Home tools Buyer's Guides from tech enthusiast who loves technology and clever solutions for better living.
Best roof rake for snow 2018 – [Buyer’s Guide]
Last Updated March 1, 2023
Hey friends! I’ve got something important to talk about today! Here are the best roof rake for snow for 2018 – based on my own expert opinion, feature sets, prices, and overall popularity.
The reviews are compiled through a mix of expert opinion and real-world testing. Now I’m going to recommend a few roof rake for snow you can pick from to get started quickly and easily.
Let’s get to it!
Best roof rake for snow of 2018
I have taken the initiative to educate you on the top three best roof rake for snow that you can buy this year. Based on customer reviews and my own experience with the cowboy method I’ve found the best 3 roof rake for snow on the market.
Many brands have introduced roof rake for snow on the market. These brands have resulted in a variety for the user. These require that the consumers be well aware of what they are buying so as to make the best choice. However, after giving you the TOP list, I will also give you some of the benefits you stand to gains for using it.
Test Results and Ratings
| Rank | №1 | №2 | №3 |
| Product |  |
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| Total | 4.8 | 4.5 | 4.3 |
| Design |
5 points
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5 points
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4 points
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| Versatility |
4 points
|
4 points
|
5 points
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| Durability |
5 points
|
5 points
|
4 points
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| Price |
5 points
|
4 points
|
4 points
|
| Awards |  |
||
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 |
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How to save up to 86%? Here is little trick.
You must visit the page of sales. Here is the link. If you don’t care about which brand is better, then you can choose the roof rake for snow by the price and buy from the one who will offer the greatest discount.
№1 – HEATIT HIRD 120 feet 5 Watts Per Foot Roof & Gutter Snow De-icing Cable
| Total: |
4.8
|
Why did this roof rake for snow win the first place?
I really enjoy the design. It is compact, comfortable and reliable. And it looks amazing! I am very happy with the purchase. It is definitely worth its money. The product is top-notch! The material is stylish, but it smells for the first couple of days. I don’t know anything about other models from this brand, but I am fully satisfied with this product.
5
|
4
|
5
|
5
|
№2 – Kinbor Roof Snow Rake Removal Tool 20ft Adjustable Extendable Handle
| Total: |
4.5
|
Why did this roof rake for snow come in second place?
Seems that the material is good. It has a very beautiful color but I don’t really like the texture. I recommend you to consider buying this model, it definitely worth its money. I really liked it. It is amazing in every aspect. It did even exceed my expectations for a bit, considering the affordable price. This is a pretty decent product that perfectly fitted the interior of our office.
5
|
4
|
5
|
4
|
№3 – Garelick 89421 21-Foot Aluminum Snow Roof Rake With 24-Inch Blade
| Total: |
4.3
|
Why did this roof rake for snow take third place?
I liked the design. We’ve been using it for 2 months and it still looks like brand new. The material is incredibly nice to the touch. It has a great color, which will suit any wallpapers. This price is appropriate since the product is very well built. It is inconvenient to use due to the size. I am going to get something different next time.
4
|
5
|
4
|
4
|
roof rake for snow Buyer’s Guide
Ames Inc True Temper Snow Roof Rake
When dealing with a heavy snow build up on your roof a rake with a wide blade will be very handy but you also need one that is durable enough. This rake from Ames Inc features a 24-inch wide blade with a reinforced wear strip for maximum durability. And it also comes with a telescoping handle that will extend up to 1feet, non-slip handle and a poly grip end that also has a hole for easy storage.
Garant GPRR24U Yukon Poly Blade Snow Rake
Garant makes this snow rake for clearing awnings, skylight, and any typical roof. It comes with a 24-inch polyethylene blade that nit only clears large sections at a good but will also not damage your roof. Also, the head has a wide angle to make snow cleaning easy. The aluminum handle comes in three 5-feet sections, and it is also anti-slip for easy and comfortable handling.
MinnSnowta Dynamo Razor Roof Snow Rake
The Dynamo Razor snow rake stands out from the many other types in the market because it removes the snow quickly and you do not even need to put in a lot of effort. And it comes with an aircraft grade aluminum handle that will provide up to 24-foot reach to ensure that you can clear snow without ever living the ground. It will clear a path that is about 2-feet wide with every pass, and it can remove snow regardless of the depth.
