It used to be pretty difficult to do roofing through the winter. But with better tools and materials we are now able to roof right through the winter. Roofing through the winter is a whole lot different than roofing during the other 3 seasons. That’s because the weather patterns in the winter are extreme. It can go something like this; first, it snows. New snow tends to be light and fluffy. Although the flakes seem completely innocuous, they weigh a lot. According to the website Coastal Windows and Exteriors’ every 6.5 inches of snowfall, equals the weight of a compact SUV sitting on your roof. That’s a lot of pressure.

Then the weather pattern swings and it gets warmer outside and the snow begins to melt. Wet snow is much heavier than light fluffy snow. One inch of wet snow weighs 1.66 pounds per square foot. Five inches of wet snow equals 12.5 pounds of pressure on your roof. Your roof can handle that without a problem if it is in good shape. The risk of structural damage is when you have 10 inches of wet snow on your roof which equals 25 pounds of pressure. At that point, snow should be removed by a professional roofer to ensure that your roof doesn’t collapse.

The weather pattern changes again and temperatures drop and ice forms. One inch of ice is equal to 10-12 inches of fresh snow and 3-5 inches of packed snow. Once the ice starts melting it can be very destructive. It can back up and cause leaks behind the gutters and in the valleys. We can prevent this by installing Ice Shield. You can read about the process here.

So these extreme weather patterns require a homeowner’s attention to ensure their house is safe and secure. Unlike in years past, as long as there is a foot or less of snow on your roof we are able to remove it and do an emergency patch. In summary, we are here for you should an emergency arise because we do roofing through the winter.