Roof Pitch For Shedding Snow

The safest way to determine the pitch of an existing roof is to measure from inside your attic using a level tape measure and pencil.

Roof pitch for shedding snow.

Steeper roof pitches are better at shedding rain and snow and are used more frequently in wetter colder areas 2. This is a great starting point towards understanding if your roof type can handle the weather in your area. Using the snow load calculator i linked above type in the data regarding your shed and roof size. The higher the roof pitch the more often the snow slides off.

I also share a little about why we did not build an earthship as we had planned because of the climate here. Having a steeper pitched roof allows for more space in a shed loft. In the video above i explain the importance of roof pitch when it comes to snow. The minimum roof pitch for shedding snow is around 30 or a 6 12 or 7 12 slope although this is not a definite as the material of your roof the direction of the snow and wind are some factors that can affect whether or not snow will slide as roofs of as little as 10 have been reported to shed snow.

I have already begun the research to build a pole barn. If you are building a new roof however consider the climate to determine the correct pitch and proper materials. On higher pitch roofs of these materials snow guards may need to be applied in a layout that covers the entire roof area to stabilize the snow pack. This image shows a relatively shallow roof pitch of 15 degrees.

Out of this snow storm an idea was conceived to create a shop that would replace the old cabin. Understand that the snow in one area is very different from snow in another area. First there is the question of where the snow will self clear too mounted high enough to slide off to ground room to move snow from in front of array if you have enough snow to build up in your area. Panel angle for snow shedding i don t live in the snow belt so take my suggestions with a grain of salt.

For these roof types snow guards must be considered on all slopes that shed snow onto walkways driveways or decks. Pitched roofs are attractive and also can be used for additional space for a shed loft. Flat roofs are common with industrial buildings boasting wide roof spans and are also popular in dry climates for houses where there is no need for the roof to help disperse rain and snow. Even in these arid regions so called flat roofs are still installed with a slight pitch to keep water from pooling on top of the structure.

On these roofs snow can slide at pitches of less than 1 12.