Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I'm looking for something that would be good for doing our roof. obviously the big 2 stage Toro won't be able to do it and would be a PITA to get up a ladder or out a window.

We have a new roof so I don't want to hurt the roof but the snow is really built up out there and it tends to melt very slowly. We are heading into Feb and lots more snow so I need something light enough and easy to manuever to use up there. The roof is pretty steep and in one section windows are mounted in the roof so that area might not be possible. They want a fortune to clear it and only the lesser section so I need something. Electric would probably be ok but it has to have enough power and the roof is pretty steep and high.

Any ideas?

@steve

Any chance you can post a picture of your roof?  A video with the beautiful Vanna White pointing out the trouble spots would be nice too.  :)

A shovel?  If the roof has enough angle on it it should only require a little effort and gravity should do the rest.

There was a series of youtube videos I saw last year and I can't remember exactly what they were.  I think it was National Geographic or something and they were doing a special on Yellowstone Park and their snow removal when it is closed for the winter.  The guy just does everything by hand.

Shryp wrote:

I saw that same video clip - it was Yellowstone and the guy knew what he was doing. He had it down to a science in the way to carve runways that would allow most of the snow to fall off on its own.

Steve_Cebu: For the one time it will probably need to be done, it might be worth hiring the job out. Last thing you want to do is take a fall off the roof and become incapacitated.

Shryp wrote:
I was thinking of the same thing. 

I haven't tried one of these but it seems pretty ingenious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNm5h03LV2A&feature=related

How about my lovely wife Cathy pointing out the bad spots.

The thing is the snow up there is thick and will not come down without a fight. I spent 45 minutes up there and was able to clear a 6 foot wide section! This stuff doesn't just slide down and it's WAY up there. In the back if you fell off the lower section you'd probably only break your legs. The higher section well ..... it would probably be fatal. It's actually a huge roof and it's also a 2 part roof. It's pretty scary in the summer, it's terrifying in the winter!

I was kicking off the icles that built up from Roof 1 going to roof 2 and a huge chuck broke off and crashed onto my legs, it probably weighed over 100 lbs. Thankfully it only fell like 14" or so.

There is no way to shovel it it just sticks like glue to the roof. That's why I figure some kind of power shovel. The local guy wants $300 just to do the lower section of the roof which isn't all that big. The bigger section is easily 3-4 times the size.

Thanks for the suggestions.

What to do.... What to do.....

I'd definitely hire it out if it's that nasty. Why risk life and limb to clean a roof. Does it really need to be done? Are you in fear of the roof collapsing?

Being on the roof you do not want to use something that could cause you to lose your balance.  Any electric shovel that will move a decent amount of snow will be unwieldy on a roof.  If the temperature is above 20F, you can try a power washer on the lowest pressure setting.  The tap water should be about 50 degrees coming out of the ground and will melt the snow along with the force of the power washer.  Obviously, you need the keep the area around you feet ice free and always wash down the roof to avoid pushing water under the shingles.

DON"T DO IT! Unless you have a flat roof.  if you need to remove excess sticky snow then use something like the snow razor with the poly sheet attached. It's there to allow even the stickyest snow slide down. Watch out for the falling snow.  It's heavy and moving fast and can knock you down. The snow that hits the ground will be like cement, so try to direct it away from areas you'll have to clean up afterwards.

GtWtNorth wrote:

Definitely not a flat roof. I saw that gadget but there is no way it would reach up as high as our roof.

The concern is we have a lot of snow and it's not going to come off until spring. We can probably handle a few more storms but a roof, any roof can only handle so much weight.

Still unsure what to do the guy wants too much to shovel half a roof.

Thanks for all the advice. We have decided to find someone who can do the roof safely. It's just too dangerous for me to get up there and do it. They all want serious money to clear the roof. Hopefully we will get better prices.

Thanks

Steve

  I use a snow rake on my slanted roofs.  

Steve_Cebu wrote:
Not sure what the building code is in your area but in central Canada I believe the roof has to be designed to hold at least 240 lbs. per square foot.   It takes a lot of snow to contribute that much weight.  

In the winter of 1995 to 1996, we had record breaking snow accumulations.   My camp neighbour took a ride out to our camps to check his camp for snow load on the roof.   He said that eve with snow shoes on, he practically had to wade through the snow to get to the camps.   When he got there he said that he had though my camp had disappeared.   From his camp which east of my camp, he said the snow was continuous right from the roof to the ground.  He couldn't see any sign of the camp.  When he walked around to the west side of the camp, he could see about one foot of the wall below the eves and the front of the camp which faces the lake, had snow right up to the top of the front window which is approx. 7 feet from ground level.   That was a huge amount of snow and the camp held up despite the fact that it's probably not built as well as homes built under Provincial building codes.   

