Nancy Edmonds Hanson
hansonnanc@gmail.com

Heavy snow so early in the season is giving Moorhead homeowners a headache: Should they hurry to shift the burden off their shingles, or take a chance their roof will survive another Minnesota winter intact?
“People have been calling in a panic,” says Mark Spriggs, who with wife Lisa owns and operates M and J Construction in Moorhead. “Lisa says the phone has gone nuts with people asking, ‘Is our roof going to collapse?’”
That may seem like a long shot for homes that, after all, have already withstood many a winter. But this time around, it’s a good question. That’s due to both the quantity and the quality of snowfall from this particular storm, along with its timing – arriving at the front edge of winter, long before the snowier days of February and March.
Homeowners’ concerns have kept Mark and his crew busy clearing snow since last week’s storm abated and residents got a good look at the snow load piled up above their heads. Like other local businesses willing to tackle snow removal, Mark’s team has been hearing from past customers, referrals and complete strangers for the past 10 days. They’ve been tossing down drifts of wet, sticky white stuff ever since, their shovels and ladders calming winter-leery clients’ nerves. The workload comes at an already-busy time for the home remodeling that’s the M and J’s bread and butter. “But we’re lucky to be in this area,” he notes. “It never slows down.”
Moorhead building official Jack Nyberg says newer homes may have fewer worries. Most utilize trusses that comply with Minnesota’s building code, which mandates that new roofs must bear 35 pounds of live weight per square foot. (“Live weight” refers to snow, separate from the “dead weight” of structural materials.)
What does that poundage equate to in terms of volume? “That’s the problem. It varies,” he reports. “A cubic foot of loose, light snow might be just 6 pounds, but the same volume of wet, heavy stuff can weight up to 22 pounds. One storm can be really different from the next.”
That’s what the early blizzard left behind in December – the worst kind, with a foot or so of snowfall far wetter and, thus, much heavier than what midwinter tempests usually deliver. Weighty loads have built up on many rooftops, particularly in protected niches and on the leeward side of pitched roofs. Homes built since the 1970s are likely to employ trusses designed to bear up beneath heavier loads. Rafter-built roofs on older houses are less predictable. “They’re usually okay, but some weren’t designed so well from the engineering point of view,” Mark observes. “It’s not a sure thing.”
Ice is worrisome, too. While the mild weather of recent days has been more or less ideal for shoveling the shingles, it has also brought daytime melting. That converts to a treacherous layer of ice beneath the snowy surface, indicated by icicles growing beneath eaves and ice dams building up along the roof’s margin. As more snow melts and runs beneath the visible cover, the dams hold back the water. It can eventually seep beneath the shingles, ruining insulation, weakening beams and damaging ceilings and interior walls. Plugged vents are another concern.
“We usually don’t see this until March,” Mark says. “This isn’t starting out well. Wet, sticky snow like this is not going to just blow away. And it’s just the beginning of winter – who knows what else we’re going to get?”
Both Mark and Jack adhere to the philosophy of “better safe than sorry.” The builder, who lives in a sturdy older home, says, “I generally don’t take the snow off our house. I’ve only done it a couple times in the past, but I felt I needed to do it this year. If you let it build up, it gets a lot harder to get off.”
The likelihood of potential problems can vary even between neighboring addresses. The direction in which each structure is oriented is a factor, according to Jack. The building inspector lives on a farmstead outside of town that includes three houses. His own house, mostly built in 1907, sheds snow well with a 12:12 pitched roof; he clears only sheltered spots that collect trouble. His brother’s roof ridge next door is situated from north to south. “He barely has a speck of snow,” Jack reports. “But our folks’ ridge runs east and west, and I spent Sunday shoveling waist-high snow off of it.”
For many concerned homeowners, the question isn’t if they need to deal with their roofs – it’s whether to do it themselves, either by mounting ladders to balance up above or using long-handled roof rakes from solid ground below. The professionals counsel extreme caution. “We’ve got the experience and equipment, and we’re very careful,” Mark says. “Before we go up, we look where we’ll come down.
“We don’t really recommend people do it themselves. This one has been a bugger – it’s not usually so icy and slick. If you do tackle it, be sure you set your ladder up properly. When you get up there, check your footing. You’ve got to be careful up there.” He adds, “If you’ve got ice dams along the edge, never ever use a chisel or hammer to break them up. You’ll damage the roof for sure.” Instead, he suggests an environmentally friendly “ice block” to keep the dam from getting bigger.
Jack echoes his advice. Noting that seven roofs collapsed here last winter, he urges homeowners to be diligent about keeping an eye on what’s going on up there. “Keep an eye on it. If you’re in doubt … if it’s getting more than a foot or so deep … I’d suggest calling a professional to take a look.”
Whether or not to make that call, he says, “boils down to your personal comfort level. I don’t want to tell anybody to ignore the problem, but at the same time – don’t panic. Use care and caution.”
As for the towering piles of discarded snow shoveled off the roof onto the ground below, Mark admits not much can be done, short of waiting for spring. “We can’t really get it out of there, with bushes and all around your house,” he acknowledges. “Just be sure you have a good sump pump.”
Homeowners who want a second opinion on whether their snow load needs removal may email a photo to Mark at mj-construction@hotmail.com.