# Heavy snowfall on house roofs...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-snowfall-on-house-roofs/281268>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 23, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-snowfall-on-house-roofs/281268 "2004-12-23T02:38:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-snowfall-on-house-roofs/281268/21 "2004-12-24T03:27:39Z")

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> [@Finagle](#):
>
> They actually manufacture snow rakes – essentially rakes on very long poles – specifically for the purpose of removing snow from roofs.

Yeah, I think I’ve seen those for sale at our local Menard’s store. I might consider getting one of those.

Speaking of snow on roofs, I just came back from helping my neighbor with a snowdrift problem on the roof of her house. The snow had drifter over the intake and outflow pipes for her furnace, which caused her furnace to stop working. Once I shoveled the snow away (BTW, not recommended at night like I did), the furnace began to work normally again. Apparently this is a common problem with mobile homes or homes with low-pitched roofs.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-snowfall-on-house-roofs/281268/22 "2004-12-24T03:30:03Z")

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> [@Guy Incognito](#):
>
> The snow had drifter over the intake and outflow pipes for her furnace, which caused her furnace to stop working.

I meant to say “drifted over”. If you ever find a drifter on the roof of your house, I recommend removal via the firearm of your choice.

Another holiday tip from Guy Incognito!

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**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heavy-snowfall-on-house-roofs/281268/23 "2004-12-24T04:00:19Z")

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> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> The bigger problem is usually the ice formation due to a poorly insulated attic. Glaciation occurs when the snow in contact with the roof melts, then freezes, causing damming to occur up past the ice shield. When the next melting occurs, water gets in under the ice shield, into your crawl space and then into your walls, ending up on your carpet. Trust me on this. We vacuumed out a couple of gallons last winter after a particularly heavy accumulation.
> 
> The fix is to have someone check your attic for adequate insulation. If the house was built in the 70s or 80s, it was likely not not correctly. It’s an easy fix to have additional insulation blown in.

I can vouche for **Chefguy** ’s statement. We had a bad ice dam 4 years ago and it caused a leak into our kitchen.

Ice dams are a very real concern. In addition to causing leaks into the house they also can promote black mold growth which can lead to a variety of health problems.

What we do now (Until we can get a very badly needed new roof) is use an ice rake religiously when it starts snowing really hard. It has helped immensly.

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