Why snow retention matters

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn about the danger snow on a roof can present and how you can mitigate it. 

In a new episode of MetalTalk™, Karen Edwards sat down with Mindy Dahlquist, TRA Snow and Sun’s business development manager, to talk about how you can mitigate the risks related to snow movement on roofs. As snow accumulates on roofs, especially metal ones, it can move or slide. This is dangerous for many reasons, including damaging the roof itself. Mindy explained, “When you allow snow and ice to freeze to your roofing material and then just slide off at any given time, it can cause premature aging.” In addition to this, snow sliding off unexpectedly, also called snow avalanches, can cause incredible damage to the surrounding area. Mindy shared, “Common issues that people see are snow sliding off and smashing solar panels, neighboring solar panels, the neighbor's fence, their dog or their deck enclosure.” In the worst-case scenarios, these avalanches can result in the death of those moving beneath the eaves of the roof at the wrong time. 

These risks often lead to homeowners finding creative ways to try and get the snow off the roof. Mindy shared, “OSHA puts out statements every single year just stressing the dangers of getting on the roof, when there's snow and ice up there, to try to remove that snow. Even if you get the snow moving without harming yourself, there’s more dangers related to allowing that snow to come sliding off of there. Depending on the location, the snow can be equivalent to the weight of a semi coming off the roof at any given point." These dangers and damages were what led to the development of what is called snow retention systems.  

Snow retention systems are combinations of brackets and fences installed on the roof that reduce snow shed. Mindy explained, “Snow retention can be utilized on almost all roof types.” The basic goal of all of these systems is to have the snow freeze to the brackets or fence. From there, more snow can accumulate on top of the frozen layer. By having that first layer freeze, the snow accumulates and stays in place, rather than sliding off dangerously. It also has the added bonus of giving an extra layer of thermal insulation on the top of the roof, making the home more energy efficient. Then, as the weather warms up, all of this will melt in place slowly and safely.  

Read the transcript, Listen to the conversation or Watch the video to learn more about finding the right snow retention system for every roof.