My Industrial Cabin Build

[WoodChuckDad]

One of those surprise expenses. I'm surprised the roofers didn't suggest them.

I imagine it’s one of those things you have to play by ear. When I asked for a quote, I had just gotten a quote for the materials to do a snap lock metal roof and had even looked at some videos of hand seaming metal. I was looking at every option that would put me in a metal roof. He knew that I was building myself. The job is relatively easy. Three flat decks. No fancy hips or anything like that. The quote was several thousand more than my materials would have cost me. But adding in snow guards would have made it less appealing. The quote didn’t include gutters. If you are quoting to a contractor who has a customer for a custom build uou probably include all of that stuff.
I have seen a few dozen houses he put roofs on around here and almost all of them have snow guards. I would have to look at my paperwork for the exact difference but it was 5-7 grand as I recall. It was an easy choice. Much easier than the drywall guy I plan to hire. He is very competitive but it just blows my budget up. The electrician too, but all three of those are things that will kick me forward and insure that things are done correctly

 

[deezler]

Whoa.... you put them across the entire roof....

Thats wild. I kinda like that my metal roof sheds the snow/ice down in a nice slow curl. Our low pitch means it almost never comes off quickly. Theres really nothing behind my house for it to harm anyway, if it did. So we just protected the chimney and other roof vents/pipes directly.

But the way you did it.... doesn't even appear to really protect your chimney and other roof penetrations?

Another thing I found was that the newly installed metal was very slippery, and did shed some snow/ice quick at times. But then it grew a layer of dirt & grime accumulation over the first few years (tree pollen, dust, etc) that makes it a lot more tacky.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

Whoa.... you put them across the entire roof....

Thats wild. I kinda like that my metal roof sheds the snow/ice down in a nice slow curl. Our low pitch means it almost never comes off quickly. Theres really nothing behind my house for it to harm anyway, if it did. So we just protected the chimney and other roof vents/pipes directly.

But the way you did it.... doesn't even appear to really protect your chimney and other roof penetrations?

Another thing I found was that the newly installed metal was very slippery, and did shed some snow/ice quick at times. But then it grew a layer of dirt & grime accumulation over the first few years (tree pollen, dust, etc) that makes it a lot more tacky.

Around here everyone put them all the way across the roof. Chimney protection will be a diverter. I have those on order.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

If you are planning on gutters, the whole roof needs them. I’ve seen what happens to gutters when the snow slides off, so does the gutter.

 

[BigBlue1]

Those would sure make it difficult to deal with removing snow from the roof if you ever got a big buildup. Sometimes here in MN we can get a lot of snow with not much wind and it can get pretty deep up there. This is a problem both for weight loading and the potential for ice dams on older, poorly insulated roofs. The type of 'roof rakes' typically used to remove the snow would have issues with those. But if you're in an area where those issues aren't likely then I guess it may not matter.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I dont know anyone around here who has a roof rake. We havnt gotten a 2 foot snow in at least 10 years. That said, They are inexpensive so I will probably buy one and just tuck it in the back of the barn or shop. In a pinch, I’m sure I could make it work well enough

 

[coldsteelva]

I dont know anyone around here who has a roof rake. We havnt gotten a 2 foot snow in at least 10 years. That said, They are inexpensive so I will probably buy one and just tuck it in the back of the barn or shop. In a pinch, I’m sure I could make it work well enough

For the once a decade event: Fab up an attachment for your roof rake on your tractor bucket. You can be warm, sit higher than standing on the ground and when you pull with the rake, you won't be in the plume of the avalanche.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

A Concrete Guy I know uses an old bull float as a roof rake. Run it up the roof roll the back edge down and pull back. He can screw together multiple handle segments to get back far enough the snow doesn’t get him.

 

[deezler]

Kinda funny how people worry about snow on their roofs in some parts of the country vs others. In most of Michigan, no one gives a crap, at all. You just leave it there, eventually it comes off, or melts off. Only thing I've noticed is that up north and in the lake-effect snow belts, people don't bother with having any gutters.

 

[deezler]

If you are planning on gutters, the whole roof needs them. I’ve seen what happens to gutters when the snow slides off, so does the gutter.

On my roof the ice/snow mix slides off slowly and can clear the gutter, going right over it. No need to have your gutter up tight to the roofing metal, if you have enough fascia board to work with, put the gutter at the bottom.