Best Roof Angle For Snow

On roof slopes between 4 12 and 6 12 rough textured roofing materials work best.

Best roof angle for snow.

To put this another way you can tilt a roof angle about 45 degrees away from the optimal angle the perpendicular angle to the sun without significantly affecting light transmission. The smallest pitch of a roof is 0 5 12. Roof slopes lower than 4 12 tend to perform well with metal roofs which are less prone to leakage and ice dam formation. Pitch is a measure of the steepness of a roof.

Because it is one of the many key elements that determine the safety of the roof over your head there is a very good reason to understand the purpose of roof pitch. Basically the steeper the pitch the better it can shed snow and rain. The safest way to determine the pitch of an existing roof is to measure from inside your attic using a level tape measure and pencil. There are advantages and disadvantages to having a steep pitch versus a shallow or low pitch the most obvious of which is the roof s ability to shed or withstand heavy snow rain or wind.

The loft space would be much larger with a roof pitch of 45 degrees. This image shows a relatively shallow roof pitch of 15 degrees. These are also the most common pitches for shed roofs. Having a steeper pitched roof allows for more space in a shed loft.

The pitch of the roof is determined by the vertical rise in inches for every horizontal twelve inch length. In snowy areas your roof should be at least 10 12 40 to allow snow to shed while the safest roof pitch in very windy areas is between 4 12 6 12 18 5 26 5. Any roof from 4 12 to 9 12 is considered an ordinary angle for a roof. Simply put roof pitch is the measurement of the angle or the steepness of your roof.

How roof pitch determines suitable roofing systems. A flat roof would have a 2 12 pitch while the average roof pitch would be between 4 12 and 9 12. Flat and nearly flat roofs a pitch of 1 in 12 or 2 in 12 cannot be covered with shingles or shakes of any material since there is not enough angle to combat the danger of blow off. Significant here means less than an 8 change.

Use a handy tool like snow load calculator to help you determine if your roof can handle the weight of snow based on its pitch. Again the most important consideration is the weather. A reputable roofing contractor will be familiar with the pitch required by these codes. At these slopes snow creeps rather than slides and is easy to manage.

Across all materials this threshold is around 45 50 degrees away from perpendicular.