By the way, you don't need to get all of the snow off of the roof.  If you can pull the snow off  past the half way point of the truss' span  you'll be relieving a lot of weight.  Of course, if you can get more off, the better.    I've never done it on my home, even for the winter of '95-'96 but I had my house built and was involved in building it.  So, I have confidence in it's structure.     

I think that the builder who built my house worked for the "save the stud" foundation.   It was built to minimally accepted standards.  My roof is made of 2X4 yellow pine trusses, two feet on center, and covered with 7/16 inch Aspenite.  Never had a problem but I have to admit being concerned last year when we got hit with three feet of snow in a five day span.  Everything seemed like it was holding up fine but I didn't want to take a chance.  I opened the attic access and placed a large Omni Kerosun heater underneath the opening.  All of the heat went up into the attic and it didn't take long before the snow started to melt away.

borat wrote:

The building code here is pretty strict now. I'm not sure how strict it was 40+ years ago. We are going to get prices and wait for the next storm to hit. The roof is brand new as of last year. I think it's probably built well but it's a lot of heavy snow up there. If this were in my driveway it would take an hour with my 2 stage to clear it all.

It sounds like your winter camp was built very well. The roofs are also smaller so that is also a factor. Ours is a huge area of roof. I was hoping to find an easy way to get it all off there but there really isn't. a single stage would rip the roofing tiles right off the roof.

Two years ago, I installed metal roofing on all of my buildings at camp.   Now, they're self shedding.  Once they accumulate so much weight, gravity takes over and the snow slides off in one big rush.   Kind of like a mini avalanche.  You don't want to be standing under the eves when the snow comes off. 

borat wrote:

This is what I wanted to install but it was literally twice as much and that's a lot of money for this house. This house looks small on the outside but inside it's HUGE. I really wish we could have afforded the metal roof but it wasn't in the budget. Metal roofs are really the way to go in snow country.

I use a roof rake to get what I can from the ground.  Then I fill up some of the wife's old pantyhose with MgCl ice melter and place them strategically along the first row of shingles, so that any snow melting off the roof on warm days (we've had two days above freezing in the last month) stays melted until it moves out of the gutters - good for preventing ice jams.  My roof is ventilated enough that I don't get snow melt until we get warm sunny days.

That being said, last year I had over three foot of snow on the majority of the roof, including the backside and the peak that I couldn't reach with the roof rake.  I got up there with a snow shovel and worked carefully to get the majority of it off, always making sure I had plenty of traction.

As mentioned, the snow that falls off the roof does turn into "concrete".  It was pretty hard on my Craftsman 928, so I just used the Garant snow scoop to move it off the driveway - worked easier and faster than the snowblower in that case.

Btw, if you ever need to build an igloo or snow cave for survival purposes, the best way to do it is to throw the snow up into the air and let it fall into a pile.  Doing so makes the snow "hard-pack" like when it falls off your roof.  Once you get a big enough pile made, you can start digging out a cave.  Proper way to carve out the cave is to use sticks pushed through the mound as a guide, but I'm getting off-topic, so just do a websearch for building a snow-cave.

longboat wrote:

The roof rake is a good idea but no way it would be long enough for this house. Maybe some of the lower section. Our house doesn't have a steep angle to it and our living room has a 23.5 foot ceiling. I kid you not we used to have 18 foot Christmas trees in there! I have a pic but no way to scan it. Anyway a roof rake would have to be at least 40 feet long to work. Gutters are useless here the ice just rips them off every year. To reach the peak of the house wouldn't be possible from the back, it'd be a bit easier from the front. but it's hardpack up there and then the trees drop and compact even more snow.

Thankfully I should be retiring early in 8-10 years and then the only time I'd ever see snow again is on TV.

Thanks for the info on snow caves, maybe my wife will want to build one, she likes things like that.

Steve_Cebu wrote:
I'm glad that I don't have your heating bills.

Paul7 wrote:

This year even with the living room closed off we are spending over $1,000 a month for heating oil!

Steve_Cebu wrote:
Ouch!

