What makes a winning snow guard system?

By Rocky Mountain Snow Guards.

Here's what the roofing professionals have to say about building a winning snow guard system.

Roofing contractors across the country know that it’s essential to install a snow retention system in certain geographic areas… and especially with specific types of roofing like synthetics, metal, slate and concrete. But what makes a “winning” snow guard system? We put that exact question to seasoned roofing professionals.

Here’s what they have to say:

“A winning snow guard system is one that is proper for the size of roof area and able to handle the amount of snow for that region. Realistically a system that will last as long as the roof system, if not longer.”

— Mike Brennan, owner of Brennan Exteriors LLC in Wisconsin

“From our experience, a winning snow guard system starts with a snow retention plan from Rocky Mountain Snow Guards. If you don't have the 50-year snow loads for the area of installation, load ratings of the snow guards and the engineered specs to determine how many snow guards are needed to hold up that once-in-a-50-year snowstorm weight, then you're doing it wrong. Rocky Mountain Snow Guards does all of that for you, so you can rest assured the system you recommend to your customer or install on your roof will work next winter. We get a plan from Rocky Mountain Snow Guards for every snow retention plan we install.”

— Nick Pointek, founder and CEO of On Point Contracting in Colorado

“It’s really quite simple. Appearance and effectiveness, along with proper installation, creates a winning snow guard system.”

— Jason Chase, owner of JnJ Restoration in Illinois

“You need a custom plan based on the roofing material, slope and elevation of a home. Select a quality product with a team that stands behind their product and has a deep understanding of designing layouts for a variety of roofing products. And, you need to have a full understanding of how the roof performs through the year.”

— Josh Yandle, co-owner of Umbrella Roofing in Colorado

“Performance is key. Nobody has ever said to us, ‘I can't wait for all these metal objects to be installed on our beautiful new DaVinci Roofscapes roof.’ However, after a Midwest winter, they are very thankful these are on their roof doing the job and they don't even notice them anymore.  Functionality is the most important thing. They are designed to retain snow on composite roof tiles and keep us safe.”

— Tony Abate, branch manager at Richards Building Supply in Illinois

“It comes down to the correct snow retention design making a winning snow guard system.”

— Mark Bellitt, vice president of Arapahoe Roofing & Sheet Metal in Colorado