Looking up at our roof in Whistler, where there’s about 3 feet of snow squarely packed on top of it, I often wonder if someone shouldn’t be shoveling it off.  I think the same thing about cottage roofs.  We used to make an annual winter trek to our cottage on Rice Lake lake to shovel off the roof.  Should cottagers be concerned with their roofs caving in this time of year?

I came across this exact topic on the Cottage Life website recently.  According to the article, Taking a Load Off, “A cottage roof built to building-code specifications and properly maintained will stand up to the worst winter can throw at it.” If your cottage was built in the last 20 years, it’s not likely going to collapse.

The article goes on to state that more people are injured or killed every year trying to shovel roofs than from the roofs falling on them. Shoveling and walking on the roof can also cause the shingles to crack and in some cases you can damage roof vents.

If you’re bound and determined to remove the snow from your rooftop, you may want to invest in an snow rake. Avalanche Snow Removal, based in the U.S., makes one that can be used from the ground.

If you’re up at your cabin, it’s also a good idea to take a look inside your cabin’s roof to make sure there’s no water damage, split or sagging rafters, or cracked drywall where the walls meet the ceiling.  These are all signs of roof damage.

One last cautionary note, check your johnny-on-the-spot, boat house, and tool sheds roofs, as they may not have been built to code, or their roof’s may have a shallower slope, putting them at greater risk caving in.

Cheers,

Julie

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 24th, 2008 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Fix It. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.