We live in a modest 1800 square foot house with 14' high vaulted ceilings in a couple rooms.  We situated the house to capture as much solar heat as possible in the winter.  Lots of south facing windows and no shade.  Temps can dip to -40F.  We seldom see gas bills over $200.00 a month during winter and my wife likes it fairly warm. 

borat wrote:

This house is easily larger than yours. It was originialy designed for big parties and a lot of people. 2 Presidents have been in this house Carter and Ford, plus a lot of other political big shots over the years. That was when it was my uncles house. It's such an impractical house tho. The glass in the living room is all R1, so .5 better than a screen door.  Plus most of 2 walls are mostly glass with no sun hitting them.

We have the biggest sliding glass doors I've ever seen in a house. 8-9 feet so over 4 foot for each panel! This house has 3 sliders like that. We also have nothing but shade here so nothing melts until late in the season. The plus side is we almost never need A/C it's cold even in the summer. It'svrey cold here too. If we lose power during a cold spell we will usually lose the pipes, that's happened 4 times in the past 15 years!

Steve, Time for a standby generator. I got myself a 12kw from generac with automatic transfer. I have gotten plenty of use as we have our share of power outages.

hirschallan wrote:

I was going to get one last year but my aunt lives here with us and she is terrified of things like that so we can't get one. If you had an 86 year old hysterical Greek woman living with you you'd understand.

Steve_Cebu wrote:
Well, if you're going to live in an 7000 square foot house, I guess you're going to have to live with proportionately larger heating costs.    

That's why my wife and I selected an energy efficient style of home on a south facing lot and built it to the size specifications we wanted.   We could have easily built something much bigger but, we're not ostentatious.   That's not our style.  We probably have one of the smaller homes on our street.  We don't complain about heating nor cooling the house.   It's a very easy place to live with. 

If we have a power outage, there are two very large, high efficiency, zero clearance fire places in the house and I have about four cords of seasoned wood in a shed out back to carry us through a couple months if necessary.  I do have a back up generator though.          

borat wrote:

This house was in our family and my aunt had it built to her specifications. She's into "Modern" which of course is extremely outdated now. I would never have built a house like this, it's too huge and impractical. That said most of our neighbors have much bigger houses.

This house has no attic so a lot less insulation there, The rooms have angles, it's kinda funky. I won't mention the blaze orange rugs with orange and yellow foil wallpaper or what used to be Blue foil wallpaper in the Master bedroom!

Oh and she wanted an oil furnace to replace the electric heat so she had the burner installed right in front of the downstairs garage door, so that is now unusable! It's a real Frankenhouse. The kitchen while measuring a whopping 22'x25' looks like Pee Wee Herman designed it IN THE '70's! I need to redo everything and I mean everything but I'll likely just sell it and move elsewhere. Smaller is better nowadays. I do like the quiet and all the wildlife we have around us. You can walk in the back woods for a long time. It's all dead land back there. no one is going to build on it, ever.

Your house sounds really nice.

Steve_Cebu wrote:

Your house sounds like a good candidate for geothermal heating.  And a good candidate for a slick steel roof!     Most of all, you need to figure out a way to get some more insulation in the roof!

As for a backup generator, I have a propane 3.5kw unit, hook it up when needed on the back patio, run the HD 30A power cord through a capped pipe I have going under the deck to inside the house just above the dropped ceiling in the walkout basement.  From there, I can run the electric blower on the propane fireplace (centrally located downstairs, so gets heat to most of the house), as well as the TV, cable modem and laptop, so I'm set if the power goes out.    I got the propane generator to hook up to the 500-gal bulk tank, but the manual says it needs a higher PSI (like from a BBQ tank), so just have it hooked to a 100-lb tank for now until I get the pressure stuff figured out - nice that I don't have to worry about bad gas getting into the generator.

longboat wrote:

The problem with geo thermal heating is you need wells and we have so much ledge around here that it's lucky we even have a well, and it's an artisian well like 400 feet deep! Geothermal is nice but would cost us about $60k to install. I had to go through hell just to have my aunt not freak out about my Weber BBQ grill. She's all no go on a generator and when we lost power during the ice storm she fired up the fireplace in the kitchen and toughed it out. It was Damn cold too! She's terrified of Propane and really any kind of gas. Gasoline not as much but she doesn't want a generator. She's at that age where she hates change. We had to change the kitchen faucet a 40 year old Koehler, she wasn't happy but the thing was leaking badly and it had to go, now if we could just replace the blaze orange sink....

