When weather stations predict frigid temperatures and record snowfall concerns rise that roofs may not make it the full season but instead collapse under the strain of a surprising snow load.
Snow collapses roof.
The recent heavy snow can cause problems with roofs and that has been keeping crews busy around west michigan.
Typical homeowners insurance covers damage caused by severe winter storms and blizzards including roof collapses due to snow and ice.
The amount of snow or ice that is unsafe depends on the building design.
However combine heavy snow with any of them and you may be in trouble.
And in the case of roof collapse due to snow and ice insurers look at several variables before deciding if and how much to pay.
For a roof to collapse because of snow on a home that is newer and was designed and constructed properly is extremely rare.
In most instances snow is involved when it comes to a roof collapse but often one of the previous factors we just listed accompanies it.
A good rule of thumb is that if your roof has more than 2 ft of snow then it is definitely time to consider finding ways of removing it.
Robert champagne principal of summit engineering says that the best way to prevent a roof collapse from snow is to be proactive.
In most cases excessive snow accumulation on a roof manifests itself in more subtle ways and causes gradual damage over time instead of a sudden calamity.
But not all coverage is the same.
This is a rough estimate when no information is available to analyze a roof properly.
It can create ice dams and cause leaks that then can create hidden structural damage in the upper parts of a building.
The ultimate damage snow can cause is roof collapse but that s not the only problem.
Winter storms in minnesota and other sections of the upper midwest can dump large amounts of snow and ice on agricultural building roofs which can lead to a roof collapse.
There are a lot of issues with snow on roofs nagy said.
Snow roof collapses are rare thankfully this type of incident doesn t happen very often.