Snow Joe (RJ205M) Twist-n-Lock Telescoping Snow Rake
You do not need to spend a lot of cash to get a handy snow roof rake because an inexpensive one like this will still do the job well. And apart from snow, it will also be helpful for removing both leaves and debris. The snow rake also has a telescoping handle that will adjust from 6-foot to 21-feet to provide an extended reach. And it is also a lightweight snow rake with an oversize aluminum blade.
XtremepowerUS Aluminum Snow Roof Rake
This 21-foot reach snow roof will remove snow chunks from any roof fast. It has a 25-inch wide blade that will clear large sections and is also gentle on your roof. The lightweight aluminum material makes the rake easy to handle and is still solid enough. And despite the look, this is still easy to assemble and use.
Material
The material of the snow rake is a vital factor to consider when shopping for one it will affect its performance and ease of use. And when it comes to materials plastic is always a better option than metal as it is lighter and will also be gentler on your roof than metal. Plastics will also not rust like metal. But, aluminum seems to be the best option as it is as durable as other metal ones and lightweight like plastic.
Your snow roof rake handle will determine how easy it will be to handle when raking the snow. And so you should always make sure that you go for a rake with the best handle. You should not just go for a longer handle but also choose the bendable ones because they will allow for vertical movements, unlike the stiff ones that only move up and down. A telescoping handle design will also be better as it will allow you to alter the length quickly.
Extension Rods
Extension rods can be very handy when using snow roof rakes as they will allow you to get to the hard to reach pats o your roof. Also, they can act as replacements for damaged or lost rods. A snow roof rake that allows for extension rods will be very convenient.
Other Features
Other features like wheels, bumper or rollers are also a great addition to any snow roof rake. They make the rake move smoothly and will also prevent it from damaging your roof. Any other extra features that make the rake more convenient to use will also be great.
For the fourth straight winter, we’re convinced that the True Temper 18-Inch Ergonomic Mountain Mover is the best snow shovel for most people looking to clear walkways, steps, and small driveways. No other shovel matches its unique blend of ideal size, ergonomics, durability, and availability.
After further testing, we have a new pick for a handle attachment. The EziMate BackEZ tool handle has proven to be durable in our tests, and it easily adjusts up and down the shovel shaft in case multiple people use the shovel. It replaces our previous pick, the Stout Backsaver, which has a history of breaking and is more difficult to adjust. They cost about the same.
The True Temper 18-Inch Ergonomic Mountain Mover has a sturdy, lightweight aluminum shaft that gloved hands can grip anywhere. Its 18-inch-wide plastic scoop is neither overly large and awkward nor too small and inefficient. The shovel has a curved shaft, an unusual design that makes moving snow easier, as it means you have to put less work into each swing. The nylon leading edge of the scoop won’t gouge your deck or catch on your brick patio. Plus, the shovel is built to last—I’ve had mine for eight New England winters, and it still works fine.
The Ergonomic Mountain Mover is good on its own, but it’s even better with the addition of an EziMate BackEZ tool handle. This secondary handle attaches to the shaft and improves ergonomics and lessens the risk of injury. With this additional handle, the effort to shovel is more balanced between your two hands, greatly reducing the strain on your back and lowering overall exertion. Simply put, it makes shoveling easier, whether you’re scraping snow off steps or scooping it from the ground. This handle is a new pick for 2018, and it replaces the Stout Backsaver, which has suffered durability issues (our test sample broke during the second year of testing). The EziMate BackEZ appears to be made of a more durable plastic, and with the included hex wrench it’s easier to take on and off the shovel shaft (or to adjust it up and down the shovel shaft to fit different people). Prior to the Backsaver, our handle pick was the Trentco ProHandle, which we still really like but is currently out of stock.
If the Ergonomic Mountain Mover is unavailable, we recommend the Bully Tools 9281Combination Snow Shovel. This model is a new runner-up for 2017, replacing the Suncast SCP3500 Powerblade. The two are similar, but the Bully has a longer handle, a wider scoop, and it typically costs less. Overall, the Bully has a more durable feel than our main pick, but we still prefer the ergonomic benefits of the Ergonomic Mountain Mover.
