Shovel Your Roof Or Not To - Experts Say Not Yet

By 250 News

Prince George -    Home builders in the city say that unless we receive a lot of rain in the next few days the snow load on people’s homes in Prince George does not need to be shovelled.

Joe Myatovic of Myatovic Construction says suggesting that you go up and shovel your roof gets a lot of old people thinking it has to be done and they go on the roof, if their shovelling and fall off into the snow bank that’s one thing but if they land on a fence, the Barb-Q or something else that’s a totally different matter.

Myatovic says I own one of those cheap COSTCO green houses with plastic on it and it’s still okay out there in the yard. ‘”It isn’t built like a house”. The last time we had a roof collapse it was about 10 years ago and that was a carport that wasn’t properly nailed up when it was constructed, so take it from there.

If you were going to shovel you need a safety rope, proper gear to move the snow and it is a big job. Think about it,  he said, ‘when was the last time that you seen a house collapse from a snow load in this city”. We have had more snow in other years and until we get there no need to shovel.

Bruce Nyberg of Ebb Construction echoed the remarks of Myatovic, Both men have built more than 200 homes in the city and say the snow load so far is a light snow and unless we get a lot of rain on the roof it’s built to take the load.

Martin Gomes, Of Gomes Construction says he likes to error on the side of caution, "If the snow blows and builds up more on one side of the house than the other you can get a problem because the weight isn’t equally spread. We build houses to carry a 50 lb per square foot load up to 80lbs per sq ft. If you think it’s too much then shovel it" he says.

Wayne Ward of Northern Capital Wood Products said, “I read the story and I’m not shovelling my roof”.

If we get a lot more snow and we get a lot of rain like they say we may get,  then you can have another look at it. If you have an older home, different kind of roof  and your worried,  have someone look at it for you, but just don’t get up on the roof right now and start shovelling.

Other than Gomes every other contractor we contacted to ask whether you should shovel your roof said unless it’s a really old home, flat roof maybe , or a bunch of pitches to the roof , especially if your home is fairly new, leave it alone.

Bill Rushton, who has been building or doing work on homes for over 50 years, says there is not enough snow in the bowl area to shovel them off.

Rushton, who lives in South Fort, says there is about 14 inches of snow on the roofs in South Fort, hardy enough to worry about. I’m not going up there to shovel he says.

Unless you get blowing snow that makes the snow build up more on one side of the home then the other there is no problem so far this year and you don’t shovel the roof just because it might snow or rain .

You need proper gear to do a roof and unless you want to go out and get a special snow scoop, harness etc. Don’t do it.

If it rains a lot they say then go back and look at it later , we have had a lot more snow on your roof in the past  without any roofs collapsing so why now.

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