Snow dump could put your roof at risk, says roofer

Despite a late-season dump of snow, roofing experts say ice dams should not be too much of an issue this spring — but it's better to be safe than sorry. 

Jennifer Hamilton's husband shovels snow off the balconies of their 2½-storey house in the Wolseley area of Winnipeg. She wants to make sure the wet, heavy stuff doesn't get a chance to freeze and form ice dams.

"In the past it has been a real concern. This year it's pretty wet snow. I think it's important to rake what you can and hopefully it will be really mild and melt really fast and we will be okay," Hamilton said.

In previous winters the snow has been a metre high on the roof, but Hamilton isn't too worried about this latest dump because she and her husband are staying on top of it.

Roofers getting calls

Jeff Ehlers, a Winnipeg roofer who's president of the Manitoba Sloped Roofing Contractors Assoc., got more than 50 calls Monday morning from concerned homeowners.

"We expect there will be quite a few more calls in the next couple of days from people who are wondering if there is an issue with all the snow," Ehlers said.

"When you get a big snowstorm like this, it kind of puts everyone into a panic."

Callers — past customers as well as new clients — are asking how concerned they should be, he said.

Ehlers said he isn't worried about major problems with ice dams because the mild weather isn't giving ice and icicles time to form.

"This isn't a really bad year for damming.… We just haven't had much snow until now," he said, adding homeowners should still be mindful as the weather warms up. 

"I would say the alert level is high to look for leaks given this latest storm."

CBC Metrologist John Sauder said temperatures this week will range from 0 C to –6 C.

"I would expect this snow will stay on people's roofs all week.… Getting the snow off your roof any time this week would be a good call if you are concerned, " said Ehlers.

Getting your roof professionally cleared typically costs a couple of hundred to a few hundred dollars, depending on the pitch and size of the roof.