Metal Roof Snow Stops for Pole Barns

As winter approaches, managing the snow load for your pole barn is a top concern for those living in the Utah, southeast Idaho and Wyoming regions. Metal roofs must be equipped with the proper tools to keep snow from sliding off and piling up on the side of your building and blocking the doors or windows. At Beehive Buildings, we offer a solution to ensure that our pole buildings’ metal roofs are outfitted with the necessary snow stops to keep our clients’ homes, barns and sheds as safe and snow-drift-free as possible.

How do you keep snow from sliding off a metal roof?

While there are a number of methods that people can use to keep snow from sliding off their metal roofs, at Beehive Buildings, we recommend snow stops.

Metal Roof Snow Stops

Rows of metal are installed on the roof to hold snow in place so it doesn’t slide down and fall off the building, damaging whatever lies beneath. Installing snow stops on your pole barn’s metal roof is a permanent and fail-safe snow maintenance plan.

Do you need snow stops on a metal roof?

Snow stops are not required for metal roofs, but they offer many benefits that make it hard for pole building owners to say no to adding them to their design plans. Especially if there is a man door on the eave side of the building, a metal roof without snow stops would allow snow to fall and block the door, leaving you to shovel it in order to gain access or exit the building.

In some circumstances, snow stops (also called snow guards) are required to maintain the structural integrity of your building. For instance, if you have rain gutters installed on your pole building, leaving snow stops out of your design could result in an avalanche ripping the pole barn gutters right off the building come wintertime.

Where should snow guards be placed on a metal roof?

Where your snow guards are placed ultimately determines how effective they are at keeping snow from slipping off the roof. In order to prevent catastrophic damage to people and property, snow stops are usually installed above entryways, walkways and gathering areas — including lean-tos. In addition to how much foot traffic an area experiences, the placement of snow guards is also determined by roof pitch, the lengths of roof runs and roof features.

Snow tends to accumulate more significantly near the roof’s eave end due to the way wind blows on the rooftop. For this reason, many construction professionals install roof snow stops toward the eave — a proven practice that’s been followed for centuries. It’s critical that multiple layers of snow stops are installed as the leading cause of snow guard failure is an insufficient number of protective rows. Each guard should be equally spaced up the slope to evenly distribute the flow of snow and ice it melts without overloading the eaves.

Does Beehive Buildings install snow stops on their pole barns’ metal roofs?

Beehive Buildings understands how important it is to ensure your pole barn remains unaffected by snow load all winter long. That’s why our team will suggest snow guards to customers if we believe it is necessary for their custom pole building design. Our team will evaluate the pitch, features and length of your roof to determine the proper snow guard placement and spacing required for the utmost protection from unexpected avalanches. Contact our team to receive a custom pole building quote today!