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 municipal official that issues building permits can tell you what the design snow load is in your area. The chart below courtesy of paul schimnowski p e gives some examples of snow loads. With snow already piled high on many roofs it s important to know how much snow is too much for your roof to support. The 20 psf load is equivalent to 14 inches of snow at the design density while the 25 psf load is 17 inches.

The state s building code requires homes in the southern half of minnesota. 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 a roof can hold depends on the type of snow roofline and material among other considerations.

So how much snow does this equal. Armed with that number a builder can frame the roof appropriately. 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.

The building departments there say to use a 30 psf snow load. How much snow is too much for a roof to handle. I wish there were a simple answer but none exists. 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.

For the twin cities metro area the roof snow load equals 35 pounds per square foot or 7 x 50.