# House is shaking



## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

The rest of the ice is sliding off my roof. Then it's sliding back into my Windows.. Sure hope my Windows make it thru the night intact.


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## secuono (Sep 28, 2011)

We have metal roofing and ice slides down and I worry about all the dents it makes....I hate huge storms, just for my poor roof!


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

What kinda music u playin? Shounds like a whole lotta shakin goin on lol.


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

I wish Bill. So far no window damage. Won't know if my vinyl siding is cracked until thaw and melt off this spring. I hate when this happens, haven't had as much snow in awhile. It's the rain that has been happening along with the snow.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Tanks. Now U got me scared, with as many earthquakes as Okla has nowadays


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Sounds like a improperly installed metal roof. 
The sheets should run horizontally for strength and to hold the insulating snow in place.


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

AmericanStand said:


> Sounds like a improperly installed metal roof.
> The sheets should run horizontally for strength and to hold the insulating snow in place.


In the West where snow loads can be heavy because of the Pacific ocean we need the snow off the roofs so they don't collapse.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

oneraddad said:


> In the West where snow loads can be heavy because of the Pacific ocean we need the snow off the roofs so they don't collapse.



Why ?


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

AmericanStand said:


> Why ?


Why not ?


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Why would a properly designed structure collapse ?
What happens when the snow load doesn't slide off the roof ?

The Thompson pass roadhouse used to get up to 50 feet of snow above the roof and it wasn't a snow load that destroyed it.


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

When it don't slide off people pay big bucks to have it shoveled.

There is no such thing as properly designed when it comes to mother nature.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

oneraddad said:


> When it don't slide off people pay big bucks to have it shoveled.
> 
> There is no such thing as properly designed when it comes to mother nature.


Sorry, just not true. I have 3 feet of snow on my roof right now. Properly designed for wind and snow load.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

From what I hear there are some folks in West Virginia and Maryland that better get ready for a load.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

oneraddad said:


> When it don't slide off people pay big bucks to have it shoveled.
> 
> There is no such thing as properly designed when it comes to mother nature.



Seems like a poor design to me. What if nobody is home ?


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

I always like watching those people that build their homes with the snow coming off over the front or garage door.


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

3' ?

What if it's 10-15-20 ?


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

oneraddad said:


> 3' ?
> 
> What if it's 10-15-20 ?


If you live in a place that gets that much snow then you build a high peaked roof with no gables and metal so that it slides off. I lived for 6 years where we had snow half way up the second floor windows by the end of the winter. All the first floor windows got covered before winter. We could put our beer in the snow is stead of a fridge.

You build for the location or you shovel. It is really a simple plan.


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

We get whats called Sierra cement which is very wet and heavy snow. Houses in the higher elevations have high peak metal roofs. I don't know how it is in wyoming


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## Twp.Tom (Dec 29, 2010)

painterswife said:


> Sorry, just not true. I have 3 feet of snow on my roof right now. Properly designed for wind and snow load.


I have been roofing structures since 1980, and have never seen a horizontal metal roof? I am really interested in the design of the roof that You have, do You have any pictures?


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

If you read the instructions from the manufacturer most recommend horizontal direct attachment on all surfaces.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

oneraddad said:


> 3' ?
> 
> What if it's 10-15-20 ?



Like I said in post 10  those tiny amounts shouldn't be a problem.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

Twp.Tom said:


> I have been roofing structures since 1980, and have never seen a horizontal metal roof? I am really interested in the design of the roof that You have, do You have any pictures?


Who said I had a horizontal roof.


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## Ramblin Wreck (Jun 10, 2005)

Twp.Tom said:


> I have been roofing structures since 1980, and have never seen a horizontal metal roof? I am really interested in the design of the roof that You have, do You have any pictures?


I have seen it, but I don't have any pictures. One guy about three miles from here built a garage and ran his roofing panels horizontally (siding ran horizontally too). I'm not sure how well it sheds water. My wood shed is a metal garage type structure, and it has the panels running horizontally. However, the ridges are not very pronounced. Here's a link to a vendor's picture of such a structure: http://www.carport.com/?gclid=CICTuZGPucoCFUslgQodF3ECeA

My house, garage, and barns have metal panels running vertically, and I've never seen a dwelling in this area with the panels running horizontally. Holding snow is not a factor to be considered here though, shedding rainwater is.


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

Believe my roof is correctly installed. In my area snow can be extreme, you want it to slope off the snow. Thankfully I have a former over my roof so it doesn't interface with the door. Now next to my walk is a different story. The terms are so high now that it splits the snow/ice sliding off. Now normally it's not a huge concern but this year we had a mix of snow and rain then very cold temps. 

Of course you want heavy loads off the roof, many businesses have had their roof collapse from heavy snows.


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## Twp.Tom (Dec 29, 2010)

I hope that the snow melt did not damage Your home Echoes. The forces of nature can be so destructive!

Here is the snow load on our roof. The roof has a 5/12 pitch-note the gable over the entryway(to avoid getting clobbered by falling ice/snow*. Incidentally, it has a modern(new) standing seam metal roof-the panels have been attached vertically***


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

We have been getting more ice than snow, and our heating system has been misbehaving.