I like gas I used it overseas and it was great. I had natural gas (prefer it) in all my other houses. Just here I can't do it and they really gouge you on propane up here. If I heated with that I'd be spending at least $500 a month more.

How I really wanted a metal roof but they were just too much money. I was up on the roof and there is no way to add more insulation to the roof without a full rebuild.

Good ideas tho!

Not to be rude Steve, but is you aunt a Luddite?  Sounds like she has a real aversion to technological advancement of any kind.  

Metal roofing is good provided the house design is suitable for it.  If you have an entrance under a slope, it could be dangerous unless a snow brake is installed.  Then you loose the self shedding aspect. 

That's the problem with modern home building designs.  Everyone wants a fancy, unique looking home and that leads to complicated roof configurations (ours included).   Fortunately, our buildings at camp are simple structures that lend themselves well to metal roofing which is a good thing for a number of reasons.  Snow shedding is one, durability another and more importantly, forest fire resistance.   We get plenty of forest fires up here and have had two recently fairly close to our camp (Ham Lake MN fire 2007 was most recent).   Structures with asphalt shingles are very susceptible to catching fire during a forest fire.   During a forest fire, the updraft  sends so much burning matter into the air and the wind can carry it for miles.  It's not uncommon for burning branches to drop on asphalt roofs causing a fire.  That's why forest fire fighters put gas powered water pumps down at the lake shore, run a line to the structures and put sprinklers on the roofs.  They also hose down the area close to the camp then let the sprinkler do it's thing before they bug out.

One thing I noticed after installing the metal roof at camp was that I had to run external antennas to get radio reception.     

borat wrote:

She is very adamant that she "at her age" doesn't like change of any kind. She's a self confessed luddite although she wouldn't use that actual term. She's gotten much worse as she's gotten older. She literally hasn't moved any furniture in the house except for cleaning in many years. She saw my wifes iPod nano and was completlely amazed, but she can't figure out how to use a very simple and basic cellphone, but she can get her email, she never deletes any of it tho.

So yeah it keeps life uh... interesting.

Metal roof would work here but yes the doors would need those snow brakes but only in a few places. If we ever had a nearby forest fire well that's why we have insurance. There are no fire hydrants except for teh water resevoir 2.5 miles down the road, so they'd save the basement. Maybe that's why gas and fire terrifies her so much?

The new roof will outlast me as it's a 50 year roof and by then I'll probably be a self confessed luddite too.

Steve - i used the gas power shovel yesterday to shovel off my roof and a friend's roof (all but the part over the deck as detailed in my toro 221 post - i shoveled that part first and then realized shoveling the whole thing would result in me dying on my roof, so i enlisted the power shovel). I initially didnt bother with the power shovel because i didnt think it would work as we have about 3 feet of snow cover. The snow had to be tackled in layers but it was relatively easy to accomplish, just required sliding the shovel up and down. Since it runs all the time ( no clutch ) you didnt have to hold the trigger down like on an electric one, and could thus extend the unit as far as your arm would reach. How far are you from northeastern MA?

superbuick wrote:

I was going to buy one today after seeing so many places collapsing. There are of course none in stock. I shoveled a pretty large area the other day and that was insane. The roof rakes are not enough to use on this house and would only get the edges. We have more snow on the way and the upper roof is pretty damn scary to be up that high with nothing to hang on to.

We have almost 3 feet of dense snow on the roof now. They want a LOT of remove it. It's 2 large roofs. I don't mind that it takes some time but I do care if the roof collapses. I think the Toro snow shovel would work for my purposes. IF they had any left in stock, but no one does, everything that can move snow other than regular shovels is sold out even at the dealers! We have 6 weeks of snow left, some of that is going to be heavy wet snow. i can order one online but they want an extra $30 for it plus shipping. I'd rather buy from Home Depot as they have a great return policy.

Electric is ok with me, gas is more of a hassle way up on the roof like that standing in 3 feet of snow.

I'm up in the Concord NH area, so it depends what part of Northeastern Mass.

Coupla other thoughts...

- Pantyhose filled with ice melter (MgCl) placed near the roof peak might work, but will take a little while.

- they make an ice melter product for roofs, forget what it's called but it looks like hockey pucks.  you throw them up on the roof and they are supposed to melt the ice/snow.  last time I looked, they sold them at ACE Hardware, but they may be sold out in your area.  Kinda pricey for one-time use.

