Suggested Snow Roof Degree

The 30 degree 7 12 roof recommendation is backed up by testing according to the publication science daily.

Suggested snow roof degree.

Slate is also a popular material in this climate zone. Determining the roof pitch for your weather the first thing to do is to check the building codes for your county and state. To calculate the snow load on your roof assume that every inch deep of snow equals 1 25 pounds. A 30 degree roof slope 7 12 pitch is the right pitch to aerodynamically handle high wind.

At these slopes snow creeps rather than slides and is easy to manage. 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. Pitch is a measure of the steepness of a roof. In snowy areas your roof should be at least 10 12 40 to allow snow to shed while the safest roof pitch in very windy areas is between 4 12 6 12 18 5 26 5.

The requirements for an asphalt shingles roof are contained in the international building code. On roof slopes between 4 12 and 6 12 rough textured roofing materials work best. A reputable roofing contractor will be familiar with the pitch required by these codes. Steeper slopes increase the sail effect that makes them susceptible to wind.

Building a roof with wood shakes works well in moist colder climates as they don t dry out from the snow. And although asphalt shingles are the easiest to damage among the roofing materials they are another good option for snow as long as your climate isn t too windy. The pitch of the roof is determined by the vertical rise. S equals the depth in inches of the snow on your roof and p represents the pounds per square foot your roof is supporting.

In country with heavy snow and tough winter days the metal roof minimum slope is recommended to be 1 12. Lower slopes don t handle wind driven rain as well. According to this code the minimum slope for asphalt shingles is 17 degrees or two vertical units to twelve units in the horizontal.