So far we have been able to restart it by turning the heat off and on again, which is good because I do not want to take the time to mess with this. DS is moving to an apartment and since he does not drive I have been driving his stuff over! Not to mention the stacks of boxes and such: I feel like I am being nibbled to death by ducks!

On the good side my house is not shaking and my windows are intact!


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Echoesechos said:


> Of course you want heavy loads off the roof, many businesses have had their roof collapse from heavy snows.



Of course there are ways to deal with inadequate design but your mention of businesses reminds me that nearly everywhere they have FLAT roofs.


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

I have a FLAT roof and hardly ever have more than 6" on it while there can be around 10-15' on the ground ?


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

This was 5-6 years ago and nothing on the roof ?


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## reneedarley (Jun 11, 2014)

I have been reading the thread and fell across this picture in a local magazine - a farm built in 1645. Around here, many of the houses are still the same style and the older ones (like ours) have just had metal roof put over the original wooden one.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

metal roofing is designed to run up and down not across so rain and snow gets off the roof...the entire reason is to 'shed' the elements. i see those little metal sided carport things with horizontal metal running but here i seen a bunch collapse too.

in high country were heavy snow loads happen many older buildins i been in have giant eye bolts through outer walls with giant square 'washers' with the eye on inside and heavy metal cable running from wall to wall to hold the walls in so they dont blow out from heavy wet snows.

a roof in PNW has to shed alot of water and wet snow...one place i lived got over 200 inches a year. i seen snow pack to my windshield of my f250 on july 4th...roflmao.


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

AmericanStand said:


> Of course there are ways to deal with inadequate design but your mention of businesses reminds me that nearly everywhere they have FLAT roofs.


No flat ones here. Not sure what my pitch is but the homes here are built for snow loads. I have the gable over my front door to thankfully. Most of the snow is off now.. This weekend I will use the snow roof rake to work on the back portion over my deck. 

I will try to take pictures tomorrow so everyone can see it's not installed wrong or inadequate design, these houses were built to withstand snow loads.. I agree all the roofs I've seen are designed to shed water and snow..


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## farmgal (Nov 12, 2005)

Metal roofs that are properly vented do shed their snow. Mines 8/12 pitch. It gets a foot or 2 depending on weight and then dumps. The trick is having a good sized overhang to shed it away from the house. Many skimp on overhang. 

Stay safe n warm everyone. I'm staying at my cousins in Arizona this winter, I could get used to this.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

*Sounds like a improperly installed metal roof. 
The sheets should run horizontally for strength and to hold the insulating snow in place.*

Absolutely untrue.
Metal roofing should never be installed with ribs running perpendicular to the roof slope, and holding the snow in place is a horrible idea.

I'll bet you can't find a single metal roof manufacturer who recommends this practice or will provide a warranty if installed that way. Onraddad is correct ..... It's always best to design a roof so that it sheds the snow / ice / rain off of it as quickly as possible. Holding snow / ice rain on a roof for extended period only leads to leaks and other problems.

Sounds like the original poster has some goofy design problems if snow / ice is sliding off roof into windows. Need to get the build up shoveled away and get that resolved so a window doesn't get broken.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Fishindude said:


> *Sounds like a improperly installed metal roof.
> 
> The sheets should run horizontally for strength and to hold the insulating snow in place.*
> 
> ...




All of the ones I've seen recommend horizontal. Do you read the manufacturors. Recommendations. ?

The problem with designing a roof to shed the load rather than carry it is that you can't. 

As pointed out earlier then you wind up with people up there shoveling it off. 
But if they are not there to save their poorly designed roof what happens ?
A stay in a hospital or being weathered out could result in getting home to a collapsed roof. 
To me that just seems like very bad design.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

How steep does a roof have to be to reliably shed snow ?
Ever see a snow cornice ?that rolling wave form that can curl all the way around into a G shape ?


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

I googled "metal roofing" images and didn't find any installed horizontal. So I googled "metal roof snow" images and didn't find any there either. 

How does it feel to be the smartest guy in the world knowing everybody else got it wrong ?

 https://www.google.com/search?q=metal+roofing&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiu_Mv_4r3KAhUU9GMKHZnzB6AQ_AUICCgC&biw=1120&bih=627

https://www.google.com/search?q=Metal+roof+snow&espv=2&biw=1120&bih=627&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiumfq0473KAhVO6mMKHTJHB5QQ_AUIBygC


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

I have seen those AS. If it is cold but fight on the cusp it slides slow and can curl. I took pictures this morning to show it's properly installed. I could have gotten out there and tried to shovel back the berm but we had two feet of snow fall then it rained hard for hours and surprise then froze. Sometimes I figure out whether it's safe or not to work in this. 

It's in the rare instances that we have this situation. Oh well it is what it is I guess. If a roof was installed here horizontal county code enforcement would be knocking on your foot.


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

Fishindude said:


> *Sounds like a improperly installed metal roof.
> The sheets should run horizontally for strength and to hold the insulating snow in place.*
> 
> Absolutely untrue.
> ...


