Getting the snow off the barn roof - any ideas?

[hedgehog]

My husband climbs up to shovel off the roof on our three storey barn a couple of times every winter.

I'm thinking some heat tape on the roof or even the underside might melt the bottom layer of snow enough to allow the whole thing to slide off.

Has anyone ever tried this?

[Botany]

1. Roof Rake & Roof melt tablets

Rake from a sturdy ladder or platform
and then throw roof melt tablets into the remaining snow




you can get 'em on line or have a hardware store order them

or just throw the tablets up on the roof .... cheaper than falling off and busting
your ass

heat tape is great but should be put up in good weather

[Oceansaway]

2. my old neighbors cut trap door like

holes on both sides of their roof...they live in rural Iowa.

they had lift-up cellar type doors...when the snow got deep up there

they drove a dump truck into the barn, parked under the 'trap door'

went atop the roof with shovels and shoveled it into the holes and

into the dumptruck....it was pretty slick...and didn't cost much.

[Submariner]

3. For a 3 storey roof it may be a best option

Heat taping.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5038581_install-heat-tape-roof.html

[hedgehog]

9. I'd like to think so, I'm mostly wondering if anyone has ever seen it done.

[Trajan]

4. I wonder how much energy would be used ...

To just introduce a space heater or two into the 'attic' portion - to generate heat to conduct from the interior to the exterior roof surface - Just enough to semi-melt the lowest snow layer so it can be 'lubricated' and slide off ...

Even though it might seem wasteful - It is far safer than climbing on the roof, and requires no installation; other than the safe, NON-combustible use of the space heater ...

It might actually be worth the price .... I don't really know ... Just a guess ....

I am not a farmer, and I prefer city living .... Good Luck !

[hedgehog]

7. The problem we have is that the old wood siding lets all the heat out the sides.

We had a salamander in there one time full bore and it didn't warm the place at all!

One of these years, when i get the money, we install insulation board all the way around!

[Trajan]

12. well ... I can understand about the siding ...

But it would actually help if the heat source was high in the rafters, and the roof skin 'leaked' .... I was thinking that introducing heat from the interior directly to the roof would loosen up the snow enough to let it slide down naturally .... I am sure this is a temporary measure ... unless you have snow atop your roof more than a couple times a year ...

It would help if the space were essentially sealed from an efficiency standpoint, but you might be able to pull it off .... I assume the problem is the snow loading, and not necessarily the cost of brief energy usage .... I dont know ...

[gristy]

5. Won't help this year, but maybe this summer nail down a steel roof over the existing roof

If your roof is steep enough, the snow will slide right off.

[hedgehog]

8. We have some aluminum sheet roofing on the south face, and

boy howdy, does that do the job!

[thaddeus_flowe]

6. have you ever tried

living in california?

sorry, couldn't resist.
it is currently 77 degrees and perfect.

good luck and stay warm!

[hedgehog]

10. OTOH - I can be pretty sure the barn is going to be where I left it in the

morning when I come at night- there are advantages to Upstate New York over California!

[Arctic Dave]

11. Rub two stick together until the ignite, walk away.

:evilgrin:

[Remmah2]

13. Are you sure your barn was not designed to handle the load?

My uncle in Buffalo, NY has multiple barns ranging from 90 years old to 20 years old. The original barn is a post and beam construction type. The newer barns have pre-fabricated trusses.

We've never had to clear a roof. The old barn has a classic barn type roof while the newer ones have a simple 6/12 pitch.

Design wise the new buildings are designed for 100 pounds per square foot (dead load). He didn't build the original barn but there have been no problems.

Check with the local Cooperative Extension services. They may be able to provide technical advice to determine your barns durability. Roofing on barns is bad enough in good weather, I wouldn't want to climb on to a roof in the snow.

[hedgehog]

14. We're at the other end of Lake Ontario in Oswego County. We

get a little bit more snow than the southtowns in Erie County, but not much more. A lot of the barns around here have been let go and you can see every spring where an old one has gone down. Would they have gone down if they'd been straightened and reinforced like ours was? I don't know.

Saturday my husband shoveled off about 3' of packed snow from the barn roof. As he was finishing, we got about 6-8" of really wet, really heavy snow. Today we got drizzly snow all day. I wouldn't want to bet that our barn could stand up to heavy spring snow on top of a winter's accumulation.

The other factor here is that since about 1900, we've been recording shorter winters here but increasing amounts of snow. Lake Ontario always stays open, but as it's been warming up, it pumps out more snow. This barn is maybe 130 years old; post Civil War, but not by much.

[Remmah2]

15. Wet snow.

I hear ya on the wet snow. Or snow then rain. Stuff just stacks up.

Sounds like a nice old barn. Set stone foundation?

[hedgehog]

16. It's a neat barn - set into a hill so the bottom floor is really a walk out basement.

Part of the barn has a stone and masonry foundation, an addition has stacked block.

[Shagbark Hickory]

17. Angry birds. nt