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ninalanyon · 61-69, T
In the late 1980s up to the early 2000s it was normal to have to go out on the roof to shovel off half a metre of snow every year in -20 C. But it was diminishing with every year. Now what is called a barvinter here (bare winter) is more common and temperatures below -10 are much less common. But in the last decade the weather has started to be much less stable with greater temperature variations. For instance after a dry and snow free Christmas last year we had -25 C in January and had to go out on the roof twice because there was so much snow.
ninalanyon · 61-69, T
@Ynotisay The original house does but a few years later (probably about sixty years ago) a single storey extension was added. The roof of this extension has too shallow a pitch to shed the snow. If it were built to current regulations it would tolerate over a metre of wet snow or over 1.5 metre of old snow. But the regulations in force when it was built were somewhat less demanding and assumed that people would go out on the roof to shovel off the snow. The upper storey of my house has windows that look out over the extension and the snow would be half way up the windows by the time it was so deep so we clear it before then anyway because otherwise it can be difficult to get out on to the roof!
Quite a few houses here, especially single storey homes and blocks of flats actually have flat roofs. The blocks of flats have to tolerate pretty much unlimited amounts of snow but people living in flat roofed single family homes will notice that doors start to stick in very snowy winter as the weight of the snow compresses the walls and door frames. That's a sign that clearing the snow should have been done earlier but I have heard some locals say that they just wait until it happens!
Quite a few houses here, especially single storey homes and blocks of flats actually have flat roofs. The blocks of flats have to tolerate pretty much unlimited amounts of snow but people living in flat roofed single family homes will notice that doors start to stick in very snowy winter as the weight of the snow compresses the walls and door frames. That's a sign that clearing the snow should have been done earlier but I have heard some locals say that they just wait until it happens!
ninalanyon · 61-69, T
@Ynotisay It's not a big roof, total area probably about 30 m2, and it's accessible from the upstairs windows so there is no climbing involved. Also one doesn't clear it completely the general rule is to leave between 10 and 20 cm of snow on the roof rather than risk damaging tiles or in my case bitumen shingles.
The roof, even if built to the lowest standard, can support at least 150 kg/m2, about 0.7m deep (over two feet) so you don't have to do it very often. I don't think we have ever done it more than twice a year in the thirty six years we've lived in this house and many years not at all. I think only three times in the last ten altogether..
The roof, even if built to the lowest standard, can support at least 150 kg/m2, about 0.7m deep (over two feet) so you don't have to do it very often. I don't think we have ever done it more than twice a year in the thirty six years we've lived in this house and many years not at all. I think only three times in the last ten altogether..