How we picked and tested
Understanding the havoc a poorly designed snow shovel can wreak on an unsuspecting body, we dove headlong into the ergonomics of shoveling, and in the end realized that the best multipurpose shovel is a model with a plastic combo scoop (with a plastic wear strip) and a curved shaft. The combo design means that the shovel can both push and scoop snow.
You’ll encounter three main snow shovel styles: combos, shovels, and pushers.
Combos are the most versatile because they offer the benefits of the other styles without the drawbacks of either one. Because you can use them to scoop, toss, and push snow, they are, as Saffron told us, the standard snow tool in the US. Our pick, the True Temper 18-Inch Ergonomic Mountain Mover, is a combo model. Its scoop is 1inches wide—a size we found to be in the sweet spot (roughly 1to 2inches wide) for shovels to be effective but not unwieldy.
Shovels, in a technical sense, are a basic flat blade on a stick, the kind that you might remember a parent or grandparent using (Charlie Brown used one, too). The flat scoop sits in line with the shaft, so such a design isn’t good at pushing snow (or anything else, really, as our testing discovered).
Pushers, designed with blades often more than two feet wide, are not designed for scooping or tossing. They generally look like a snow plow on the end of a stick, and they’re popular in colder temperatures, where snow is drier and lighter, meaning an average person can simply push it out of the way. According to Saffron, Canada is a massive market for pushers. These tools are also good for clearing smaller snowfalls from driveways. Although we strongly recommend a combo for primary snow removal, we tested four leading pushers and have our recommendation below.
Beyond using combos, shovels, and pushers, many people repurpose other shovel styles for their snow removal. The most common tools in this category are grain shovels, which have huge scoops and short handles. Proponents of this style list durability and a massive scoop size among the advantages. We included two grain shovels in our testing, and of all the shovels we handled, they transferred the most strain to the back.
Another favorite is the metal coal shovel (a regular shovel, but with a flat edge instead of a spade). The strength and durability of these is ideal for busting up ice and digging into frozen slush (a common challenge on salted and plowed streets), but the small size and relatively high weight of the scoop will move less snow with more effort than a larger poly scoop.
As for materials, the repetitive nature of shoveling means you should go with the lightest scoop. In most cases, that’s plastic—polyethylene, or “poly” for short. These shovels have a light weight plus the built-in flexibility to withstand sharp impacts on uneven pavement.
A wear strip protects the leading edge of a shovel scoop, and we’ve found that plastic ones are the best option. They’re slightly rounded at the edge, so the shovel can easily slide over uneven surfaces without jamming up. Though they add durability, they are also soft enough to work on decks and stone walkways without damaging the surface.
Representatives of Horgan Enterprises, a landscaping and snow-removal company located in Boston, told us in an interview that the company steers clear of metal wear strips that can easily scratch wood decks, brick walkways, and bluestone patios. Metal strips are also sharp, so they end up hitching on uneven surfaces, which jars the shovel user’s shoulders and arms. Most poly shovels that have no wear strip are sharp but easily dented and damaged (our current runner-up pick, the Bully Tools 9281Combination Snow Shovel, has no wear strip but is very durable).
Our own testing confirmed this result.
The original batch of tested shovels, left to right: True Temper Arctic Blast, Voilé Telepro, Suncast SN1000, True Temper 18-Inch Ergonomic Mountain Mover (with Backsaver), SnowBow, Bigfoot Power Lift, True Temper SnoBoss, Suncast SC3250 (with Motus D-Grip), True Temper Mountain Mover with VersaGrip, Suncast SG1600, Suncast Double Grip, Dart BHS18, Rugg 26PBSLW, Suncast Powerblade.
Understanding that a secondary handle would be a key addition to our chosen shovel, we first located all of the available tools that come with one attached: the Bigfoot Power Lift, the SnowBow (which appears to be discontinued), the Suncast SC3590 Double Grip, and the True Temper SnoBoss, which has a double shaft and a perpendicular handle.
At the same time we also discovered two add-on secondary handles, the Stout Backsaver and the Motus D-grip, both designed to be attached to any shafted tool. In late 2015, we tested another secondary handle, the Trentco ProHandle, and in 2018, we tested the EziMate BackEZ.
