Roof Slope For Snow

You can enter this value either as a ratio x 12 or as an angle whichever suits you better.

Roof slope for snow.

In country with heavy snow and tough winter days the metal roof minimum slope is recommended to be 1 12. Building a roof with wood shakes works well in moist colder climates as they don t dry out from the snow. This allows the snow to stay on while venting the roof system. E 2a provided that for nonventilated warm roofs their thermal resistance r value equals or exceeds 30 ft 2 h f btu 5 3 c m 2 w and for warm ventilated roofs their r value equals or exceeds 20 ft 2 h f btu 3 5 cm 2 w.

On roof slopes between 4 12 and 6 12 rough textured roofing materials work best. If your roof is pitched enter the length and width of the flat area covered by the roof. There are some opinions that standing seam metal roof minimum slope is 12 but it increases the possibility of leaking on the few first days of snow arrival. The steeper the pitch the better the snow will fall to the ground.

At these slopes snow creeps rather than slides and is easy to manage. Roof slopes lower than 4 12 tend to perform well with metal roofs which are less prone to leakage and ice dam formation. The slope that works best seems to be 5 12. If you live in a climate with cold winters and numerous snow storms a pitched roof will prevent the snow from remaining on the top of your home.