As soon as once more this winter, the snow is coming down with authority, and when this nor’easter winds down later at the moment, there will be a brand new accumulation of 12 inches or extra. By this time subsequent week, we’re anticipating no less than one other foot on prime of that.
As a local New Englander, I am ready. Now we have shovels, sand and a man who involves plow our lengthy driveway. However what actually captures my consideration is overhead. In winter, I am obsessive about my roof — and with a easy device that is turn out to be an indispensable ally in sustaining my home correctly throughout chilly climate.
My roof rake.
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It isn’t a lot to have a look at. Sixteen ft of aluminum pole with a perpendicular 22-inch-wide blue plastic blade at one finish. Nevertheless it makes all of the distinction in holding melting snow from turning into streams of water that leak into the home. That’ll harm partitions, ceilings, lighting fixtures and anything that is underneath the drip, drip, drip. Over time, it might develop right into a mildew downside.
Inside your own home, leak detectors are helpful devices for every kind of water mishaps, however prevention is all the time the higher coverage.
For those who reside in an space that is within the path of snowy winter climate, take note of the buildup in your roof. In a single sense, snow on the roof is a constructive factor. It signifies that you’ve adequate insulation in your ceiling and attic to stop heat air from escaping, in addition to correct air flow to assist preserve the roof cool.
However that snow will soften, producing runoff that heads downhill to your eaves and gutters. And that is the place the issue begins.
The winter of 2015 was a brutal one in Massachusetts, with roughly 90 inches of snow falling in lower than a month. That yr, the ice dams gained.
As that water reaches the sting of your roof, it turns into extra uncovered to chilly temperatures and it will refreeze, creating ice dams. These frozen blockages will construct up and stop the following waves of meltwater from falling harmlessly off your roof. The place does that water go? It backs up underneath your shingles and thru the roof decking, following a brand new gravitational pathway into your dwelling areas.
I’ve witnessed this leaking. I’ve repaired the harm. I’ve vowed by no means to let it occur once more.
Which is why I am outdoors proper after each snowfall, raking away.
There are no actually compelling technological fixes for this downside. There isn’t a Roomba to your rooftop. Entire-roof heating methods do exist, however they price 1000’s of {dollars} and are a big building challenge. Right here in New England, it is common to see properties with a heating cable snaked alongside the decrease portion of the roof, simply above the eaves. However for my home, even that extra modest choice would probably run someplace between $1,000 and $2,000 to put in.
With any heating system, there’ll even be ongoing electrical energy prices and a doubtlessly messy cycle of melting and refreezing.
A roof rake will set you again lower than $200, and possibly not even half that a lot. It is low tech, and it really works.
Watch this: I Drove an EV This Winter in Sweden to Show It May Be Finished.
The best manner to make use of a roof rake
I have been utilizing my roof rake after each snowstorm, even the minor ones, for a lot of a snowy winter right here in central Massachusetts.
I needed to study the laborious manner. Earlier than I purchased my roof rake, I went after the ice dams themselves, after they’d already turn out to be manner too thick, and water was dripping, typically fiercely, into the home. I used to be outdoors on a ladder, within the chilly, whaling away with a hatchet. Not the best way to go.
That is me, clearing the roof after a refreshingly mild snowfall.
A roof rake is a lot faster and easier — and once more, it is that all-important ounce of prevention. You stand on the bottom, attain up with the rake and pull a giant shovel’s value of snow off the roof. Take a step or two and repeat the method. With mild to average snowfall, I am going to get round my home in about 20 minutes. With heavy, icy accumulation, it takes me about twice that lengthy.
Remember that it may be a exercise to your arms and shoulders. The rake does not weigh a lot, however it’s top-heavy, and also you’re reaching up and away out of your physique. When the snow is thick, moist, crusty or all the above, you will should make an additional effort with every stroke.
However when you’re accustomed to the customarily backbreaking work of shoveling snow, you will welcome the change of tempo.
How a lot snow do it’s important to pull down? The guides I’ve learn suggest clearing as a lot as 6 ft up from the eaves, and once I began raking my roof, I used to go simply so far as I might attain. If I wasn’t hitting that 6-foot mark, I used to be getting shut.
Over time, although, I’ve discovered that simply 1 to 2 ft is usually adequate. That is the crucial space, proper previous the eaves, the place freezing and ice dam buildup happen.
The guides additionally advise going simple when scraping all the way down to the roof shingles, so you do not put on them out prematurely. I’ve to admit I am not that fastidious — I am often dragging proper alongside the shingles themselves, relatively than attempting to depart a skinny coating of snow — and it hasn’t gave the impression to be an issue.
And for heaven’s sake, be aware of the place the facility strains come into your own home. You are waving a steel pole within the air, in any case.
Bear in mind to put on heavy gloves if you’re roof-raking. The aluminum pole will get actually chilly to the contact.
How to buy a roof rake
Like leaf rakes, roof rakes haven’t got lots of selection. A typical roof rake comes with 4 4-foot lengths of aluminum pole that you just connect finish to finish to get the complete size, plus the quick blade attachment. (Mine has three 5-foot lengths, together with the blade section.) The width of the blade ranges between roughly 17 and 24 inches.
The 16-foot size I’ve is sufficient for my home, a raised ranch, even on the aspect the place the bottom slopes away and I can get simply the primary foot or so of snow on the fringe of the roof. In case you have a taller home otherwise you actually need to clear manner up excessive, you possibly can all the time get further sections. The blade part of my pole angles towards the roof, which is useful.
Some rakes have little wheels on the underside of the blade to keep away from scraping straight on the shingles. Looks like a sensible design.
Different roof rakes aren’t really rakes in any respect. As a substitute of getting a blade, the enterprise finish is open, with prongs holding one finish of a plastic slide that runs parallel to the pole. You push into the snow, and the slide gives a slick runway for the snow to fall to the bottom. I’ve by no means tried one in every of these, however having spent sufficient time wielding a normal roof rake, I’ve my doubts. It appears finest suited to powder.
Costs for roof rakes sometimes vary from $50 to $60 and may get to about $200. Years again, I purchased a really primary mannequin, and it is nonetheless going sturdy — a wonderful funding.
Gone are the times once I really went up onto my roof and tried shoveling along with raking. In equity, that was a legendary winter. In 2015, New England skilled 4 main snowstorms in lower than a month, dumping about 90 inches of snow throughout that quick span. Nobody might sustain.
However wanting one other “Snowmaggedon,” I do know my roof rake will proceed to serve me effectively. Each time a snowstorm wanes, the 2 of us will head outdoors to begin the clearing.