To fully explore the ergonomic possibilities, we tested a wide assortment of regular shovels representing the different styles with and without the add-on secondary handles and in a variety of shaft and scoop shapes. Three of those shovels—the Dart BHS18, Rugg 26PBSLW, and Suncast SC3250—had bent shafts. Two, the True Temper 18-Inch Ergonomic Mountain Mover and the True Temper Aluminum Combo Snow Shovel, had a curved shaft. The Suncast SCP3500 Powerblade and the True Temper Mountain Mover with VersaGrip each had a standard straight shaft. In addition, we looked at two grain shovels, the Suncast SG1600 and the True Temper Arctic Blast Poly Snow Scoop (which the company has since rebranded as the Union Tools Snow Scoop), and we included the Voilé Telepro Avalanche Shovel to see where it fit in with the rest. For a control unit, we added the Suncast SN1000 to represent the old-fashioned shovel. In late 2016, we also tested the Bully Tools 9281Combination Snow Shovel.
Since our original guide in 2013, we’ve expanded our search to include car shovels, pushers, and sleighs and tested five car shovels, four pushers, two sleighs, and a cult favorite, the Wovel.
For the bulk of our testing, four New England residents used the shovels to clear a driveway, five long walkways, four front stoops, three decks, a long set of deck stairs (1steps and one landing), a set of fieldstone steps, a set of cobblestone steps, a stone patio, and a brick patio. The shovelers varied in height and gender, consisting of a 6-foot male, a 5-foot-male, a 6-foot-male, and a 5-foot-female. Testing occurred over the course of eight days and after six snowstorms that totaled about 4inches of snow. During this time, a wide range of temperatures caused snow density to vary from light and fluffy to frozen and crunchy to melty and slushy.
We’ve investigated nearly 7shovels over the past five years and have yet to find one that is better than the True Temper 18-Inch Ergonomic Mountain Mover with an add-on EziMate BackEZ tool handle. The shovel stands apart from its competitors with a unique combination of several features we found essential in a good snow shovel: a curved handle, a poly wear strip, and a flexible and durable scoop. During our tests, it was everyone’s pick as the best, but when we added on the secondary handle, improving the ergonomics even more, our crew of shovel testers went bananas over it.
The Ergonomic Mountain Mover was the only model we tested with a curved shaft made of light and durable aluminum. The arcing shape allows for a straighter back while shoveling and also gives full flexibility in hand positioning up and down the shaft. The design stabilizes the scooping motion, eliminating the pendulum effect you feel when using a shovel with a bent shaft. The D-grip at the back end of the Ergonomic Mountain Mover is nice and large, and no one in our testing panel had any problems fitting a hand wearing a chunky winter glove into the opening.
The business end of the Ergonomic Mountain Mover is an 18-inch-wide flexible poly scoop with a nylon wear strip, which makes for a durable and protected leading edge that won’t gouge or scratch a deck or walkway. We had no problem busting up ice and compacted snow on wooden deck steps with the shovel, and the steps came through the process unmarred. The wear strip is rounded, so it easily finds its way over uneven surfaces like brick walkways or fieldstone steps. The flex in the poly scoop also absorbs impact when the shovel gets jammed, which can’t be said about shovels with metal scoops.
As for long-term durability, I can personally vouch for this True Temper model. It’s the shovel that I’ve used for the past nine New England winters, and it is only now showing some signs of wear. (We tested with a new model.) The corners of the scoop are beginning to crack a little, but I’m not particularly alarmed about that. The shovel still works fine.
The EziMate clamps to the shovel shaft with two hex bolts. Thanks to the included hex wrench, which you can store directly on the handle, you can quickly loosen the bolts and slide the handle up or down the shaft to accommodate different-size people using the shovel. It also takes only a few minutes to switch the handle over to another tool, such as a rake or a spade shovel. Our previous pick, the Stout Backsaver, is much more tedious to adjust in this manner.
