Suggested Snow Roof Degree

Lower slopes don t handle wind driven rain as well.

Suggested snow roof degree.

Slate is also a popular material in this climate zone. The 30 degree 7 12 roof recommendation is backed up by testing according to the publication science daily. According to this code the minimum slope for asphalt shingles is 17 degrees or two vertical units to twelve units in the horizontal. In country with heavy snow and tough winter days the metal roof minimum slope is recommended to be 1 12.

Steeper slopes increase the sail effect that makes them susceptible to wind. Determining the roof pitch for your weather the first thing to do is to check the building codes for your county and state. The pitch of the roof is determined by the vertical rise. Building a roof with wood shakes works well in moist colder climates as they don t dry out from the snow.

Your equation for determining snow load s x 1 25 p is fairly straightforward math. The requirements for an asphalt shingles roof are contained in the international building code. In snowy areas your roof should be at least 10 12 40 to allow snow to shed while the safest roof pitch in very windy areas is between 4 12 6 12 18 5 26 5. And although asphalt shingles are the easiest to damage among the roofing materials they are another good option for snow as long as your climate isn t too windy.

A 30 degree roof slope 7 12 pitch is the right pitch to aerodynamically handle high wind. On roof slopes between 4 12 and 6 12 rough textured roofing materials work best. If you live in the us our snow load calculator compares the total weight on your roof with the permissible load calculated according to the standards issued by the american society of civil engineers regarding the minimum design loads for buildings and other structures asce7 16. A reputable roofing contractor will be familiar with the pitch required by these codes.

To calculate the snow load on your roof assume that every inch deep of snow equals 1 25 pounds. There are some opinions that standing seam metal roof minimum slope is 12 but it increases the possibility of leaking on the few first days of snow arrival. Pitch is a measure of the steepness of a roof.