- if it is fluffy enough, use a leaf blower.

- if you have good footing and/or can tie a safety rope to yourself, I'd recommend shoveling.  I have one of the Garant snow scoops that moves something like six shovelfuls of snow at a time, and you just slide it along, no lifting necessary - it'll glide right over the snow so you can take a bite of the top two feet, push it off, then take a bite of the remaining snow.  I got mine at the local ACE Hardware for around $40, but I think Home Depot also carries it, as well as Amazon, for higher prices - search for B000JLK0SM  on Amazon, or search for Garant snow scoop.  It does have a metal edge that might be a little hard on the shingles if you scoop down that far.  There is a UHMW shovel (thesnowplow.com) out there that might be easier on the shingles and I hear good things about it, but haven't personally used it; however, since it is just a pusher, may be hard to deal with pushing three feet of snow.

p.s. - I used that snow scoop to clean my driveway the other day just to see how long it would take, cleaned 2500sq.ft. averaging four inches of snow in a little over an hour, just taking it easy.  Never lifted any snow, just slid it around and relocated it on top of existing snow piles.  Worked great on EOD stuff, too.  This really didn't take much longer than using the blower, and it was great exercise and kept me warmer. 

longboat wrote:

I've seen the Garant snow scoops on TV. They look pretty good. Stuff that melts the snow won't work. I can upload a pic to show some of the snow if you like but it's really deep up there. it's not fluffy any longer it's compacted and a real pain to shovel. I'm not sure what i'm going to do at this point. We are getting another storm on Saturday and we are still in the first week of Feb. The upper roof has no way to tie a safety rope to anything. It's really dangerous up there. Thanks for the suggestions.

What about a chimney or a sewer vent pipe?  Not sure how "safe" either would be, but a brick chimney or a cast iron 6" pipe should both hold a decent amount of weight.  I was thinking of one of those hook ladders, but I think you would have to clear a path down the roof before you would be able to hook it to anything.  What about tying a rope to a tree and then draping it over the roof?  Have you thought about convincing the wife that it can be part of her weekly workout, and if she does fall there is enough snow on the ground to catch her? :)

"if she does fall there is enough snow on the ground to catch her? :)"

At 83 lbs., she'll fall like a leaf. 

Steve:

Can you get up into the attic to take a look at your truss's and rafters to see if they're deflecting excessively?   A slight bit of deflections is normal.  Particularly under such a load.   However, serious deflection will indicate the need to get the snow off.  If you see very obvious bowing of the the roof supports, you'd probably do something about it a.s.a.p.  If there's little bowing, chances are the roof is good for what it's bearing and probably considerably more.  

If you're into mathematics and can estimate your roof configuration, the following might be of some assistance to you:

http://www.jabacus.com/engineering/load/snowload.php

By the way, if you must go up on the roof, as mentioned by another participant, tying a long piece of 1/2 climbing rope or similar to a tree on the opposite side of the house will allow you to work one slope.  You could tie off on both sides simultaneously using the same method.   Once you're up there, the snow will likely keep you in place until it's been cleared.  I'd start at the bottom and work toward the peak so that you don't have to move the snow twice.

borat wrote:

We don't have an attic  and as Shryp mentioned a piece of pipe is unlikely to hold my 200 lbs on the roof should I go over the edge. The trees are too far for a rope to be of any use and I'd have to get a rope up mighty high for it to be useful. trees to the front and back where I am most likely going to fall off are about 60 feet away at the closest. The sides are a bit closer but the roof is pretty huge. It doesn't show in the pics but I've been up there in the summer and it's vast and empty up there. I've asked my neighbor who runs a farm about it and he thinks a pro is the only way to go. Too risky he says and he's been up on this roof a few times. He feels the chimney would be too close to the edge to be useful. He said if I fell from up there it would be bad, very bad. I might have to pony up the $500 they want to clear the entire roof. I used to clean the metal roof for my fathers company before he retired back when I was 14 and I slid off it with no hope of stopping it had less pitch than this roof but this one is higher with a layer of ice so just as slippery. This roof is vast and empty with nothing to tie onto just like that one. Fortunately I landed in a deep snowbank which literally buried me big chunk of ice in that snowbank really hurt when I smacked into it. Ah to be young and stupid again.

Steve_Cebu wrote:

Steve, If you can use your car on one side of the house and tie the end of the rope there or maybe put a large knot and roll over it to hold it.

hirschallan wrote:

That might work, the only thing is I can only do that on one side and it's looking less likely because the layer of ice up there makes it tough to get any footing. I think I'm just going to pay a guy to do the job. If I get injured it'll cost me a lot more than $500.