In addition to reducing back strain, the EziMate BackEZ also makes shoveling a long flight of deck stairs much easier. When you’re standing on a step and pulling snow toward you (think of paddling a canoe), the extra handle adds a nice grip and lets you stand farther back from the shovel to clear off the steps. On level ground, the EziMate really pays for itself: While moving snow, everyone on our testing panel, regardless of height, could feel the change in body mechanics and the reduced strain on their back.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
One drawback to the Ergonomic Mountain Mover’s nylon-wear-strip design—but one that’s worth the trade-off—is that it’s thicker than its metal-strip (or strip-free) competitors. This added beefiness makes knifing the shovel under compacted snow or into a semi-frozen snowbank more difficult. But the nylon strip has advantages that the others don’t. Shovels with metal wear strips can catch on any uneven surface, jarring your shoulders. Such models also damage non-pavement surfaces easily, and in our tests, some of the models without a strip were damaged after just a few hours of shoveling.
In the nine years I’ve owned the Ergonomic Mountain Mover shovel, I’ve never had any issue with the wear strip’s thickness. Only after I saw this True Temper model tested alongside the metal-edged shovels did I realize that such a difference existed.
Features
Material: when buying a snow roof rake you should consider the material that it is made of. Choose one that has a higher percentage of plastic than metal because plastic is lighter and cannot scrape the shingles or granules on your roof and also ones that have handles made of strong but light metals.
Size:choose a snow roof rake that has a wider blade to get more snow off the roof with smaller rollers. The rollers near the blade are important because they keep the blade of the rake off of the surface of your roof, thus protecting it from being scraped. The handle should be long enough and telescopic to reach further up the roof.
Price:buy an affordable snow rake that is made of high quality materials, do not settle for cheap ones that will break off the moment you start using it.
Durability:when buying a snow roof rake buy one that will serve you a long time by choosing one made of durable materials that will not allow rust or bend and break within a short period of time. Choose ones that are made of aluminum handles and polyethylene blades.
Dress warmly in layers and with hat, gloves, and slip-proof boots before attempting to remove snow from your roof. Hypothermia, frost bite, and cardiac arrest during heavy lifting in freezing temperatures is not at all uncommon. Also be aware of the forecasts to avoid an exercise in futility or an emergency situation where old and new snow deposits combine to overwhelm your roof.
Be Aware of Your Roof Condition
If you have the option of removing four inches (10.16 cm) of snow instead of waiting until 1inches (45.7cm) have piled up, so much the better. As layer after layer accumulates, you may end up with ice layers under snow layers, which will make snow-removal extremely hazardous.
Lift With Good Posture
Lifting snow can strain your back muscles and give you aches and cramps, but using your legs more than your back to lift with will help prevent this. Proper lifting is as important with snow as with heavy boxes or machinery.
Remove Snow in Sequence
It is generally best to remove heavy drifts first to balance out the load, but for gabled roofs, you should begin at the ridge and work toward the eaves for best results. Snow should never be “stockpiled” on the roof temporarily.
How They Compare
Something you definitely want to take into consideration when shopping for roof rakes for snow removal or for a roof rake for leaves is the length of the pole of the best roof rake for your specific needs.
All of the roof rakes on the list, other than the Garant snow roof rake, are a generous 2feet long. The Garant snow roof is a bit shorter at only 1feet long. It’s still a great choice for those with a shorter roof, though.
The Garant roof rake, the Garelick roof rake, and the Ohuhu roof rake all have a pole that comes in several pieces that attach together to lengthen the pole.
The two Snow Joe roof rakes, however, both feature telescoping poles for extra easy length adjustment.
Both Snow Joe roof rakes along with the Ohuhu roof rake also feature a nice and long 25-inch blade.
The Garelick roof rake and Garant roof rake each have a 24-inch blade.The Garelick roof rake along with the Snow Joe RJ205M both have a blade that is made from aluminum, while the other three snow roof rakes on the list have a blade made of plastic.
The Garelick roof rake also includes a set of nifty rollers that prevent the blade from actually making contact with the roof and therefore prevents any possible damage that the snow roof rake may cause.
The best-selling American Made Roof Rake snow removal tool.
If you are wondering which roof rake everyone is buying – you have found it. Hundreds of satisfied customers weekly select the Deluxe American Made Snow Roof Rake with Shingle Saver Rollers is designed to easily remove snow from your roof without the blade head touching your shingles. Relieve your roof of the unbelievable weight of snow and prevent water damage to your home from ice dams near the edge. Its perfect for other uses including removing snow from school buses and commercial vehicles.
