Retrofitting the right snow retention system

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn how Rocky Mountain Snow Guards is making it easy for both homeowners and contractors to get a strong snow retention system in place. 

Snow retention systems are crucial elements of a roofing system, but not many homeowners know about or get them installed. That’s why the ability to retrofit them into an existing roofing system is key. In this episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Heidi J. Ellsworth spoke with Lars Walberg from Rocky Mountain Snow Guards and Drew Greenlaw from Monarch Construction and Roofing about how contractors can start retrofitting snow retention systems.  

Lars is the president of Rocky Mountain Snow Guards, which is a 14-year-old manufacturer and distributor of snow retention products in Colorado. Drew is a senior project manager at Monarch, which is also based in Colorado. Lars explained briefly how big the retrofitting market is, saying, “70% of our business comes from snow retention for existing roofs. We'll get into the reason for that. Basically, it's because people don't get it when they're getting the new roof put on.” 

Because so many people don’t get snow retention systems when they install a new roof, Lars and his team find themselves answering a lot of phone calls about how to make this happen. He explained, "In the spring, especially here in Colorado on the Front Range, we get big spring snowstorms. Several feet, all at once that are very damaging. Once there's an event like that, we get people calling us asking if we know somebody that can take care of it. Of course, we're there with a snow retention plan and a recommendation.” As for Drew’s team at Monarch, they get an influx of calls in the wintertime as they focus on the more mountainous parts of the state. He shared, “I can pretty much set my watch to those phone calls based on our first big snow of the season.” 

These calls typically come from home and building owners, but also often come from contractors who aren’t quite sure how to begin the retrofitting project. That’s why Rocky Mountain Snow Guards has a system for providing contractors with all the information they need. Lars explained, “When a contractor has an opportunity like this, they can bring us an EagleView report or even just a drawn roof diagram to make sure that we have the right snow loads that we're designing to. Then we'll provide a complete snow retention plan on a PDF, along with a quote for all the different parts and pieces that are necessary for the job.” Lars explained that this packet has detailed and specific installation instructions for the contractors, making the entire process much smoother. Drew attested to this, sharing, “The packet simplifies the process for me. The layouts and the presentations that they provide are awesome. It really helps break it out to the homeowner, the maps that they provide. They look at snow loads, the average snowfalls, pounds per square inch, so it's a really engineered, scientific system that we're installing to these people. They do a great job of providing me with the tools to create that value, which really helps sell it overall.” 

Read the transcript or Listen to the podcast for more about the importance of snow retention and how to retrofit a strong system.