Just found this video:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2e1_1296706889

and

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2fdad73e43

Shryp wrote:

Yeah I saw that on NECN they've been running it for a couple of days now. Good thing those people are ok. Lots of other roofs going down but so far none in my area. I have a call into the guy who did the roof and since he's a neighbor hopefully he can evaluate how much more the roof can take before it gets too risky.

Steve_Cebu wrote:
Only other thing I can think of is trailer house anchors or the corkscrew dog leash anchors - they'll hold you for sure.  They might be a little tough to drive into frozen ground - might have to put some warm saltwater on the ground before you dig in (I've dug a few postholes in frozen ground that way - chip out a little depression in the ground, put some warm saltwater in there and cover it and let it sit overnight) .  However, in the end, if you're not comfortable with what you are doing, then best to pay the pros.

 LOL - just remembered the scene from Grumpy Old Men where they shoot water from a garden hose onto the snowy roof over an entryway, so that it forms a sheet of ice under the snow thus causing an avalanche for the unwitting homeowner who steps out the door (with slamming of said door causing the avalanche).

If you could shoot some water up along the peak of the roof, maybe you could create a similar avalanche situation...

p.s. - saw the Avalanche AVA300 roof snow removal system (sounds like it is easier/better than a roof rake), maybe you could stand on a tall stepladder strapped in the back of your pickup and reach some of the roof with that system...

Steve...The Today Show just did a segment on roof collapses in NY and NE.  Holy Molly!  They said that roof rakes are selling like Cabbage Patch Kids in their prime, and companies that remove snow from roofs are booked 24/7.  Main advice to property owners was to listen for any unusual sounds.  I was able to force heat to my attic to melt the snow but without an attic that's not an option for you.  I think that this is the time to call the pros...good luck.

longboat wrote:

I don't have a pickup truck.  Still I think that shooting water onto a roof that has 3 feet of snow would take some time and with temps at nigt going to -7F it's going to freeze pretty quickly. Last year during the snow melt, very warm very quickly, it overloaded the septic tank because all the runoff from the driveway goes into it.

I'll try and snap some pics to show how bad it is up there. If it was just a foot that would be ok.

For the lower roof and garage I can easily walk on those, the upper roof not a chance, you need a tall ladder and you'd have crap stability on the snow in the driveway.

Paul7 wrote:

Yeah I know, everytime the news is on we see roofs collapsing.

Most people up here are also now fully booked for clearing the roof. $100+ per hour is good money for these guys. Our roof guy hasn't called back, too busy I guess.

More snow on the way for Sat and then Mon & Tues. This is what I get for waxing my snowblower.

Steve_Cebu wrote:
If it was easy and safe, you would done it already, right?

Consider the people who offer that service, risking their life and limb, sometimes that's the only opportunity for them to make good money.

Steve:

Have you thought of temporary internal roof supports? 

It sounds like the house has rafters and ridge poles rather than standard truss'.   If it does, you could make yourself some long posts out of 4x4 lumber.   You could use a piece of plywood as a protective base for the floor then haul in some long 4x4s to prop up the the ridge pole(s).   Twenty feet is an awful long piece of lumber though.   You might have to laminate some lumber to build that kind of length.  Even a couple 16' 2x8 planks with an 8' 2x8 screwed in between half way down would work.  That way you could build it (them) inside to the exact length you need.    If you distribute some of the load directly to the floor, that will relieve some of the load from the walls.  You will probably also need a small hydraulic jack to raise the posts to put some of the load on the floor.  If possible, the load going to the floor should be supported by a wall or post in the basement. 

Not pretty stuff, I'm sure, but for the money, it could possibly avert a disaster.  

aa335 wrote:

Granted but it still adds up to a lot of money. Most of the real pros not just guys who will shovel the roofs actually know what they are doing and have insurance etc...

Sadly a lot of these guys rely on YOUR insurance if they get hurt. I won't hire them it's too risky.

borat wrote:

No I haven't heard of that, nor would I, that type of thing is way out of my league. The guy who did the roof would know about that and it sounds like it might work but would cost as much as clearing the roof. The ceiling is just under 24 feet high 23.? feet. I'm actively trying to get a guy to clear the roof but nothing available for a week, so far. I'm less worried about the garage than the living room. I'll try and gets some pics this afternoon. I've just been very busy today.