Tried and tested this Roof Rake is engineered to last and do a great job time after time. Made of rugged and lightweight no-rust aluminum and plated hardware this roof rake weighs less than pounds and is assembled in minutes. During use the poles snap together so you can roof rake in five foot increments.
Roof rake hardware pack containing, nuts, bolts and patented shingle savers.
Rating
Works as advertised. Only problem I have encountered is with the connections made between the poles. I work construction with a ton of heavy duty tools, and I have a very hard time disassembling the poles for storage. IMO I think the connections should be made easier to take apart for multiple disconnects/ reconnects during any given use.
Your Home is Prone to Ice Dams
Ice dams can cause water to back up on your roof and leak into your home, causing a lot of damage. Ice dams need snow to form, so if there’s less snow on your roof, they won’t form as easily.
Professionals recommend removing snow after every six inches of snow fall to prevent ice dams.
Stay Aware of Your Surroundings
Being aware of your surroundings is vital during roof snow removal. Make sure no people are in an area where the falling snow will hit them.
Be careful to keep building exits, fire escapes, downspouts, gutters, ventilation openings, and any equipment free from snow. Before you start, check the area where the snow will fall for any equipment falling snow could damage.
Have someone with you while you rake to keep an extra eye out.
What to Do Immediately
If you see that water starts to pool on your floors or windowsills or leak from the ceiling, head outside and look at your roof. If you see ridges of ice below piles of snow, an ice dam may be the reason for the leaks. “First you see the dam, then you say it when it happens to your roof,” says Susan Millerick, spokeswoman for the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IIBHS).
What to Do After the Snow Melts
Once the weather warms up, you can take corrective action for next season. “Keep in mind that even if a roofing contractor removes an ice dam over the winter, they’re really only addressing a symptom, not the cause of your problem,” Rupar says.
According to roofing experts, the best way to handle ice dams is to ventilate your attic and insulate between it and the living spaces of the house. This will minimize the temperature differential between the outside air and the air in your attic that causes the dams to form. You may want to consult a weatherization contractor, who can help you locate the areas of greatest heat loss and recommend how to fix them.
Both the Department of Energy and the Consumer Product Safety Commission offer step-by-step instructions for do-it-yourselfers who want to tackle the job themselves. But if your home has a history of ice dams, or if you have ducts or recessed lighting fixtures that extend through the ceiling into the attic, you may want to leave the job to the pros.
Why Ice Dams are Dangerous
The major issue with ice dams on the roof, is that they trap the melting water running down from the top of the roof, and thereby cause it (the melted water) to rise up underneath the roofing shingles, and eventually seep through the boards and walls inside our homes.
Common Misconceptions
Although, ice dams can sometimes reach the gutters, they do not form in the gutters, but rather they form at the eaves of the roof. If you can get your attic-space air temperature to stay at 30° F, or lower (during heavy snow fall accompanied by low temperatures), then you should be able to eliminate ice dams from happening in the first place.
Solving the root cause
One of the easiest long-term solutions to prevent ice dams is to minimize the impact of the warm air that contributes to ice dam formation on your roof. One effective way to stop the warm air from escaping into the attic is to use a proper insulation on the attic floor. You will find that most older homes do not have sufficient levels of attic insulation. To further complicate this problem, many homes with the insufficient attic insulation also have many air leaks and subsequent home-to-attic warm air drafts that literally drive the warm air inside the attic.
Snow Rakes
You can use the snow rakes to push up and clean up the snow on your roof, which should help you stop the ice dams from forming.
Keep in mind that heating cables and snow rakes are just temporary measures, and at some point, you will probably want to have your attic space adequately insulated and ventilated as part of your long-term ice dam prevention and heat loss strategy.
De-Icing Cables
Reuben is a second generation home inspector with a passion for his work. He grew up remodeling homes and learning about carpentry since he was old enough to hold a hammer. Reuben has worked for Structure Tech since it was purchased by Neil in 1997, and is now co-owner and President of the company.
