roof rake?

I mentioned a “roof rake” in a blog post the other day, and a reader from a warmer region of the world asked what that was.

It’s basically a big aluminium pole with a horizontal shovel blade on the end. In snowy climates (such as where I live), it is used to remove snow from the roof a house.

If you have too much snow on your roof, it can cause structural damage. However, it’s much more common for conductive heat from the house (along with the sun) to cause the snow on the roof to melt and refreeze. Having good insulation in the roof can mitigate this problem, but it is still a concern. The melting and refreezing can cause ice dams along the gutters, which in turn can leak into the interior of the house.

And THAT gets expensive! Much more expensive than a roof rake. So while roof raking isn’t an enjoyable chore, it is much less expensive than the alternative.

You can see an example of a roof rake here.

-JM