Community Corner

Officials Urge Roof Snow Removal

The Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security and Gov. Dannel Malloy urge residents to remove excess snow from their roofs.

Many residents and businesses owners spent the weekend clearing snow and ice from their roofs in preparation for another potential winter storm forecasted to come into the area Tuesday though Thursday.

In fact, the state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security recommended it on Sunday, saying this next round of snow, sleet and rain could add another 25- to 30-percent to already heavy snow roof loads.

The agency and Gov. Dannel Malloy advised homeowners and businesses to spend time now to remove excess snow, particularly from flat or low-pitched roofs in preparation for the next storm.

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Even before the state agency issued its advisory, Newtown Building Official John Poeltl said his office had been inundated with calls from residents asking if they should remove the snow from their roofs.

He said the roofs of most modern houses should be able to withstand multiple snow events, with building codes specifying that roofs be built to hold 30-pounds of weight per square foot.

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How much snow that translates to depends on whether it’s wet or fluffy snow and the angle of the roof pitch. Steep roofs tend to allow snow to slide off while less angled roofs tend to allow for more snow accumulation.

Complicating matters is that older homes and barns may have aging roofs or were never built to conform to heavy snow loads and modern building codes.

At least as a result of heavy snow.

If homeowners are concerned about too much snow on their roofs, they should contact a professional for help rather than climbing a ladder due to the danger of possibly fall off a roof, Poeltl said.

In addition to heavy snow loads, homeowners also must contend with ice dams, a common sight on the roofs and gutters of many homes in Newtown.

Ice dams arise as water freezes, causing melting snow to back up and leak inside a home, damaging walls and ceilings. In the case of aluminum gutters, ice dams are unavoidable, Poeltl said, adding the damage becomes most visible as the snow melts and needs a place to drain from the roof but can't due to the ice dams.

“If we get a warm day, we’re going to see a lot of water damage,” Poeltl said.

The only way to avoid water damage is to remove ice and icicles from the roof and gutters now, although that can be difficult to do considering the amount of ice that has built up around many gutters and roofs across town.

Poeltl said he has heard of some homeowners putting rock salt into spare pairs of panty hose and placing them in gutters as a way to melt the ice, although he couldn't vouch for that method's effectiveness.


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