Solutions to Icicles and Ice Dams
The best way to stop icicles and ice dams from forming is to evaluate the insulation in your attic. The colder you can make your attic through adding insulation and attic ventilation, the better it will be to keep ice dams and icicles from forming. Blocking all crevices in the attic where heat from the room below may be escaping, adding insulation and potentially adding attic ventilation will all help significantly with the reduction in icicles and ice dams – plus has the added value of making your home more energy efficient and cutting back on heating and cooling costs. Other ideas involve removing snow on the roof with a snow rake; however, care must be made to avoid falls and electrical wires. Another idea can include placing old nylon stockings filled with snow melt over an ice dam to melt the dam and create a channel for the water to run off.
Avoid valleys
If you are designing the roof of a new house, try to design a roof without any valleys. Valleys concentrate water and often clog with ice. It’s far more common to have leaks or ice dam problems near valleys than in the middle of a simple sloped roof.
Many valleys exist because of a designer’s conceit rather than necessity. Often, these valleys trace back to the mistaken belief that a chopped-up, complicated, multi-plane roof looks better than a simple gable. It doesn’t.
Choose metal roofing or asphalt shingles
I’m just expressing my opinion here. Clay tiles and slate are expensive. Concrete tiles are fragile and tricky to walk on.
Cedar shingles are beautiful, but they are time-consuming to install and (because of their flammability) are illegal in some jurisdictions. Imitation slate and imitation wood shingles look like they belong on a Howard Johnson’s restaurant.
Get flashing details right
Step flashing should be generously sized; the vertical leg should be at least inches high, although inches is better. Remember, you aren’t going to be bringing your siding down to the roof, so at least inches of step flashing will remain visible under your siding. Each piece of flashing should be bent from a piece of sheet metal measuring at least inches by 1inches; crease the flashing so that it has two 6-inch-wide legs.
Each piece of step flashing only gets one nail into the roof. Never nail step flashing to the wall — that only complicates the job of replacing the step flashing in the future. If your step flashing begins at the eave, don’t forget to install kick-out flashing at the eave.
When I install step flashing on an asphalt shingle roof, I like to install a sideways course of cedar shingles under the step flashing, installed at 90° to the usual shingle orientation, with the butt end of each cedar shingle facing the sidewall and the tapered edge blending into the field of the roof. (The cedar shingles are later hidden by the asphalt shingle roofing.) These imperceptible shims direct water away from the vulnerable sidewall flashing, and lighten the load of water that the kickout flashing has to deal with.
Chimneys always get two types of flashing to allow the roof to settle without breaking the flashing. I was taught to flash chimneys with 16-ounce copper flashing and lead counterflashing. These days, however, many roofers are avoiding lead because of its toxicity; it’s possible to counterflash chimneys with copper instead of lead, but the copper isn’t as flexible.
Unless the chimney bisects a ridge, every chimney needs a cricket. Make the cricket oversized, so that the two cricket valleys terminate away from the chimney.
Installers of steel roofing often do a sloppy job with flashing. When I install steel roofing, I always plan carefully for any roof penetrations like vent pipes, chimneys, or skylights. Ideally, you want to lap the steel panels at the penetration. One sheet of metal roofing runs from the eave to a few inches above the penetration; then the penetration is flashed. Then a second sheet of metal roofing is installed from the ridge down to a few inches below the penetration, so that the steel roofing laps at the penetration.
How to save up to 86%? Here is little trick.
You must visit the page of sales. Here is the link. If you don’t care about which brand is better, then you can choose the roof rake for snow by the price and buy from the one who will offer the greatest discount.
Final Word
First of all thanks for reading my article to the end! I hope you find my reviews listed here useful and that it allows you to make a proper comparison of what is best to fit your needs and budget. Don’t be afraid to try more than one product if your first pick doesn’t do the trick.
Most important, have fun and choose your roof rake for snow wisely! Good luck!
So, TOP3 of roof rake for snow
- №1 — HEATIT HIRD 120 feet 5 Watts Per Foot Roof & Gutter Snow De-icing Cable
- №2 — Kinbor Roof Snow Rake Removal Tool 20ft Adjustable Extendable Handle
- №3 — Garelick 89421 21-Foot Aluminum Snow Roof Rake With 24-Inch Blade
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