How to Stop Snow Sliding on Metal Roofs

Snow and ice sliding off a metal roof can cause serious injury to persons or animals on the ground. To stop snow from sliding off the roof, you need to use either snow stops or snow fences. Continuous snow fences and single mount snow stops both offer protection against falling snow, but snow stops are less obtrusive than a continuous fence. Before installing the snow stops, you must inspect your roof and determine if your metal roof can support the added weight of the held snow during the winter months.

Things You'll Need

• Snow stop layout guide
• Snow stops
• Tape measure
• Permanent marker
• Isopropyl alcohol
• Clean rags
• Clutched drill motor
• 7/16-inch hex head adapter
• Non-acetic neutral curing silicone
• Drop-in caulking gun
• Utility knife
• #14 self-tapping screws with neoprene washers
• Rubber gloves

Instructions

1. Lay out the locations of each snow stop with the tape measure, using the layout guide as a reference. Place a mark with the permanent marker at each location.

2. Clean one of the areas that you laid out in Step 1 with isopropyl alcohol and a clean rag to remove oils and dirt from the surface of the metal roof.

3. Insert the 7/16-inch hex head adapter into the chuck of the clutched drill motor.

4. Place the tube of silicone caulk into the drop-in caulking gun, and cut a large opening in the silicone caulking tube nozzle at a 45-degree angle with the utility knife.

5. Liberally apply silicone caulk to the side of the snow stop that has the pre-drilled fastener holes.

6. Firmly press the caulked side of the snow stop against the metal roof, on the area that you cleaned with alcohol in Step 2. Place the flat front of the snow stop toward the ridge of the roof.

7. While applying pressure downward toward the surface of the metal roof, run a #14 screw through one of the pre-drilled holes of the snow stop and into the metal rook. Continue running the screw into the roof until the neoprene washer is roughly 50 percent compressed.

8. Square the snow stop with the nearest metal roof seam. Run a second #14 screw through the other pre-drilled hole in the snow stop, using the procedure outlined in Step 7.

9. Place a rubber glove on one hand, and smooth out the silicone caulk that pressed from beneath the snow stop during installation.

10. Inspect the edge of the snow stop to ensure that there are no gaps in the silicone, where the edge of the snow stop meets the surface of the metal roof. Apply additional silicone to any voids that you notice, and smooth the silicone with the rubber glove to complete the installation.

11. Repeat the procedure for each snow stop that you need to install on your metal roof.

References

• SnoBlox-SnoJax Snow Guard Product Installation Instructions

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish