On Mon, 30 Oct 2006 21:56:35 -0500, "Walter Cohen"
wrote:

I live in NY state and had roof ice dam damage in a past year. Ever since
then I've had additional under-eave ventilation vents put in and try to keep
parts of my roof clean (to some degree) of winter snow using a long handled
shovel. My roofer recommended a roof rake with a telescoping handle system.

Can anyone who has used one of these comment on how well it works, what
types/brands are recommended, width of the blade, etc.
They all seem to look similar and are constructed the same. The only
difference that I can see (on the internet) is that they are of varying
widths (blade).

Any assistance / recommendations are appreciated.

(From Syracuse) We had an interesting experience with a snow rake. Our
house is two stories plus attic - it's quite a reach, and our rake
doesn't get all the way to the top. Where it reached, it did a good
job, cleared it right down to bare shingles. But, when the snow above
that melted, it ran down onto the exposed surface and froze there. So,
we had an ice dam half-way up the roof, where there's no starter strip.
Oops.