On Sep 23, 4:45*am, LouB wrote:
Pat wrote:
On Sep 22, 7:49 pm, BuckK wrote:
On Sep 20, 11:53 am, BuckK wrote:

I have a two-story home with a metal roof. *I bought the home three
years ago. *Every year ice builds up on the roof ans slowly slides
off. *Last year it became 6 inches thick and when it finally let go it
destroyed my metal bulkhead and damaged my chimney. *I'd like to
remove the snow before it turns to ice. *Is there a roof rake that
will reach the top of my house (the peak is almost 50 feet from the
ground)? *Any other alternatives?
Thanks!
Thanks fo rthe relpies, let me try to clarify. *I want the snow to
slide off the roof before it turns to ice. *We have cathedral ceilings
with no chimney. *I suspect heat is the culprit. *The roof is only 5
years old, pretty steep, and and pretty smooth. *I just need a way to
get the snow off after each storm.

I don't know where you live but I live in the snow belt south of
Buffalo. *We get snow. *Lots and lots of snow.

Snow on a roof isn't a problem. *In some ways it's a good thing.

Ice is a different problem. *It can fall off and clunk you or
whatever. *The solution isn't to get the snow off after every snow
storm (which around here might be twice a day) but to keep the snow
from turning into ice.

You have a cathedral ceiling so it's unlikely you have an attic. *If
you do have an attic, get up in there and check your insulation. *Make
sure there's enough air circulating to keep it cool (so no ice forms).

If you don't have an attic, you should have someone look at the roof
and make sure there is adequate/proper venting. *If there was not
problem before the last roof went on, check to see what happened to
the venting.

Another option would be to install some sort of internal duct with a
fan to take hot air off the peak of the ceiling and bring it down to
floor level to recirculate it. *That might keep your roof cooler.

As for a rake, I doubt it. *At 50' there's an incredible amount of
leverage working against you. *Picture a 5 lb item on a 50' boom.
First off, the boom would have to be pretty significant. *Second off,
the leverage would make it so it would be really hard to lift.

The only possible solution I can think of is something like a chimney
cleaning broom where you can keep adding on 10' sections. *That might
work poorly but might work. *But a ridge vent is a better solution.

Up in New England I have seen many houses with steep roofs that have
what look like small damns along the base of their roofs which I presume
stop large chunks of snow and/or ice from coming down as large chunks.

Lou

Exactly. Snow should come off the roof by itself and those things
keep it from coming down in sheets. This guy has the opposite
problem. He can't get it to come down. That means he has a roof
problem not a snow problem.