Proper Roof Pitch For Snow

The pitch of the roof is determined by the vertical rise in inches for every horizontal twelve inch length.

Proper roof pitch for snow.

You can safely measure the roof pitch from inside your attic with a level that is either 18 or 24 inches a tape measure and a pencil. The pitch of your roof also helps determine the type of materials that can be used on your roofing system. Any pitch higher than 9 12 is considered a steep pitch. The higher the roof pitch the more often the snow slides off.

Once in the attic hold your level against the bottom of a roof rafter ensuring that all bubbles are resting in the center. It is an essential element to ensure water drains properly off of your roof. The roof pitch would be described as a 6 12 pitch. With regards to the pitch the building standard code bs 5534 recommends a minimum pitch of 200 for slate roofs.

If the design necessitates a roof slope that drains onto a traffic area snow retention devices should be provided to hold the snow in place. Begin by measuring 12 inches on your level and marking it with a pencil. Divide the results by the number of 12 inch segments in your level. But since there is still a wide variety of slate roofing systems there are occasions when the minimum pitch can go down to as low as 15 0 depending on the uniqueness of the roof.

Pitch is a measure of the steepness of a roof. A flat roof would have a 2 12 pitch while the average roof pitch would be between 4 12 and 9 12. You can also estimate a roof pitch by eyeballing it from the ground from the gable side with a level and ruler.