Alternatives to Roof Raking?

Submitted by Decemberskel t3_10kk7dr in newhampshire

Some basic background: I live with one other person in a two-floor house that has traditional shingles and not the plastic ones I've been seeing recently. While we used to get by with manually raking the roof, between both of us having jobs and covid possibly affecting both of our respiratory systems (but I'm not a doctor so I don't know for sure), we've just had less and less energy to really get out and do the work, and even then it tires both of us out faster than it used to. There are two areas on the roof that have an inverted corner (I think that's how you say it?).

Are there any alternatives to raking the roof that are less intensive than the traditional method? Before it gets mentioned, we don't necessarily have the cash to hire someone else to do it

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movdqa t1_j5r67ln wrote

Do you have to rake the roof? The storms so far this year have been relatively minor and temps are warm enough so that you have to decide on whether or not you need to do it. I do it regularly on a second-story roof. I bought two roof rakes that have three sections each so that I can use four sections to reach the roof. This allows me to do about 3 feet off the bottom of the roof. There are windows above the roof and I can shovel the snow off the upper roof. This is all a fair amount of work as you can imagine though my son will help out with the shoveling if I ask; and sometimes he volunteers. We just got a new roof so I don't know if we need to do this but I'm just used to doing it.

Most of my neighbors don't clear their roofs and I assume that they don't have problems, I do it because of past problems with ice dams. Are you doing this because you have had leaks or ice dams in the past? If so, it's generally a judgement call - will it melt on its own without having to rake it - and I make this calculation every storm. If it's 1-3 inches and we have 1-2 days of above-freezing temperatures, then I may not bother.

The only other approaches that I've heard of are to get a metal roof or a metal roof bottom with heating elements to melt ice dams.

We only have to do one roof because the roof is not steeply angled which means that snow and ice don't fall off quickly. The other roofs are at a steeper angle and don't have leak issues.

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ninjamansidekick t1_j5scrrb wrote

It's New England, any house that is still standing after 30 years probably does not need the roof raked.

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oldmanshiba t1_j5tkiap wrote

I use a roof heater. I was getting ice dams so bad that it would rain inside my living room. I run the heated cable in a zig zag up to where my roof pitch changes. I plug it in at the start of a storm and unplug it after. Probably costs me $20 extra in electricity each month. Haven’t had ice dams since.

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zeeke42 t1_j5tqkk8 wrote

The zigzag heated cables work great. Unfortunately that won't solve OP's problem for this winter, but it'd be a great summer project.

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oldmanshiba t1_j5uh6x4 wrote

The first year I got it I just put it on top of the snow and let it melt through. I don’t think it’s too late.

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zeeke42 t1_j5upcz0 wrote

Personally the idea of climbing around on a snowy/icy roof scares the crap out of me. I don't see how to do it right (zig zag with clips holding it down) without going on the roof. I tried tossing it out the overlooking windows at my old house after we had ice dams, but that didn't work worth anything.

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RelationshipJust9556 t1_j5r7nsx wrote

the valleys are where ice dams have a tendancy to form,

I sock full of salt hels with that

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well you can traditional rood rake, you can get up on the roof and shovel, you can hire someone to do it., you can crank your heat too 100 and hope you melt the snow from the inside.

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there are like cutting type roof rakes

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=cutting+roof+rakes#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:29ca1ea6,vid:yn2IQ1hIx7o

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Kv603 t1_j5r6zzb wrote

Why are you raking the roof?

> Are there any alternatives to raking the roof that are less intensive than the traditional method?

If your concern is ice dams rather than the mass of snow, there are alternative solutions for ice dams other than raking.

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jgren91 t1_j5r975n wrote

They make salt pucks that you toss up on the roof. I toss a few up after every storm and don't take anymore

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Decemberskel OP t1_j5ravrs wrote

We tried that a year or two ago but if the snow was even slightly hard they had a tendency to roll off

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jgren91 t1_j5rdly9 wrote

Yeah I've had that happen to me a few times. The snows usually soft for me. My house is poorly insulated so it's constantly melting. Makes it easier to stick a puck

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Due_Panda9495 t1_j5rklvb wrote

If you move in the future, look for places with metal roofs, it slides right off

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MommaGuy t1_j5tb52a wrote

Have you looked into installing those heated cables?

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nullcompany t1_j5tvc4c wrote

someone makes a roof rake that splices a slip and slide plastic liner under the snow .. the snow instantly slides off it. so you are only exerting the force to insert the plastic and not as much to pull the entire snow out

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Arthur-Morgans-Beard t1_j5yotx1 wrote

Have you considered moving to a rental property? Seems like home ownership may be too expensive and/or labor intensive for you guys....

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moffettusprime t1_j5r9hkd wrote

I'll do it for a thousand dollars. 😎

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