surfaces, such as asphalt shingle or slate roofs.

Even though snow guards are inexpensive, and even though they can aesthetically blend into the roof, contractors and building owners alike question the necessity of snow guards in central and southern areas of the country. Doing without may be a very costly decision. It's true that Tulsa may get less snow than St. Paul, but when winter weather does come, areas like Tulsa frequently get more ice than snow. Even modest amounts of ice can destroy panels and guttering as they melt and slide. In the Tulsa ice storm of 2007, ice flows from roofs accounted for serious damage to cars, utilities, trees and more within striking distance of the sliding ice flows. In one particular instance, an ice flow dropped from a local industrial building roof and guillotined their HVAC unit. Some insurance programs do not cover such damage, and the owners may be left to pay the bill. Occasional winter weather can reach as far south as into southern Texas, and when it does, their metal roofs are equally at risk as those of their northern relations.

The small investment in protection offered by properly installed snow guards more than compensates for the damage and liability caused by ice and snow. Unless you live below Dallas, TX (or temperature zone 7), adding snow guards to your sloped metal roof project may be worth their weight in gold… or even more in ice.