Ideal Roof Pitch For Snow

Snow can certainly slide off of a 4 12 roof.

Ideal roof pitch for snow.

The chief reason for having a roof pitch is to redirect water and snow away from the roof and avoid any percolation that might result from stagnation of water on the roof. Or is your climate more tropical. Pitched roofs are attractive and also can be used for additional space for a shed loft. Flat roofs are common with industrial buildings boasting wide roof spans and are also popular in dry climates for houses where there is no need for the roof to help disperse rain and snow.

Typical roof pitch is actually the measure of the roof s slope expressed in ratio. In other words it can be expressed as numerical measure of steepness of the roof. Steeper roof pitches are better at shedding rain and snow and are used more frequently in wetter colder areas 2. A flat or low pitch roof might be just what you need.

Below we detail common pros and cons of each roof pitch variation. Better raise that roof pitch a bit more to account for the buckets of snow you get every winter. Shallow roofs don t really like moisture. Low pitch and high pitch roofs.

This image shows a relatively shallow roof pitch of 15 degrees. The flip side to this is that it also becomes more expensive to build both in. If you are building a new roof however consider the climate to determine the correct pitch and proper materials. In this case you ll probably want a traditional 4 12 or so pitched roof.

Furthermore a roof in a forest should have. Some well defined standards are followed while deciding about roof pitch but in actuality the slope depends upon the type of roofing material and climatic conditions of the area. This has more to do with weather conditions than pitch. Live in the desert.

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 two main types of roof pitch to choose from when deciding what roof will be best for your home. Basically the steeper the pitch the better it can shed snow and rain. Having a steeper pitched roof allows for more space in a shed loft.

For example a shingle roof in a snowy region could be 2 12 but it is better to have a steeper pitch such as 12 12 or even steeper to shed the snow. Even in these arid regions so called flat roofs are still installed with a slight pitch to keep water from pooling on top of the structure. Importance of a roof pitch. The minimum roof pitch is also subject to the standards set forth by the various building codes used in the respective regions.

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.