Not sliding off into Windows. Sliding off onto the berm and some is THEN sliding into my windows.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

see how high the snow pack is on echos home already...wont be long till snow wont be able to slide off roof.most old buildings in high country built for usfs from 1900ish till 40's have 12/12 roof and either have the cables inside,log tied or metal truss type things tieing outer walls together like a collar tie does only its at top of wall so walls dont blow out from the weight.all that weight sitting often for months eventually can break the building down.

in high volume snow areas theres only so much snow removal a person can do till they are overwhelmed...especially without equipment and an area to push to/handle volumes of the stuff.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)




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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

elkhound said:


> see how high the snow pack is on echos home already...wont be long till snow wont be able to slide off roof.most old buildings in high country built for usfs from 1900ish till 40's have 12/12 roof and either have the cables inside,log tied or metal truss type things tieing outer walls together like a collar tie does only its at top of wall so walls dont blow out from the weight.all that weight sitting often for months eventually can break the building down.
> 
> in high volume snow areas theres only so much snow removal a person can do till they are overwhelmed...especially without equipment and an area to push to/handle volumes of the stuff.


It hits now that the ice is off farther out and away from my house. It was the circumstances of the snow, rain and minus temps. Good insulation right??


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

This is a cornice I jumped my snowmobile off


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

elkhound said:


>


And that is why I use my snow roof rake. Extends to 17'. When it lets go it lets go. Always sounds like the whole roof is going.


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

Just talked to my friend who is our retired building inspector for my county. Our snow load for our houses are 55# per square foot.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

Echoesechos said:


> Just talked to my friend who is our retired building inspector for my county. Our snow load for our houses are 55# per square foot.


We are at 100 here but we built to 120.


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

Across the highway its higher. Go figure. In 94 we had over twenty two feet of snow and was that fun. Not! We kinda feel the bigger storms are past us now. Just little bit at a time and rain. The dirty little culprit is the rain.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

oneraddad said:


> How does it feel to be the smartest guy in the world knowing everybody else got it wrong ?
> 
> ]



Normal.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Gee when I googled it this is the first image that showed up.

http://abcseamless.com/steel-roofing


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

AmericanStand said:


> Gee when I googled it this is the first image that showed up.
> 
> http://abcseamless.com/steel-roofing


Didnt see anything written about snow or ice though...it's pretty though. The kind of weather it talked about isn't in my snow country except incidental wind and rain.


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

AmericanStand said:


> Gee when I googled it this is the first image that showed up.
> 
> http://abcseamless.com/steel-roofing


What stops the snow from sliding off since I thought you wanted the snow to stay for insulation ? There's no ribs to stop the snow ?


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

The picture looked like ribs to me. 
But I'm looking at it on a phone.


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

The company and material you picked isn't a traditional metal roof and doesn't have ribs. You'll notice when I searched "seamless steel roofing" images your roof is the only one thats horizontal.

https://www.google.com/search?q=seamless+steel+roofing&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiA86eq_L7KAhUK4GMKHRlTA80Q_AUIBygB&biw=1120&bih=627










http://abcseamless.com/wp-content/gallery/seamless-roofing/Red-Roof-1.jpg


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## coolrunnin (Aug 28, 2010)

AmericanStand said:


> The picture looked like ribs to me.
> But I'm looking at it on a phone.


I think that your picture is a metal roof with a profile mimicking a traditional asphalt roof.


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## wdcutrsdaughter (Dec 9, 2012)

Add spring rain on top of snow roof it changes the weight and adds to the trouble
I hope we don't get enough to have to shovel our roof
but we have a couple months to go....


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Here there is even some print in the full metal building section. 


http://www.waldropmetalbuildings.com/metal_buildings_prices.php


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## oneraddad (Jul 20, 2010)

Would you stand under any of those structures pictured in your link while there was 5-10' of snow on the roof ?

Your links keep getting worse by the way


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## Tommyice (Dec 5, 2010)

Look on the bright side. At least you've all got pitched roofs. I've got two flat roofs (and one pitched) on our building. 

I've also got 2' of snow right now and it's still coming down. I sure can empathize with Echos


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

Take care Leslie. I have just a bit left on mine.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

oneraddad said:


> Would you stand under any of those structures pictured in your link while there was 5-10' of snow on the roof ?
> 
> Your links keep getting worse by the way



How are the links worse ?
I'm not very experianced at linking how can I improve them ?

I'm not sure if those roofs were designed for a 10 foot snow load. 

I think pre rolled metal roofing it was not expected for the snow to slide off a roof. 
I've also noticed that many vertical roofs have blocks built in to help keep snow and ice from sliding off.


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## Tommyice (Dec 5, 2010)

Are you talking about those decorative spike like things in the ends? If so, those are to break up the ice so it is not huge sheets coming off to potentially maim and damage. It still comes off but in a less treacherous way.


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## Echoesechos (Jan 22, 2010)

Yup, and usually its businesses that have them or people who have to walk near the slide zone. Quite often here they just get torn off then you have to replace the roofing. We had them over my door into my dispatch office but first winter they were torn off. I just watch and listen to the roof and take a chance or walk up through the main office space.


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