I do appreciate the advice

Since this is an OPE forum, this is your chance (excuse) to go purchase a power washer with integrated boiler, so you'll be shooting hot water on the roof.

No pickup truck?  Rent a scaffold (or build a snow mountain).

I like the indoor supports idea.  If done right, it would only take a couple poles, with some crossbeams at the top.   That's what I used under my deck for hot tub supports until I got around to rebuilding the deck.

Sorry for all of the crazy ideas - I'll try to quit ranting now...

longboat wrote:
I've used a good quality rubber garden hose hooked to my hot water heater to cut through ice. The important thing is to make sure you have a place for the runoff to safely refreeze. Even "cold" water is often around the 50-55 degree range and is effective.

I'm liking the hot water idea, I have a tankless hot water heater. Let'er rip!

Well its not quite what you had in mind...

You tube Video titled:  Snow Removal On Roof with Chainsaw and Snowblower.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDYCjBtYnaM

I tried to open the Youtube video and was sent to a page to link my Youtube account with a Google account.   I wasn't pleased with that but filled in the information to apply for a Youtube/Google link account just the same.  It then brought up a page requesting a cell phone number to have a verification code sent to. 

That was the last straw!!!  Not going to do it.  That's a bunch of b.s.  What ever happened to using an email address for verification?  

Google is asking a bit too much wanting to know your cell phone number.    Anyone else have this problem?

Has anyone here used Metacafe.com for posting vids?  Looks like a viable alternative to Youtube.

Oneplay wrote:

I had no problem with teh video by cutting and pasting the link. Yeah that guy was something. Still as he said that's more a deck than a roof. The chainsaw was OTT but guys ice sculpt with them so I guess it's ok.

borat wrote:
I just cut a pasted the link with no problems.  

Usually when a site asks me for my cell phone number, for no good reason, I don't have a problem giving it to them.  123 456 7890

Paul7 wrote:
The problem with giving them a fictitious phone no. is that you will not receive their authorization code allowing you to use Youtube.

On their help page for the Youtube/Google linking process, there's a place for a person to put in their "comments".  I put in some scathing comments regarding the intrusive aspects of their verification method and for some reason, I now have access to Youtube. 

Shryp wrote:
Why toy with an electric shovel when you can use a hydraulic shovel?  I hope that bucket can reach a little farther than 15 feet. 

aa335 wrote:
I'm not familiar with all the nuances of removing snow off a roof, but why not simply drive this rig up a ramp and onto the porch roof?  From there, it could easily reach the far areas of the upper roof with its bucket and deposit the snow onto the ground. The metal roof should be able to withstand the tire treads, don't you think?

amazer98 wrote:
Yeah, I the metal roof should be able to hold up the tire threads, it's the rest of the tractor weight and the loose nut behind the steering wheel that I worry about. 

aa335 wrote:

Yes, well, I wanted to enter my 40th useless post to this forum so I had to relax my usual high editorial standards!

aa335 wrote:

Yes but just think how many hits on YouTube it would get if they did drive it up onto the roof.

Steve_Cebu wrote:

But I'm sure it won't top the video of the guy in Chicago who uses his snowblower to bury his neighbor's car because she stole his shovel.

aa335 wrote:

Now, THAT is funny!

aa335 wrote:

That was pretty funny. She should have asked.

Steve_Cebu wrote:
I'd bury the dog too if it took a dump on my fenced in front yard.  :)

In all seriousness though, I don't agree with what he did for revenge.  Since he got her on video tape, he could have confronted her about stealing the shovel.  Retribution isn't what I want my 2 year old daughter to see how I deal with problems.  His excuse for the revenge (2 year old daughter dissapointment) is weak.  What would you rather have your daughter see, you being helpful clearing out the neighbor's drive, or burying their car?

It's funny, I agreed, but two wrongs don't make a right.

aa335 wrote:

Sad to say but if it was my older daughter she probably would have done a lot worse to that lady's car.

Of course she learned all that from her mother, my first wife. Tick her off and your car would likely be found on it's roof on fire. She was a scary person to be married to.

Steve_Cebu wrote:
Have you ever thought about contracting out your roof snow removal services to your daughter?  Sounds like she's got some experience. 

aa335 wrote:

Only if I wanted to have demolition services. I'm sure she would ove to bulldoze this house down along with me in it. Kids today.... full of angst.