If you’re one of the few lucky people in the Ohio area that has a slate roof, you’re to likely get comments on its beauty from time to time!
While slate roofs are beautiful, and extremely versatile, they do bring a different set of maintenance requirements, such as snow rails, compared to other types of roof materials.
Why Snow Rails are Key For the Proper Maintenance of Your Slate Roof
One of the key components of a quality slate roof are snow rails which should be installed along the perimeter of your roof to help prevent sudden ice or snow avalanches, which can damage:
- People
- Vehicles
- Property
- Shrubbery
- Walkways
- Gutters
- Parking Areas
How Many Will Be Needed for My Property?
The number of snow rails you need depends on a variety of factors such as roof slope, climate, roofing material, rafter length, location and building orientation. When you work with an experienced slate roof contractor like Hazlett you can rely on our century’s worth of experience to offer our input on the most ideal installation.
Will the Rails Keep All the Snow or Ice on the Roof?
Absolutely not. Snow rails are designed to prevent all of the snow or ice on your roof from falling at once. Snow and ice will still melt off your roof, even with rails installed.
What’s the Most Common Reason Some Snow Rails Fail?
The most common reason for failure is usually due to not enough snow rails being installed on a roof to provide adequate coverage.
Falling Snow and Ice is a Preventable Hazard
With all that you have to worry about when it comes to maintaining your home, we’d guess that you haven’t put a lot of thought into snow rails. The reality is that they can be extremely helpful to prevent potential hazards from excessive amounts of snow and ice falling from a steep roof structure. The steeper your roof, the more dangerous falling snow or ice can be. When you think about the fact that water weighs roughly 62 pounds per cubic foot, you can quickly imagine just how heavy a large amount of snow or ice can be that’s torpedoing off the side of a structure.
Interested in Learning More About Snow Rails for Your Slate Roof?
If we’ve piqued your interest, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team today. We’ve installed snow rails on historical buildings in the Northeast Ohio area as well as residential customers. We’ll be glad to come out to your home to take a look at your current roof to see what the best option may be. Give our Cleveland office a call today at 216-246-8004 or our Akron office a call at 330-773-1018. We look forward to helping you with your roofing as well as any other exterior carpentry work you may need.